Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in a recent post that the company plans to switch up the News Feed in order to bring focus back to friends and family and encourage “more meaningful social interactions.”
This announcement comes after a December blog post in which the social media platform admitted that Facebook can be bad for you if you spend a lot of time “passively consuming information and not interacting with people.”
In his latest post Zuckerberg wrote, “The research shows that when we use social media to connect with people we care about, it can be good for our well-being. We can feel more connected and less lonely, and that correlates with long term measures of happiness and health. On the other hand, passively reading articles or watching videos — even if they’re entertaining or informative — may not be as good.”
So, in the forthcoming News Feed shake up, expect to see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media, and more of what your friends and family are liking and sharing. As a result of the changes publishers will almost certainly see traffic drop and video views decrease.
Zuckerberg rationalized that the changes will make for a better Facebook experience, but might cause people to spend less time on the platform.
“I also expect the time you do spend on Facebook will be more valuable,” he wrote.
The changes will take effect over the coming weeks.