Facebook is constantly looking for ways to refine the stream of posts it shows on your News Feed, and now it’s adding a new variable to the mix: the time you spend looking at posts.
The company’s researchers found that in several instances, a person may be interested in a post even if they didn’t comment on, like or share the story. Sometimes people want to read about a current event or curious article without wanting to interact with it.
It’s not hard to imagine how this could come to play. You might see an article in your feed about an opposing political view, which may prompt you to read it out of curiosity without liking or sharing.
Of course, this measure has its limitations too. Facebook points out that sometimes people could spend ten seconds reading something because they were interested, or it might just be because they’re on a super slow connection, so the algorithm will take into account how view times compare to other posts seen by the same user.
The change should be completed in the coming weeks, but has already begun rolling out. And if you’re an admin for a business Page, Facebook says you shouldn’t worry: thinks overall distribution of posts won’t be significantly affected by the update.
Read next: Facebook study suggests a quarter of links you click on are against your own political views
Image credit: Gil C / Shutterstock.com
➤ News Feed FYI: Taking Into Account Time Spent on Stories [Facebook]
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