Facebook has updated its News Feed service. Users will now be able to select a certain number of friends on Facebook and the news that these people add will appear at the top of their News Feed lists.
This changes the previous system in which algorithms were used to select what we see on our Facebook pages. Many people did not like what they saw and felt that Facebook was trying to force unwanted links on them.
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The change is yet another example of how the World’s largest social media network is trying to better itself and be more responsive to the needs and complaints of its customers.
In a blog post, Jacob Frantz, a Facebook product manager wrote, “The goal of News Feed is to show you the stories that matter most to you. To do this, we use ranking to order stories based on how interesting we believe they are to you: specifically, whom you tend to interact with, and what kinds of content you tend to like and comment on.
“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.”
Within Facebook’s News Feed Preferences you can now just tap on a friend’s profile picture to see their posts first. You will then see any new stories they’ve shared since your last visit to Facebook at the top of News Feed, with a star in the top right of their post so you know why they’re at the top. You can scroll down to see the rest of your News Feed normally.
Facebook is also offering an updated design of its tools in which users can now see a list of the top people, pages and groups that they have seen in their News Feed over the past week, and choose to unfollow any friend, Page or group if they do not want to see their updates. Users can also see who they have unfollowed in the past and choose to re-follow them at any time