In light of recent privacy related scandals, Facebook has been doing everything it can to make the users feel comfortable on the platform. Recently, it was announced by the company that it will be giving users more control over the content that appears on their News Feed. This will be done through the “Why am I seeing this post?” feature. The feature will not only help users in understanding the posts that show up on their news feeds, but also give them control and allow them to manage the content according to their preferences.
According to Ramya Sethuraman, Facebook Product Manager, this feature has been introduced in order to create transparency with the users and it was also mentioned how this is the first time any such feature has been incorporated in the Facebook app. According to Sethuraman, the tool can be accessed by tapping the dropdown menu, which appears on the upper right corner of a post. From there, many controls and shortcuts will be displayed, allowing a user to manage the content they would like to see on their News Feeds. Some available controls are “See First”, “Unfollow”, in addition to privacy shortcuts and News Feed Preferences. The feature is live now!
In order to make the platform more transparent, the company is also making changes to its “Why am I seeing this ad?” feature. Initially, basic demographic and user interest related details were available. Now, with the new update, users will also be able to know once their profile information matches with the information on an advertiser’s list. That’s not all however, as users will also know once an advertiser saves their personal information in their database and other details such as if they (the users) were targeted by the advertiser through another marketing partner of theirs (advertisers).
Satisfied with its decision to implement these features, the company explained in the blog post that these changes are just the tip of the iceberg in Facebook's pursuit of giving people more details and control across the platform. Facebook also assured everyone that it will be encouraging feedback regarding how to further improve these updates and continue to work accordingly.
It can be said that the new features might not be enough to solve all the problems that have been caused to users by the company’s advertising approach. However, the effort surely has the potential to turn things around for good.
According to Ramya Sethuraman, Facebook Product Manager, this feature has been introduced in order to create transparency with the users and it was also mentioned how this is the first time any such feature has been incorporated in the Facebook app. According to Sethuraman, the tool can be accessed by tapping the dropdown menu, which appears on the upper right corner of a post. From there, many controls and shortcuts will be displayed, allowing a user to manage the content they would like to see on their News Feeds. Some available controls are “See First”, “Unfollow”, in addition to privacy shortcuts and News Feed Preferences. The feature is live now!
In order to make the platform more transparent, the company is also making changes to its “Why am I seeing this ad?” feature. Initially, basic demographic and user interest related details were available. Now, with the new update, users will also be able to know once their profile information matches with the information on an advertiser’s list. That’s not all however, as users will also know once an advertiser saves their personal information in their database and other details such as if they (the users) were targeted by the advertiser through another marketing partner of theirs (advertisers).
Satisfied with its decision to implement these features, the company explained in the blog post that these changes are just the tip of the iceberg in Facebook's pursuit of giving people more details and control across the platform. Facebook also assured everyone that it will be encouraging feedback regarding how to further improve these updates and continue to work accordingly.
It can be said that the new features might not be enough to solve all the problems that have been caused to users by the company’s advertising approach. However, the effort surely has the potential to turn things around for good.
"Both of these updates are part of our ongoing investment in giving people more context and control across Facebook. We will continue to listen to your feedback and evolve these features over time.", explained Facebook.Read Next: Mark Zuckerberg wants Governments to Enforce a common set of rules for all Technology Giants, in order to regulate Harmful Content Online!
