Prioritize your news feed with updated Facebook controls
Add a few friend on Facebook, join a few groups, and follow a few people you know and your Facebook feed can collapse into a jumbled mess. The way Facebook's algorithm works means it's all too easy to see too much stuff you're not really interested in, and miss what you want to see most.
Today the social network is rolling out a new set of options that can be used to gain better control of what you see. The latest update gives prioritization options so you can be certain that you'll always see posts from a particular friend. Will it be enough to please those who are critical of how things work at the moment?
The idea is a very simple one. You can select the friends and pages you are most interested in, and Facebook will ensure that these updates are always pushed to the top of your news feed. But this update is about more than just making sure you see what you want -- Facebook also wants you to see more. The site will make suggestions for pages you might like to follow based on who you currently follow. These are features that have been available to a small group of users for a little while, but are now rolling out to everyone.
Introducing the new features, Facebook says:
We’re always working to improve and personalize your News Feed experience. We know that ultimately you’re the only one who truly knows what is most meaningful to you and that is why we want to give you more ways to control what you see. Last year we announced some new ways to control what you see in News Feed. Today we are announcing even better tools for you to actively shape and improve the experience. We’ve redesigned and expanded Facebook’s News Feed Preferences to give you more control.
The update also makes it possible to unfollow friends so you can avoid posts from certain people but, in Facebook's own words, 'keep up appearances' by remaining friends with them.
iOS users get access first, while Android handsets and the main website will follow very soon.