In the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, Facebook wants to do its part to promote high-quality original journalism. To achieve this goal, the social media giant said it’s tweaking its News Feed algorithm.  

 

In a blog post published on June 30th, Facebook announced it would employ this updated algorithm to scan news articles for credibility. Now, stories with reliable citations, robust editorial departments, and clear bylines have a better chance of ranking in your News Feed.    

 

Even though this algorithm will bump up original content, Facebook said it shouldn’t have a dramatic impact on user experience. Instead of suggesting the most credible article online, this system will only filter pieces from your preferred outlets. 

 

Facebook says it has been working with dozens of publishers, media organizations, and professors to refine its News Feed scanning system. A few of the groups Facebook mentioned it collaborated with include the Trust Project and Reporters Without Borders’ Journalism Trust Initiative.  

 

At this time, Facebook is only testing its new algorithm on articles published in English. Although the company would like to expand this algorithm to other languages, it didn’t announce when it would do so.     

 

Facebook said publishers might notice an uptick in original content due to the new algorithm, but it shouldn’t have a significant impact on news publishers. Also, Facebook made it clear it was only using this updated algorithm on news-related pieces.    

 

To find out more about these changes to the News Feed algorithm, please click on this link to Facebook’s official blog.  

Eric
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On July 11, 2020   /   Social Media   /   Leave a comment

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