Facebook’s News Feed is a constantly updating list of stories from people and pages you follow. The stories that show up in your News Feed are determined by an algorithm that aims to show you the posts it thinks you will find most interesting and engaging. While you used to be able to manage your News Feed preferences and prioritize posts from certain people or pages, Facebook removed that functionality in 2014.
What happened to News Feed preferences on Facebook?
Prior to 2014, Facebook allowed users to access their “News Feed Preferences” to control which updates they saw in their feed. You could choose to always see posts from certain friends, pages or groups at the top of your feed. Or you could hide updates from people or pages you wanted to see less of.
However, in 2014 Facebook removed this ability to manually filter your News Feed. According to Facebook, only a small percentage of users were actively managing their News Feed preferences, so they decided to do away with the feature entirely. Their goal was to simplify and streamline the News Feed experience for most users.
Why did Facebook remove News Feed preferences?
There were a few reasons why Facebook decided to get rid of granular News Feed controls:
- Too complex – For casual Facebook users, managing detailed News Feed filters was too complicated.
- Hindered discovery – Allowing people to only see posts from selected friends/pages meant they would miss out on new stories they might be interested in.
- Undermined algorithm – Facebook wanted their algorithm alone to determine the ranking of stories based on relevancy, not user preferences.
Essentially, Facebook decided that curating your News Feed manually was at odds with their vision for how the News Feed should work. They wanted to consolidate control over what you see in one centralized algorithm.
Are there any ways to influence what I see in my News Feed?
While you no longer have direct News Feed filtering options, there are still a few ways to shape what kinds of posts you see more or less of:
Interact with posts you like
Facebook’s algorithm pays attention to how you engage with posts – liking, commenting, sharing or clicking on links. Being more active with certain posts sends signals to show you more content like that in the future.
Snooze people or pages
If you want to temporarily see less of someone’s posts, you can “Snooze” them for 30 days. Their updates will show up less in your feed during that time.
Unfollow people or pages
Permanently removing someone from your News Feed by unfollowing them will ensure you don’t see any of their posts moving forward.
React to “See First” prompt
If you see a post you really like, you may get a prompt offering to always show that person at the top of your feed. Selecting this will prioritize their posts.
Manage interests
Go to your News Feed Preferences and make sure you have interests selected so Facebook knows what topics you want to see updates about.
Follow topics
You can start following certain topics like “Food” or “Sports” to see more relevant posts about those subjects.
Prioritize close friends
Go to your News Feed Preferences and select “Prioritize who to see first” to put posts from close friends and family at the top of your feed.
Join groups
Engage in interest-based groups focused on topics you want to see more of in your feed.
What does Facebook say about missing feed preferences?
Since removing granular News Feed controls, Facebook has maintained it’s in the best interest of users. Some of their reasoning includes:
- People missed important posts when filtering feeds.
- Too many settings overwhelmed most users.
- Letting their technology curate feeds removes bias.
- They can improve relevancy using artificial intelligence analysis.
- Focus is on showing users meaningful content.
- Controls are still available to snooze or unfollow unwanted posts.
Facebook maintains that their automated ranking isdesigned to show you the posts you are most likely to be interested in at the top of your News Feed. As their algorithm evolves, they believe they can get better at predicting relevant content for each user.
Will Facebook ever bring back News Feed preferences?
It’s unlikely that Facebook will restore the same News Feed preferences from pre-2014. Their stance remains that providing too much manual control over feeds is unnecessary for most people. The large majority of users are happy letting Facebook’s algorithm curate their News Feed based on machine learning techniques and user data. Bringing back granular feed preferences would go against the simplified experience Facebook is aiming for.
However, Facebook does say they are always looking for new ways to give users more input on what they want to see. For example, the “Snooze” feature provides temporary feed filtering based on user signals. It’s possible we could see additional controls emerge that align with Facebook’s shifting priorities and vision. But the days of manually filtering feeds and micromanaging updates are likely gone for good.
Tips for managing your News Feed
While exact News Feed filtering is no longer an option, you can still take back some control over what you see on Facebook using these tips:
1. Update your interests
Make sure the interests listed in your profile mirror your current hobbies and topics you want to follow. Facebook uses these to populate relevant posts.
2. Follow topics and groups
Curate content around topics you care about by following hashtags, public figures, news outlets, etc. Join interest-based groups as well.
3. Comment on preferred posts
Interact frequently with updates from people or pages you want to prioritize seeing in your feed.
4. Share types of posts you like
Actively sharing posts similar to your interests will signal to Facebook to show you more of that content.
5. Snooze annoyances temporarily
Mute people posting too much of something you’re not interested in and you’ll see less of them for a while.
6. Unfollow as a last resort
Permanently remove friends or pages from your feed who overwhelm you with undesired posts.
7. Prioritize close friends
Make sure the “Prioritize who to see first” setting shows posts from your closest connections on top.
8. React to relevance prompts
If you see “See First”, “Show More Like This” or similar prompts on posts you like, select them so Facebook learns your preferences.
9. Limit status updates
If your feed feels cluttered with too many text updates, you can filter to show more photos and links instead.
10. Provide feedback
Use options like “Show More/Less Like This” on posts to further teach Facebook your interests.
Additional questions about Facebook’s News Feed
How does the Facebook News Feed work?
The News Feed ranks stories using machine learning algorithms that predict which posts users are most likely to engage with based on past behavior, interests, connections to page authors and more factors. Higher ranked stories show up towards the top.
Why do I see posts from people I’m not friends with?
You may see posts from friends of friends or people your friends interact with frequently. Even public content from pages you don’t follow may appear if it’s popular and relevant to your tastes.
Why am I not seeing posts from a friend/page?
If you are no longer seeing posts from someone you are connected to, it likely means the algorithm believes that content is no longer relevant to your interests. Interacting with their posts can sometimes help their future rankings.
Can I reuse my legacy News Feed preferences?
No, when Facebook removed the ability to filter News Feeds in 2014, all existing preferences were deleted and cannot be restored. You’ll need to re-influence your feed using modern options like snoozing, unfollowing and interacting with preferred posts.
Conclusion
Facebook designed their News Feed algorithm to show relevant content without requiring manual configuration from users. While you can no longer explicitly filter what appears in your feed, you can use modern options like snoozing, unfollowing, reacting and managing interests to influence the posts you see. But Facebook’s priority remains having an AI-powered algorithm curate your personalized feed automatically based on engagement patterns and profile data.