Facebook is changing what posts you'll see in your News Feed

https://www.facebook.com/facebook/videos/10156988765141729/

Facebook’s focus used to be connecting people. You added friends, shared your status updates, and pictures. It was a tool to communicate and engage with the people you cared about. As the years passed, the social network has moved away from that. Companies, advertisements, and videos clogged up users’ News Feeds. People spoke out and it seems Facebook listened. The social network is rolling out changes to how your News Feed looks.

Under the current system, each post is given a score. That score determines where it places the post in your News Feed, and how far down you have to scroll to see it. When the new system rolls out, the company will give more weight to posts it thinks matter to you. Those include personal posts from friends or family, and especially those looking for a suggestion or sparking a conversation. Live videos with a healthy conversation in the comments will be given more weight as well.

Space is limited in your Feed so some things will suffer. Posts from pages will show up less, and further down in your Feed. Facebook says it expects the reach of posts made by companies to decrease, but users can still find content from pages they enjoy by clicking the “Show First” option. The impact of these changes will vary by page, but it seems like those who spur conversation won’t be hit as hard.

While these changes are headed in the right direction, they’re still based on an algorithm and algorithms can be gamed. Facebook says it will demote posts which use engagement-bait in an attempt to rank higher. It says it wants your time to be well-spent and meaningful while you use the social network.

The changes will affect all platforms and roll out over the next few months.

What do you think about these changes? Are you annoyed by how many unimportant posts you see in your News Feed? Let us know in the comments.