Yahoo News Facebook just made massive changes to what you will see in News Feed
Facebook just announced sweeping changes to what users will see in News Feed – the main feed people see in the desktop and app versions of Facebook.
In coming months, Facebook will prioritise posts from users’ friends and family – in a return to how Facebook used to be, Mark Zuckerberg said today.
Zuckerberg said in a Facebook post that the move was designed to make Facebook better for people’s ‘well being’.
Most popular on Yahoo News UK
Driver faces £5,000 fine after ploughing through 20ft puddle to soak mum with pram
Woman who confessed to killing and burying man believed to be her father is charged with murder
‘Total panic’ as armed jewel thieves storm Ritz Hotel in Paris and steal goods worth millions of pounds
Jet Airways hostess is arrested for ‘smuggling $500,000 from India under her shoes and make-up’
M25 rapist Antoni Imiela given seven life sentences referred to parole board
Previously, Facebook has referred to research which showed that ‘passively’ browsing the network – ie reading, rather than interacting – was associated with lower levels of well-being.
The move will mean that publishers and businesses with Facebook pages will see their traffic decline, Facebook head of News Feed Adam Mosseri warned.
Mosseri said, ‘As we make these updates, Pages may see their reach, video watch time, and referral traffic decrease.’
Zuckerberg said, ‘The balance of what’s in News Feed has shifted away from the most important thing Facebook can do – help us connect with each other.
‘We feel a responsibility to make sure our services aren’t just fun to use, but also good for people’s well-being.
‘So we’ve studied this trend carefully by looking at the academic research and doing our own research with leading experts at universities.’
‘The research shows that when we use social media to connect with people we care about, it can be good for our well-being. We can feel more connected and less lonely, and that correlates with long term measures of happiness and health. On the other hand, passively reading articles or watching videos – even if they’re entertaining or informative – may not be as good.’
The changes come after a tough year for Facebook that included congressional hearings on how Russia used it to influence the 2016 U.S. elections.
Former executives and Facebook investors have spoken out about how it and other social media sites might be hurting rather than helping society and users’ psyches.
