Facebook Overhauls News Feed to Prioritize ‘Meaningful’ Posts

Facebook has vowed to prioritize “meaningful interaction” among users with a dramatic overhaul of its News Feed, which it says will now focus more on posts from users’ family and friends and less on viral videos. “We want to make sure that our products are not just fun, but are good for people,” Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, said Thursday. “We need to refocus the system,” he said. The changes will reportedly take effect over the next few weeks, with users gradually seeing fewer viral videos and posts shared by media companies and brands. The company is also considering changes that would elevate news outlets considered more credible over publishers that might not be deemed as trustworthy, The Wall Street Journal reports. The move comes after the social-networking giant faced criticism for apparently prioritizing misleading and bogus news stories in users’ News Feeds. After The Daily Beast revealed the existence of several Kremlin-operated impostor accounts using the social network to stoke political tensions during the 2016 presidential election, the company admitted that Russian propaganda had reached about 150 million Americans around the time of the vote.