It is known that Facebook works and earns from News Feed of. So the feature is vital for the social network.
The company today announced small but important tweaks to the News Feed algorithm, to show more content than your friends are interested in, and possibly less than pages. But the social network also explained for the first time the "core values that set the guiding principles behind any improvement in your News Feed for several years."
Don't expect any major announcements, Facebook's values are pretty obvious in their entirety, but it's nice to see the reasoning behind every little tweak that the company has done.
"Friends and family come first"
Facebook says it gives priority to messages posted by close friends and family before any other type of posting. It tries to learn your preferences for the exact type of posts you want to see, based on the things you upload (photos, texts from specific people, etc.), and displays them at the top of your News Feed.
After friends and family, the company first tries to "inform you" with stories from current events, celebrity stories, or recipes.
And secondly "to entertain you." Sometimes this means that you will see viral videos or funny photos. Facebook wants to make sure your feed is not boring.
"A platform for all ideas"
Facebook says it is trying to connect people with ideas and stories that they find more meaningful. This means that it will not only show the stories you may find pleasant, but rather those that can be exciting for you.
For example, a study of Facebook last year showed that over a quarter of the links you read in your News Feed are from opposing political opinions, and people are interested in hearing the opposition, no matter how strongly they disagree.
Facebook says that while it does not favor specific types of ideas, it displays stories that most people want to see more in their News Feed.
“Authentic communication”
In other words, honesty. The company says it is working hard to spread genuine stories, not hoaxes or "spammy" things.
“You can control your experience”
Gives you the option to delete, track or hide messages (posts), as well as the "See first" button to give priority. If you hide a message from someone, it indicates that you probably want to read fewer stories than that person, and the News Feed algorithm reacts accordingly.
"Continuous repetition"
Facebook says it sees your project "1 percent final," so it's constantly changing design and feedback to improve your News Feed. He says he wants a more transparent News Feed that moves forward, hence today's update.
Pages will appear less and higher priority is for friends and family.
As part of this change, Facebook says it expects "this update may reduce traffic to some pages."
The amount of reduction depends on those who follow you. If publications tend to be the kind your followers share with their friends and family, your page will do better. But if you mostly share uninteresting posts your pages will get clicked….
