Facebook News Feed to emphasize on fresher content

Facebook has tweaked its news feed algorithm to take into account how timely a post from a friend or a Page is when deciding whether to show it. According to tests, the new posts have seen a 6% jump in user engagement. Facebook says that the changes will be rolled out gradually over the next few weeks.

According to a blog post, Facebook's News Feed will now track the latest trends and display posts related to those topics more quickly. For e.g., if a newly-released movie is trending, Facebook may prioritize posts about that movie because they are more timely.

The new algorithm will take into account how likes and shares of a post trail off when deciding whether to include in your News Feed. If the engagement dies down, Facebook will take it as a sign that the post is now less relevant.

Company software engineers Erich Owens and David Vickrey stated in a blog post, "This means that when a friend or Page you are connected to posts about something that is currently a hot topic of conversation on Facebook, that post is more likely to appear higher up in News Feed, so you can see it sooner."

Facebook is constantly testing new features to improve user engagement. The social networking site recently tested opening web links on built-in browser on Android app. After the recent Android update, several users reported app opening external links from their timeline and news feeds in its own built-in browser window. Read: Facebook testing Moments app for private sharing

Source: Facebook