Facebook announces drastic plans to change news feed in bid to help people 'feel less isolated'

Facebook has announced drastic plans to change people's news feed
AP
Fiona Simpson12 January 2018

Facebook is set to make changes to how its news feed works meaning people will be “less likely” to spend as much time on the site.

The changes come after research claimed social media sites, including Facebook, left people feeling “isolated and lonely”.

The radical plans will see posts from brands, businesses and the media made less prominent and content deemed “meaningful” given a boost.

Posts that “spark conversation” between a person’s family and friends will be placed higher on a person’s feed, Mark Zuckerberg told fans.

In a statement posted on his own Facebook page, he explained that organisations and brands may be a drop in the popularity of their content.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The firm also acknowledged that people will be less time on Facebook as a result.

"The research shows that when we use social media to connect with people we care about, it can be good for our well-being," CEO Mr Zuckerberg wrote in a post Thursday.

"We can feel more connected and less lonely, and that correlates with long term measures of happiness and health. On the other hand, passively reading articles or watching videos - even if they're entertaining or informative - may not be as good."

The move to highlight posts that Facebook considers "meaningful" and reduce the emphasis on others could shrink the social media giant's role as a major news source for many people.

The move will not affect advertisements - users will continue to see the same adverts they have before.

The changes come after a tough year for Facebook that included congressional hearings on how Russia used it to influence the 2016 US elections.

Former executives and Facebook investors have spoken out about how it and other social media sites might be hurting rather than helping society and users' psyches.

Last week, Mr Zuckerberg said his annual "personal challenge" for 2018 will be to fix Facebook.

"Facebook has a lot of work to do - whether it's protecting our community from abuse and hate, defending against interference by nation states, or making sure that time spent on Facebook is time well spent," he wrote.

He said it wasn't possible to prevent all mistakes or abuses, but that Facebook was making too many errors in enforcing its policies and preventing misuse.

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