Facebook has announced changes to its News Feed algorithm in order to show users more content from their friends and less from Pages they might follow.
In a post on its media site entitled ‘Balancing Content from Friends and Pages,’ Facebook explains three updates which will make News Feed content more relevant to its billion plus active users.
The company wrote: “
Now the firm is placing status updates, photos, videos, and shared links higher up in the News Feed, in the hope of making it more likely users will see them.
Likewise, users who interact more with the Pages they follow will still see plenty of updates within the News Feed.
Read more: Facebook has made it easier to mute your annoying friends
Another change is geared towards “improving the experience for people who don’t have a lot of content available to see.”
“Previously,” Facebook says, “we had rules in place to prevent you from seeing multiple posts from the same source in a row. With this update, we are relaxing this rule. Now if you run out of content, but want to spend more time in News Feed, you’ll see more.”
The final change will see stories about friends liking and commenting on posts shifted further down the News Feed.
Facebook says this will result in more “stuff you care about directly from friends and the pages you have liked.”
The changes see Facebook move a little closer to its friend-centric roots and should please users who don’t use the site to see updates from brands, publications, personalities and the like.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.