Facebook reveals why you’re seeing this post in your News Feed

Why Am I Seeing This? We Have an Answer for You. Image: Courtesy of Facebook via AFP Relaxnews

Facebook published a blog post finally explaining how it selects and ranks posts in your News Feed.

Facebook introduced a new tool this weekend that will help you understand how the platform selects and ranks posts to display in your News Feed: the “Why am I seeing this post?” information button.

According to the blog post published on Sunday, Facebook said the goal of News Feed “is to show people the posts that are most relevant to them;” therefore, it’s difficult for users to identify exactly why particular friends’ or group’s posts are ranked higher than the rest.

This new explanation tool can be found within the dropdown menu in the right corner of every post titled “Why am I seeing this post?”

When you tap this button, you’ll find information like why you’re seeing the particular post, what information has the heaviest weight in News Feed ranking, and shortcuts to post controls like See First, Unfollow, and News Feed Preferences.

Furthermore, the “Why am I seeing this ad?” tool which Facebook introduced five years ago has been enhanced and improved as of this weekend. In addition to seeing the basic information about you like demographics and interests that bring particular ads to your News Feed, you’ll now also see details about the ads themselves like when the advertiser uploaded the information or “if the advertiser worker with another marketing partner to run the ad.”

Both these updates work together to make Facebook algorithms more transparent and within individual users’ control. The company intends to keep refining both features as it continues to receive user feedback. MKH

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