Facebook’s iOS and Android app is being upgraded with new
changes, including the option to access the News Feed without its algorithm, and
new tools that allow controlling who can comment on posts.
Earlier, Facebook had introduced a ‘Favorites’ timeline for
users to specify their favorite friends, family members, and pages. It also
allowed them to access their posts in one place. Based on the same
functionality, the social platform is now introducing a ‘Most Recent’ mode that
will display posts in chronological order, with the most recent posts first,
instead of Facebook’s algorithm.
The Feed Filter Bar will provide an easy access to Most Recent, as users can switch between an algorithmically-ranked News Feed and a feed chronologically-sorted News Feed. Most Recent and Favorites can also be accessed from the Shortcuts menu.
The functionality is already available to Android users, who
will find Feed Filter Bar as they scroll up on News Feed. iOS users will have
access to it in the coming weeks, according to Facebook.
Another addition that Facebook is bringing to its platform is
that users will now be offered more context as to why they may be seeing a particular
post. For instance, for posts labelled with ‘Suggested for You,’ Facebook will
let users see what factors led its algorithm to suggest the post, such as past
related posts a user has engaged with, topics that interest them, or their
location. Another reason could be that other people who interacted with the
post also previously interacted with the same group, Page or post as someone
who’s seeing that post.
The final change that Facebook is bringing is related to
post comments, where users can now specify who can comment on their posts. They
can choose from the options given to them, which will include anyone, just
friends, or only profiles and pages mentioned in the post.
