Facebook has made a strategic decision to shift away from being a source of news for its users. This means that news stories from media outlets will no longer show up in Facebook’s News Feed. There are a few key reasons behind this major change on the social media platform.
Facebook Wants To Focus On “Meaningful Social Interactions”
In 2018, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that the company would begin prioritizing “meaningful social interactions” in the News Feed. This meant de-emphasizing public content, including news stories, in favor of personal posts from friends and family.
Zuckerberg explained that Facebook’s algorithms would start ranking such intimate social exchanges higher than content from media outlets and brands. The goal was to facilitate more substantive connections between users on the platform, rather than just passively viewing news and video clips.
Too Much News Was Bad For User Well-Being
Facebook also made the change because they found too much news in the feed was negatively impacting user well-being. Studies showed that passive consumption of news stories, especially negative and polarizing political stories, could leave people feeling anxious, divided, and misinformed.
Facebook determined that exposure to too much news versus personal updates from friends led to less satisfaction with the platform overall. They wanted to promote more active sharing and engagement between connections instead.
News Industry Disinformation Concerns
There were also growing concerns that news outlets were contributing to the spread of false and hyper-partisan information on Facebook. Foreign influence operations were using news posts and political ads to inflame tensions and spread misinformation.
While Facebook was hesitant to be the arbiter of truth when it came to news, limiting news exposure allowed them to sidestep many of these issues with disinformation. Promoting social sharing instead helped make their algorithms and feeds less susceptible to manipulation by bad actors.
Advertising-Based Business Model
On a simpler level, Facebook has an advertising-based business model that depends on users spending a lot of time engaged on the platform. Personal sharing and interactions between friends and family tend to keep users more consistently active and involved than passive news consumption does.
So emphasizing the social network over news allows Facebook to maximize the time people spend on site and the number of ad impressions they serve.
News Industry Pushback
Facebook’s move to deprioritize news was met with significant criticism from media outlets. Many news publishers had become heavily reliant on Facebook to drive traffic to their sites. Having their content show up less often in Facebook’s feeds was a huge blow to their business models.
Some denounced the change as Facebook abdicating its responsibility to support a free press and an informed society. Others saw it simply as Facebook privileging its own profits over outside organizations.
However, as a private company, Facebook is free to make unilateral choices about what content it promotes on its platform, even if those choices negatively impact news outlets.
Alternatives for Consuming News on Facebook
While less news will appear directly in your main Facebook feed now, there are still dedicated places to find news on the platform for those interested.
News Feed Preferences
You can adjust your News Feed preferences to see more or fewer posts from news outlets specifically. Go to Settings -> News Feed Preferences -> Prioritize Who To See First -> Edit. From here you can give higher priority to news pages you want to keep seeing updates from.
News Tab
Facebook has a dedicated News Tab that Aggregates top stories across outlets. Go to the Menu -> News to find curated national headlines, local news, and topics you can follow. You can also like specific sources to see more of their content.
Follow Pages Directly
Search for and follow the Facebook Pages of news outlets you like. That way their posts will show up in your main feed. Make sure to turn on notifications as well to stay on top of their updates.
Subscribe to Paid News Products
Many news outlets now offer paid subscription options for exclusive or ad-free content on Facebook. Subscribe to access premium online news content from your favorite publications.
Use Third-Party News Aggregators
Platforms like Apple News and Flipboard can be good alternatives to get news customized to your interests without depending on Facebook.
Check Media Outlets’ Direct Sites/Apps
Go straight to the source itself by downloading news outlets’ mobile apps or browsing their websites to stay informed. This ensures you get all their latest content directly.
The Future of News on Facebook
It remains unclear if news will eventually make a comeback in Facebook’s main feeds. However, Facebook continues leveraging its massive user base and data targeting capabilities to build new monetization products for publishers.
These include Facebook News, a section within the app where users can access curated news stories, and Bulletin, a subscription platform where creators can publish directly to followers.
Facebook will likely keep experimenting with ways to balance its social engagement goals with supporting the news industry financially. But the days of news dominating users’ feeds appear to be over as Facebook focuses on more personal, social experiences.
Conclusion
In summary, the decline of news on Facebook stems from the company’s strategic shift toward meaningful social interactions over passive media consumption. While detrimental to news outlets, Facebook believes this change promotes greater user satisfaction and engagement on its platform. Alternatives still exist for accessing news on Facebook itself for interested users. But the company’s feed algorithm will continue prioritizing personal posts over public news stories as per its renewed social networking focus.
| Year | Key Events |
|---|---|
| 2016 | Facebook introduces algorithm changes after Trending Topics controversy over bias. |
| 2017 | Test begins of Explore Feed without news stories or ads. |
| 2018 | Zuckerberg announces renewed focus on “meaningful social interactions.” |
| 2018 | Facebook begins demoting news in the main News Feed. |
| 2019 | Facebook launches separate News Tab to highlight top stories. |
| 2021 | Facebook introduces Bulletin newsletter platform for creators. |
Key Reasons for the Decline of News on Facebook
- Desire to promote meaningful social interactions
- Too much news was negatively impacting user well-being
- Concerns about spread of misinformation through news
- Advertising-based business model favors personal sharing
- Significant backlash from news publishers
Ways Users Can Still Access News on Facebook
- Adjust News Feed preferences
- Check the dedicated News Tab
- Follow specific outlet Pages
- Subscribe to paid news products on Facebook
- Use external news aggregators
- Visit outlets’ direct websites/apps
Facebook’s algorithmic values have fundamentally changed. While you may need to take a more proactive approach now, there are still multiple avenues on Facebook to find news that matters to you. But the days when news filled up your main feed are gone as Facebook pivots to its social networking roots.