Facebook may be toying with a remake of their News Feed that exposes users to a dramatically higher level of content while bringing new user interactions to posts, comments, images, and other content.
Facebook may be toying with a remake of their News Feed that exposes users to a dramatically higher level of content while bringing new user interactions to posts, comments, images, and other content.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Facebook is playing around with some new options in the News Feed. The new rendition may involve showing users far more of the content that’s now being filtered out and giving users the option to interact with posts in different ways.
Currently, the News Feed filters out large chunks of information, including some posts from fellow users if they’ve been posting a high volume, certain updates from pages that a user “liked,” and more. Users are shown only content that Facebook thinks will be most relevant, based on a combination of how recent the post is, how much activity it’s seen, and more.
The new version of the feed would open up the floodgates, allowing more posts to be seen. That doesn’t mean that chronology would be the only important factor, though. Facebook confirmed that “We are currently testing a feature within News Feed that gives people the ability to see what their friends are commenting on and ‘liking,’ as these actions are being taken on Facebook,” meaning that interactivity will become a key factor to ranking high on the page.
Another element that Facebook is considering, according to WSJ’s sources, is adding new ways to interact with posts. CNET got in touch with a Facebook rep, but wasn’t able to get any feedback. That leaves us in the oh-so-delightful realm of speculation.
Many assume that the “dislike” button, which has been a popular third-party addition for quite some time, is likely to become standard. Another semi-likely possibility is the “re-post” feature. Of course, because we’re just guessing, people haven’t limited themselves to the likely. Some are still hoping for an “eye roll” or “lick” option.
The possibility of deeper interaction, including re-posting, would be a boon for companies marketing on Facebook. As we discussed previously, it can be tricky to optiimize for the current feed. However, we won’t know exactly how much help the new feed gives until those involved in the test provide us with details.