What do you think of Facebook’s decision to prioritize posts by friends and family in a user’s feed? Are you concerned, as Audrey Cooper is, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, that this emphasis will make it more difficult for users to be exposed to legitimate news, while biased, “fake news” posts that are shared by friends and family, will be given an advantage in the news feed?
(I’m guessing that, for whatever reason, the user can’t “unfriend” these people.)
The important lesson here, I think, is consumers need to be proactive. Facebook will ALWAYS default back to “Top Stories” in a user’s news feed, so if users want to be exposed to “Most Recent” content, they need to keep changing that setting.
And I’ve said before, and I’ll say again, lists are a great way to filter content for only those posts you care about, in that moment, on your terms.
If you want to scan reputable headlines without friends’ “fake news” re-posts, set up a list in Facebook of media outlets whose reporting you trust to be fair. Create a bookmark for that list so you can go to it immediately with your browser.
You can also “unfollow” certain users’ posts while remaining friends with them on Facebook. They will never know.
Bottom line: We don’t have to passively accept what Facebook’s algorithm shows us. We have options to retake control.
(About the image: I created this image with the “Bitstrips” app when it was still available; its original purpose was to illustrate my thoughts about double-checking for tone before hitting “Send.” But it also works to illustrate a possible user reaction to objectionable content in their news feed)
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