Facebook will put family and friends first in a major news feed change

Facebook announced on Thursday (12 January 2018) a major update that will put friends and family above pages or celebrities in a user's news feed -- and likely result in people spending less time on the leading social network.

If you manage a Facebook Page you have to be aware of this big announcement by Facebook 2 days ago. According to  Mark Zuckerberg "The first changes you'll see will be in News Feed, where you can expect to see more from your friends, family and groups. “As we roll this out, you'll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media. And the public content you see more will be held to the same standard -- it should encourage meaningful interactions between people."

Facebook is flagging posts that use engagement bait. "The change to the way Facebook ranks posts will put more weight on social interactions and relationships, according to News Feed product manager John Hegeman."

For example, a family video clip posted by a spouse will be deemed more worthy of attention than a snippet from a star or favorite restaurant."We think people interaction is more important than passively consuming content," said Hegeman

Facebook co-founder and chief Mark Zuckerberg has said that bringing people together and strengthening communities in the real world are priorities.The news feed ranking update, which is set to roll out globally in the coming weeks, is expected to support that goal.

"As we roll this out, you'll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media," Zuckerberg said in a post on his Facebook page.

"And the public content you see more will be held to the same standard -- it should encourage meaningful interactions between people."

Google, Twitter and Facebook have come under fire for allowing the spread of bogus news -- some of which was directed by Russia -- ahead of the 2016 US election and in other countries."

This update is more about amplifying the things people value." said Hegeman. He cited academic research indicating that interacting with loved ones is crucial to a person's wellbeing, while reading news articles or watching shared videos may not be.

Known for setting annual personal goals ranging from killing his own food to learning Mandarin, Zuckerberg's stated mission for this year is to 'fix' the social network, including by targeting abuse and hate, and making sure visiting Facebook is time well spent.

"I'm changing the goal I give our product teams from focusing on helping you find relevant content to helping you have more meaningful social interactions," Zuckerberg said Thursday.

It's looking like Facebook ads are going to be the best way that Facebook Pages will be able to reach people on Facebook.

We highly recommend you learn more about Facebook ads on Facebook's free education tool Blueprint or come and talk to us about how this change will affect your business.

 It's a pretty big change so we just wanted to give you a heads up and some information to help you plan your social media strategy moving forward.