Facebook promised its user base that the website will undergo several changes in 2018 to enhance their experience, and it seems like Mark Zuckerberg is on schedule to deliver the promise.
He recently announced the first major change in Facebook’s news feed which will change the way Facebook users interact with the website. Is Zuckerberg’s decision a smart move for the tech giant and its users?
A Change in Facebook’s Algorithm
Facebook announced last week that it will change the algorithm of the website to show more posts from the users’ family and friends in the news feed instead of posts from other businesses and brands. The tech giant fears to lose revenue from advertisements and clicks but it says that enhancing the experience for Facebook users is of utmost importance to the company.
Mark Zuckerberg explained on his page that Facebook was created as a social media platform for interaction between friends and family but lately, people have been complaining about how their newsfeed is saturated with advertisements and posts from different brands, making it difficult to see their own friends’ activities on the website.
Users have been complaining about how their newsfeed is saturated with advertisements and posts from different brands
Zuckerberg’s Promise to ‘Fix’ the Social Networking Site
CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote that the new change will be implemented over the next few weeks and will be a step towards making the news feed more personal hence promoting stronger connections between users within the Facebook community. The only public content that will be promoted from now onwards will be that which strengthens and encourages interaction within the community.
Strangely, Facebook stands to gain very little from the new change as pointed out by Zuckerberg who said that the company expects users to spend less time on the social media platform than before but the quality of their experience will be enhanced exponentially. This is a way for Facebook to ensure that time spent on the website provides value to the users and is good for their well-being.
In the last post made by the founder of Facebook, he made an open promise to the users worldwide that the company will strive to ‘fix’ the social media platform and restore the sense of connectivity that it was once popularly known for.
Facebook will now ensure that time spent on the website provides value to the users and is good for their well-being
The social networking site has come under a lot of scrutiny in the past due to security issues, with analysts suggesting that it could be under influence of foreign, hostile entities such as Russia who are trying to manipulate the website’s content. In response to people’s concerns about trust and privacy, Zuckerberg also promised to protect the platform from other actors.
Facebook Finally Getting Back to Its Roots
Journalists across the world are concerned about how users will get access to news after the new Facebook policy is implemented. Laura Owen, member of Harvard’s Journalism lab said that publishers and news agencies will be greatly affected by this since no more articles or features will show up on users’ news feed organically.
No one is sure about which discussions Facebook’s new algorithm will prioritize. Any controversial issues or opinion-based posts highlighted on the website could become a subject of heated arguments or debate among the community members.
Facebook has come under intense scrutiny in recent years due to the growing mistrust and security concerns among users. It is now making serious efforts to restore its brand value and people’s trust in the platform.
Many analysts think that in his latest post, Zuckerberg clearly admitted the power wielded by Facebook over the society’s health and well-being and how scandals and fake news reports have affected people’s interaction on the platform over 2017. However, if not implemented correctly, the new algorithm could disrupt the nature of conversations and change people’s views on certain issues, which will only worsen the problem.
The social networking site has decided to get back to its roots and make the platform about friends and loved ones, putting more emphasis on what people are thinking or feeling instead of the news posts they share from other sources.
2017 was a tough year for Facebook in the midst of all the scandals and blames that the platform is becoming more and more saturated with clickbait material that adds no real value to the users’ experience. Mark Zuckerberg is finally learning that not all interaction is good interaction.
