Facebook to Remove Trending Feature.
Facebook says that it’s removing its “Trending” feature to make way for “future news experiences” on Facebook. Trending was introduced on the platform in 2014 as a way to help people discover news topics that were popular across the platform. It aggregated news topics based on what’s being shared on Facebook by users the most. It was also only available in five countries and accounted for less than 1.5% of clicks to news publishers on average.
Stated from Facebook’s press release, “From research we found that over time people found the product to be less and less useful. We will remove Trending from Facebook next week and we will also remove products and third-party partner integrations that rely on the Trends API.”
Facebook also says that the way people consume news on Facebook is changing to be primarily on mobile, and increasingly through news video. So they are exploring, or trying out, new ways to help people stay informed about timely, breaking news that matters to them, while making sure the news they see on Facebook is from trustworthy sources.
Here are three new changes to replace Trending (so far):
- Breaking News Label
- This was a test they actually already have been running with about 80 publishers across North America, South America, Europe, India and Australia lets publishers put a “breaking news” indicator on their posts in News Feed, making it easier for readers to identify news while scrolling through their feed. They’ll also be testing breaking news notifications depending on the pages you follow.
- Today In
- Facebook is testing a whole new dedicated section on Facebook called Today In that connects people to the latest breaking and important news from local publishers in their city, as well as updates from local officials, businesses and organizations.
- The test is running in just six cities for now: New Orleans, La.; Little Rock, Ark.; Billings, Mont.; Peoria, Ill.; Olympia, Wash.; and Binghamton, N.Y. Facebook users who self-identify as living in those areas will be able to visit the new section to see local information, like stories from local publishers or emergency updates from local authorities. Facebook is using machine-learning software to surface content in this new section.
- This may change the newsfeed algorithm again for businesses. Stay tuned with Digital Scoop.
- News Video in Watch:
- Facebook will soon have a dedicated section on Facebook Watch in the US where people can view live coverage, daily news briefings and weekly deep dives that are only exclusive to Watch.
From the data breach to Fake News and content, Facebook needs to do something to keep users interested in the platform. What do you think of the changes? Comment below and let me know!