Facebook recently conducted a batch of surveys asking users questions related to their close friends on the platform as well as the links which lead them to valuable content. The Social Media Giant will now be coupling these results with usage data with the help of new pattern-based classifiers and incorporating the end product to update the ranking algorithm of Facebook News Feed. This will allow the News Feed to display content that the users actually want to see.
In the survey about close friends, Facebook gathered information from users about their closest friends. Based on the answers, their interactions (such as liking the same post etc.) and the people tagged in their photos were studied and if the same strong connection is observed for other people’s friendships, then the company can be certain about the closest friends a user would like to see posts from instead of posts from the casual ones.
For meaningful content, Facebook surveyed users via News Feed to find out about the links they found useful. Based on the answers, the link posts’ types, publishers and engagement factors were studied and were compared to the survey results. Posts with similar metrics will probably be considered meaningful and ranked higher in the feed, making it likely for users to come across them while scrolling.
It’s certainly a major step in the right direction that Facebook has realized that the presence of scandalous content on the Feed can barely benefit the company. In the long-run, it’s the quality of content that will make the users keep coming back. Thus, the crackdown against clickbait content and the promotion of original and meaningful material can help the Social Media Giant in the distant future, both financially and in terms of user satisfaction.
Illustration: Facebook
Read next: Facebook still unable to control fake accounts claiming to be tech execs like Tim Cook, Susan Wojcicki and more
In the survey about close friends, Facebook gathered information from users about their closest friends. Based on the answers, their interactions (such as liking the same post etc.) and the people tagged in their photos were studied and if the same strong connection is observed for other people’s friendships, then the company can be certain about the closest friends a user would like to see posts from instead of posts from the casual ones.
For meaningful content, Facebook surveyed users via News Feed to find out about the links they found useful. Based on the answers, the link posts’ types, publishers and engagement factors were studied and were compared to the survey results. Posts with similar metrics will probably be considered meaningful and ranked higher in the feed, making it likely for users to come across them while scrolling.
"These changes aren’t meant to show more or less from Pages or friends. Rather, the Page links that are surfaced to people will be ones they find worth their time — and the friend posts will be from [those] friends, people want to hear from most.", explained Facebook team in a newsroom post.This move is a further proof that Mark Zuckerberg is making good on his claims regarding Facebook’s goal not being total time spent, but the time spent looking up worthwhile and feel-good content. Facebook has already started a crackdown against unsafe content, clickbait and other link posts directing users to ad-filled and shabby websites, unoriginal video content, inappropriate graphics, etc.
It’s certainly a major step in the right direction that Facebook has realized that the presence of scandalous content on the Feed can barely benefit the company. In the long-run, it’s the quality of content that will make the users keep coming back. Thus, the crackdown against clickbait content and the promotion of original and meaningful material can help the Social Media Giant in the distant future, both financially and in terms of user satisfaction.
Illustration: Facebook
Read next: Facebook still unable to control fake accounts claiming to be tech execs like Tim Cook, Susan Wojcicki and more
