Having control over what you see in your Facebook News Feed is important. With over 1 billion Facebook users, there is a lot of content being shared at any given time. Luckily, Facebook provides many options for customizing your News Feed so you see more of what matters to you.
In this article, we will walk through all the ways you can refine your News Feed by prioritizing friends, pages, groups and topics. We will also look at how to snooze or unfollow people and pages so their content doesn’t show up as frequently. Additionally, we will explore the Activity Log tool which shows everything you’ve interacted with on Facebook. Let’s get started!
Prioritize Who You See First
The first way to refine your News Feed is by choosing whose posts you want to see more of. On desktop, click the down arrow in the top right corner and select “News Feed Preferences”. On mobile, go to the Menu tab and tap on “News Feed Preferences”.
Here you will see a list of all your friends, pages and groups. The ones you interact with the most will be at the top. To prioritize someone, hover over their name and select “See First”. This will force posts from those people to the top of your feed. You can choose up to 30 friends and pages to see first.
Similarly, you can choose to see less of certain people by hovering over their name and selecting “See Less”. Their posts will now be lower down in your feed. Use this for friends or pages you don’t interact with as frequently.
Reconnect With People You May Have Lost Touch With
Over time, your News Feed tends to fill up with recent connections. You might not see posts from friends you previously interacted with regularly. To rediscover these old connections, go to your News Feed Preferences and select “Reconnect” next to their name.
This will cause Facebook to show more of their posts higher up in your feed for the next 30 days. It’s a great way to resurface friends you may have lost touch with over time based on Facebook’s algorithm.
Favor Friends Rather Than Pages
In 2018, Facebook made a major change to their algorithm. They began prioritizing posts from friends rather than public content from pages and publishers. This means you’ll naturally see more personal updates from friends.
However, Facebook still allows you to customize this further. You can tell Facebook to favor friends over public pages – or vice versa. On desktop, click the three dot menu in your News Feed and select “Feed Preferences”. On mobile, go to Menu > News Feed Preferences.
Here you will see an option called “Prioritize who to see first”. Select “Friends” or “Pages” to choose which one you want higher up in your feed.
Follow Your Favorite Pages and Topics
In addition to connecting with friends, most people like to follow their favorite public pages, publishers, creators and topics. For example, you may want to follow pages about your hobbies, favorite sports teams, news sites, brands, influencers, etc.
Facebook makes it easy to stay up-to-date with their latest posts. Simply search for the page name and click “Follow” or the “Like” button. This will ensure their posts show up in your News Feed. Be sure to review the page list in your News Feed Preferences and select “See First” for your must-follow pages.
Discover Pages Through Topics You Follow
You may not know all the pages related to your interests. This is where Facebook’s topics feature comes in handy. You can follow topics like “Basketball”, “Travel” or “Gardening” and discover relevant public pages that way.
To follow topics on desktop, click the down arrow at top right and choose “News Feed Preferences”. Scroll down to the “Your interests” section. Browse the topics or search for ones to follow.
On mobile, go to Menu > News Feed Preferences > Prioritize Who To See First. Scroll down and tap “Add” next to topics you want to follow. This will suggest pages related to those topics.
Join Groups Around Your Interests
Groups are a great way to connect with people around specific interests. For example, you can join local community groups, hobby groups, school groups and more.
When you join a group, you’ll see the latest posts from its members in your News Feed. Group posts are indicated with a “Group” label above them. Be sure to follow groups related to your hobbies, causes or communities.
To browse groups, click “Groups” in the left menu on desktop. On mobile, tap the Menu tab and select “Groups”. Search for relevant groups or browse suggestions. When you find an interesting group, click the “Join Group” button.
To select your favorite groups, go to News Feed Preferences. Under “Prioritize Who To See First”, click “Edit” next to Groups. Choose up to 30 groups to follow closely and get their posts higher in your feed.
Follow Trending Articles and Videos
Your News Feed isn’t just about people you know. Many people like seeing articles, videos and other public content in their feed. Facebook has an “Explore” section that shows trending posts and recommendations based on your interests.
On desktop, you’ll see a separate Explore feed to the left of your main News Feed. On mobile, tap the Feeds tab to access Explore. Here you can browse different types of public content:
- Stories – Popular public posts
- Reels – Short entertaining videos
- Live Videos – Livestreams from public pages
- Today In – Daily news recap for your city
- Newsworthy – Top news recommended for you
Follow pages, topics and influencers you find interesting so their posts appear in your main News Feed as well. The Explore feed is a great discovery tool.
Use Lists to Separate Friends and Interests
Lists allow you to organize friends, pages, groups and other connections into categories. For example, you could have a “Close Friends” list, a “Work Colleagues” list, or lists by interest like “Food” and “Travel”.
Posts from people and pages in lists will appear in a separate News Feed from your main feed. This lets you break up your connections into segments. The benefit is you can check them separately when you want to focus on those updates.
On desktop, the left menu shows your lists under “More”. On mobile, go to Menu > Lists. To create a new list, click “+ Create List” and add connections.
When viewing a list feed, click “Prioritize who to see first” to pin your favorite connections within that list.
Adjust How Many Posts You See
In your News Feed Preferences, there is a setting called “Feed Quality Preferences”. This controls the volume of posts you see from friends, groups, pages and public content.
On desktop, click the three dot menu in your News Feed and select “News Feed Preferences”. On mobile, go to Menu > News Feed Preferences.
Under Feed Quality Preferences you’ll see sliders for Friends, Groups, Pages and Suggested for You. Drag the sliders left or right to decrease or increase the amount of those posts.
For example, if your feed is cluttered with too many public posts, drag “Suggested for You” left. If you never see updates from your hobby groups, increase the “Groups” slider.
Snooze or Unfollow Annoying Posts
Seeing too many posts from a person, page, group or topic? You have the option to snooze or unfollow them.
To snooze someone, hover over their post and select “Snooze for 30 days”. You won’t see any posts from them for the next 30 days. After that, their content will reappear.
Snoozing is temporary. If you want to permanently reduce someone’s posts, unfollow them. Click the “Following” button on their profile and choose Unfollow. Their public posts won’t show up in your feed anymore.
You can also snooze or unfollow entire pages, groups and topics the same way. Just hover over their posts and use the menu.
See All Your Interactions in Activity Log
Wondering what you’ve been up to on Facebook lately? The Activity Log tool shows all your activity in chronological order, like posts, comments, searches, reactions and more.
To access it, click the down arrow at top right on desktop and choose “Activity Log”. On mobile, go to Menu > Activity Log.
This lets you review everything you’ve done on Facebook across posts, friends, groups, events and other interactions. It can help jog your memory about previous activity.
You can also delete and manage your old activities through the log. Click or tap on any item to bring up options like “Delete Activity” and “Limit Old Posts”.
Conclusion
Customizing your Facebook News Feed allows you to shape the experience to match your unique interests. Prioritizing friends, pages, groups and topics you care about ensures you always see relevant updates.
Refining your feed improves your daily Facebook experience. Use the News Feed Preferences tool frequently to check in and make adjustments. Discover new connections around your passions. Follow trending public content through Explore.
Remember to use snooze or unfollow for any irritating posts. And review your Activity Log to manage previous interactions. With these News Feed customization tips, you can craft a personalized Facebook experience that brings you joy daily.
Following people and topics you love keeps you informed and entertained throughout the day. The time you spend on Facebook becomes more positive and meaningful. So be proactive in shaping your ideal feed that provides value.
Facebook’s algorithm does try to show you relevant content. But the system doesn’t know your preferences perfectly. By giving direct input on what you want to see, you take control over your experience. Your News Feed becomes a source of happiness and inspiration.
Stay connected with dear friends who uplift you. Keep up with pages that align to your worldview. Support communities that share your ideals. Foster an environment where you feel accepted, engaged and informed.
The power lies in your hands to curate a joyful space. Enjoy the adventures, laughs and discoveries that await as you customize your Facebook News Feed to match your dreams.