Facebook turns tables on profile stalkers with News Feed tweak

Facebook has tweaked its News Feed ranking algorithms in a bid to get users spending more time gazing at memes and cat pictures. Mark Zuckerberg's free-content ad-network admitted that the way it had ranked updates posted on Facebook "isn't perfect". Indeed, some have long complained about how the company curates friends' " …

[wowfood]

Okay

but can they stop pages I don't want appearin gin my news feed from appearing?

One page keeps sharing links from another page I frequentlly visit. I then get things in my news feed. "BLAH has just shared a post from videogames." I have continuously said "Stop showing this page in my newsfeed" and facebook continues to ignore me.

Much like it ignores my "I want to recieve notifications from this page" and won't give me the notifications, which used to work.

Effectively what I'm saying is Dear Zuck. Fix your shit before you start adding new bits.

[Pascal Monett]

But Zuck doesn't care about you. He cares about his advertisers.

THEY are his clients.

YOU are his bitch product.

[Anonymous Coward]

"But Zuck doesn't care about you. He cares about his advertisers.

THEY are his clients.

YOU are his bitch product."

Well said sir, up vote for that!

My integrity is not for sale.

[Ged T]

Outsource content

Maybe Facebook can exercise full control over user's "stories" by offering an outsource "We'll write your stories so you don't have to." service - That way, they can allow ad targetting to be optimal for their needs without 'users' messing things up.

[I like noodles]

I'm getting very close to binning facebook

and crap like this is what's doing it. Doubt if I'm alone.

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't use Facebook for much, but what i want from a newsfeed is all that my friends and liked pages are doing in straight chronological order.

fortunately the mobile app on my phone seems to do this but unlike the desktop version i cant tell it to stop showing me what bloody game achievement theyve just done.

[Anonymous Coward]

The mobile one forgets I want it in chronological order. The settings still say thats the way I want it, but have to re-tap on the setting occasionally as it switches to its random order regularly.

The random order may work with people that have friend lists in the thousands, but I know every single person on mine so want to see what going on.

[Anonymous Coward]

I wouldn't be so sure it "forgets" it. All clearly very deliberate.

[dervheid]

What I'd like

is that when I select "most recent" as the ordering, that it STAYED THAT WAY. Is thet TOO much to ask?

[Grey Bird]

Re: What I'd like

Ahh, so it's not just me!

[Crisp]

And yet still no way to actually see who's stalking your page

Rather than give me information about my friends that I'm already following, how about telling me who's looking at my information?

[Joe Harrison]

Interesting what will happen to it

Originally my joining their site coincided with the start of a new real-life social pastime and I found it incredibly useful because it automatically served me up with what I wanted to see. Fast forward to the present and you have to make too much effort wading through stuff. I barely do anything on it now.

I think it will be a long slow popularity decline but what if instead one day they finally cross the line with that one tweak too many and people just overnight give up on it.

[Anonymous Coward]

Can we have a link to Facebook actually saying these things please? Not doubting they did, just want to read the source.

Thanks.

[Phil E Succour]

"Mark Zuckerberg's free-content ad-network..."

Shouldn't that be "Mark Zuckerberg's content-free ad-network "? Seems closer to the mark at least.

[Anonymous Coward]

Thankfully on 1/2 of british adults have a fakebook account.

It makes it easier to spot fake people from real people!

Like the iFolly, "people" will get bored of it and maybe actually meet with real people and not the fake fuckers on fakebook.

[TheMidnighToker]

> Mark Zuckerberg's content-free ad-network

FTFY....

[Steve Evans]

Shorely shom mistake...

"free-content"?

I'm sure you mean "content-free"

[monkeyfish]

organic stories

What the hell are 'organic stories'? Stories you grew without fertiliser?

[Darryl]

Facebook?

Is that still around?

[EddieD]

Coming soon...

"You appear to be running Ad-block+ or similar software. Content will not display until this is disabled"

[EddieD]

Re: Coming soon...

Really?

How come I don't see any until I disable Ad-block then?

[bag o' spanners]

My understanding of "organic" in the way it's being used here, is that it relates to a story, or a page, hasn't been puffed or hyped into the stratosphere (where it could justifiably annoy commercial rivals in the paid-for ad sector), but has actually been bounced and shared so widely that it's "trending", as the twitterists would say.

It's fairly easy to farm likes and shares, but the activity presents an unnatural spike, which any half decent analyst or algorithm could identify as bogus. A new page throws a clickbait link to a tragic child with cancer, but is actually called Mercenary News, Few people look at the origin of the "like" bait, because they're too busy clicking the thumbsup button. Two seconds of PTFA is all it takes. The "share to win" pages are another obvious scam, but I still see the same gullible/needy friends falling for them over and over again. There is no cure for stupidity or petty greed.

As a comms medium with plenty of available noise to mask the weaker signals, it's no different from radio or tv.

If your signal is strong, and your filtering ability is functional, sensible communication with friends in far flung places is not a problem. If fabricated gossip and watercooler chitchat is what you assume will make you a more "interesting" person, then choose the noise/validation option.

[Anonymous Coward]

I sometimes share an advert/competition from a page I follow with the privacy setting set to "only me". I suspect that invalidates any chance of winning anything but I like to feel I've tried.

[dssf]

If FB CARED, or wanted to

If FB CARED, or wanted to

It could add hot buttons to offer to the users/subscribers:

-- Constrain to one of these time frames: today/yesterday/last week/last month/custom

- Most viewed stories/links by this person

- Least viewed stories/links

Seen by the poser's friends/non-friends/followers/all/custom

Oh, wait, that would probably end up a highly-paid paid-for option for the advertisers to suss out what adverts to position, to seek impressions and make more conversions more likely...

[h4rm0ny]

Sgrouples

I have no affiliation with these people, but I really like https://sgrouples.com/

This is kind of like Facebook but instead of feeling like a big leaky bucket I'm forever trying to plug all the holes in, it starts with me at the middle and lets me add and manage groups outwards.

Very easy to separate work and social life on it and I don't feel I'm permanently at war with the site just for wanting to keep a few things private.