Facebook opens up about how it controls your newsfeed
Earlier today, Facebook announced the latest tweak to newsfeeds. Having denied being politically bias towards Brexit, or having a liberal leaning, Facebook continues to face question and criticism about how its news feeds and trending topics are formulated.
As well as updating the way newsfeeds are populated, Facebook today revealed just how it choses what appears in your newsfeeds. This isn’t a case of full transparency, but it is an interesting insight nonetheless.
At a press briefing, the company revealed a little of the inner workings of the newsfeed, reiterating that the most recent change is all about ensuring that users see posts from friends and family first. Adam Mosseri, vice president of product management for News Feed, said: "News Feed is a system that’s designed and built by people, but people have values and those values are reflected in how we make decisions on a regular basis".
He also revealed the criteria that influence where posts appear in your newsfeed:
- Posts from friend and family appear first
- Next up is content that Facebook deems to be 'informative'
- Based on your previous expressions of what you enjoy 'entertaining' content is third in the list
There will always be questions about how newsfeeds operate, and this is something that Facebook recognizes. It says: "We realize we need to be more and more proactive".
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