Social media site says the changes are in response to comments from users about story relevancy.
Facebook users will soon notice changes in the types of posts popping up at the top of their News Feeds. The social media giant recently announced plans to tweak the algorithm that drives content to individuals’ feeds. Facebook said that this was in response to thousands of user surveys that provided greater insight into the types of stories people find most relevant.
Facebook has been collecting user feedback for quite some time about the content that appears in News Feeds. The newest tweak will take an approach that ranks content based on what users say is relevant to them as well as “qualitative feedback” related to the types of stories users are likely to comment on, click, share or like. Content will be ranked based on which posts users are most likely to take action on, Facebook explained in a blog post announcing the upcoming changes.
Facebook’s News Feed has been a work in progress since its introduction in 2006. The backbone of the algorithm is a ranking system known as “Edge” that places posts at or near the top of users’ news feeds based on three factors:
- Affinity – a poster’s relationship to the user
- Weight – the demonstrated interactions with the post so far, including comments, likes and shares
- Decay – How long ago a post was created
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News Feed’s introduction has been followed by a steady stream of tweaks, all meant to enhance the user experience. Some of the most recent changes have included prioritizing content from friends, Facebook’s decision to reduce the amount of “clickbait” in streams, the prioritization of videos, and a concerted effort to ferret out hoaxes, among other upgrades.
The new-and-improved algorithm isn’t the only change coming Facebook users’ way. The “Like” button also is getting an overhaul. “Reactions” will add options such as “angry,” “wow,” “haha,” “yay,” “sad” and “love.” That change doesn’t have an official date attached, but Facebook has indicated it will roll out soon.
Whether the tweaks and upgrades will be welcomed by users remains to be seen. Previous upgrades have been met with some backlash, but users have generally settled in to accept and even embrace tweaks over time. With an estimated 1.59 billion monthly active users as of December 2015, it is unlikely Facebook’s decision to enhance the experience will shake user loyalty all that much.
