Facebook announced today that it is changing its News Feed…again. This new reorganization of the of an individual’s News Feed will now prioritize posts from friends and family first, over posts from publishers and celebrities.
This may become an issue for media companies that can attribute to a considerable percentage of its sight traffic from Facebook-driven clicks.
Facebook VP of Product Management Adam Mosseri released a sort of guide Wednesday to its "News Feed Values" that provides a ranking that determines the priority of each post in your feed: the first is “Friends and family come first,” the second is “Your feed should inform,” and the third is “Your feed should entertain.”
“Facebook was built on the idea of connecting people with their friends and family” writes Mr. Mosseri. “That is still the driving principle of News Feed today. Our top priority is keeping you connected to the people, places and things you want to be connected to — starting with the people you are friends with on Facebook.”
The shake-up in News Feed prioritization is alarming to digital publishers, who use Facebook and other social media platforms like Twitter to help generate new revenue and expand the readership. The company's latest push has been for live broadcasts, where Facebook pays news organizations to produce live video streams that run on its site. These live video streams would no longer be prioritized in this new News Feed.
“We are not in the business of picking which issues the world should read about,” Mr. Mosseri explains. He continues, “We are in the business of connecting people and ideas — and matching people with the stories they find most meaningful. Our integrity depends on being inclusive of all perspectives and view points, and using ranking to connect people with the stories and sources they find the most meaningful and engaging.”
Mr. Mosseri also acknowledged an obvious result of this change, stating that “publishers may see a noticeable but small change in referral traffic.” This fluctuation in page views will vary because some publishers rely considerably on traffic from their own branded Facebook pages, while others get more clicks from individual users sharing their stories.
“The links that people share to your publication for their friends will actually be valued higher” with the change, Mosseri said. However, the bottom line is that posts that come directly from news web sites, entertainment blogs, political campaigns, and the many other forms of Internet sources will be negatively affected by this change. The question that remains is by how much?
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Facebook to Change News Feed Layout, But is It a Good Thing?
Facebook announced today that it is changing its News Feed…again. This new reorganization of the of an individual’s News Feed will now prioritize posts from friends and family first, over posts from publishers and celebrities.
This may become an issue for media companies that can attribute to a considerable percentage of its sight traffic from Facebook-driven clicks.
Facebook VP of Product Management Adam Mosseri released a sort of guide Wednesday to its "News Feed Values" that provides a ranking that determines the priority of each post in your feed: the first is “Friends and family come first,” the second is “Your feed should inform,” and the third is “Your feed should entertain.”
“Facebook was built on the idea of connecting people with their friends and family” writes Mr. Mosseri. “That is still the driving principle of News Feed today. Our top priority is keeping you connected to the people, places and things you want to be connected to — starting with the people you are friends with on Facebook.”
The shake-up in News Feed prioritization is alarming to digital publishers, who use Facebook and other social media platforms like Twitter to help generate new revenue and expand the readership. The company's latest push has been for live broadcasts, where Facebook pays news organizations to produce live video streams that run on its site. These live video streams would no longer be prioritized in this new News Feed.
“We are not in the business of picking which issues the world should read about,” Mr. Mosseri explains. He continues, “We are in the business of connecting people and ideas — and matching people with the stories they find most meaningful. Our integrity depends on being inclusive of all perspectives and view points, and using ranking to connect people with the stories and sources they find the most meaningful and engaging.”
Mr. Mosseri also acknowledged an obvious result of this change, stating that “publishers may see a noticeable but small change in referral traffic.” This fluctuation in page views will vary because some publishers rely considerably on traffic from their own branded Facebook pages, while others get more clicks from individual users sharing their stories.
“The links that people share to your publication for their friends will actually be valued higher” with the change, Mosseri said. However, the bottom line is that posts that come directly from news web sites, entertainment blogs, political campaigns, and the many other forms of Internet sources will be negatively affected by this change. The question that remains is by how much?
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report >>