Facebook News Feed Tweak Monitors How Long You Read Posts
Ever wonder why some stories show up on your Facebook News Feed while others get buried beneath the pile? It largely has to do with user engagement. When you like, comment on, or share a post, Facebook's algorithm takes note and posts more of that type of content on top of your News Feed. The downside to that approach is that it doesn't into consideration stories of interest that you didn't interact with, and to address that, Facebook is making a change.
Going forward, the algorithm will also take note of how much time you spent on a story. It stands to reason that if you consistently spend more time reading about motorcycle stories or games, then you have an interest in those subjects. However, it's not as easy as simply as calculating the number of seconds you spent reading a post.
"Some people may spend ten seconds on a story because they really enjoy it, while others may spend ten seconds on a story because they have a slow internet connection. We’ve discovered that if people spend significantly more time on a particular story in News Feed than the majority of other stories they look at, this is a good sign that content was relevant to them," Facebook explains.
The example Facebook gives is scrolling quickly through your News Feed and liking a photo of your friend's graduation, followed by sharing a humorous post from your sister. But as you continue to scroll, you top at your cousin's post detailing her recent trip. You read her status update, look at the pictures, and even look at the comments, ultimately spending more time on her post than the others. Based on that, Facebook will assume you found her subject matter interesting and will push other similar posts higher up on your News Feed.
Some of you may have already noticed a change in your Feed, as Facebook has begun rolling this out. If not, don't sweat it -- the change will continue to roll out over the coming weeks.
Going forward, the algorithm will also take note of how much time you spent on a story. It stands to reason that if you consistently spend more time reading about motorcycle stories or games, then you have an interest in those subjects. However, it's not as easy as simply as calculating the number of seconds you spent reading a post.
"Some people may spend ten seconds on a story because they really enjoy it, while others may spend ten seconds on a story because they have a slow internet connection. We’ve discovered that if people spend significantly more time on a particular story in News Feed than the majority of other stories they look at, this is a good sign that content was relevant to them," Facebook explains.
The example Facebook gives is scrolling quickly through your News Feed and liking a photo of your friend's graduation, followed by sharing a humorous post from your sister. But as you continue to scroll, you top at your cousin's post detailing her recent trip. You read her status update, look at the pictures, and even look at the comments, ultimately spending more time on her post than the others. Based on that, Facebook will assume you found her subject matter interesting and will push other similar posts higher up on your News Feed.
Some of you may have already noticed a change in your Feed, as Facebook has begun rolling this out. If not, don't sweat it -- the change will continue to roll out over the coming weeks.
