Part of an effort to provide more transparency about its operations as the social network’s cultural and political influence continue to grow, Facebook on Wednesday offered a rare glimpse into how it ranks and shows content in its News Feed.
The social media website revealed that it tweaks the algorithm that runs the News Feed to push posts from friends and family members over posts from publishers.
The disclosures, though lacking in detail, are notable in part because they come in the wake of an earlier report published in May that alleged political bias in Facebook’s trending topics.
News Feed is a system that’s designed and built by people, but people have values and those values are reflected in how we make decisions on a regular basis.Adam Mosseri, Vice President, Product Management for News Feed, Facebook.
Mosseri revealed that the core principle behind News Feed is that posts from family and friends get ranked first. That is followed by “informative” content, which can range from news articles to recipes and is determined by the interests of the particular user.
Although News Feed is separate from Trending Topics, it is the central feature of the Facebook experience and any hint that it is influenced by a political agenda could be hugely damaging to the company.
This revelation holds significance because Facebook has found itself becoming a dominant force in the distribution of content globally.
The News Feed is one of Facebook’s major draws. Launched in 2006 it help users see the content that would be most important to them from their friends, family and pages they choose to follow. It uses an algorithm that it says it is constantly updating, along with human editors, to decide what content it should show customers.
(With Reuters Inputs)
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