San Francisco: Facebook will change the way it does business to emphasise "meaningful social interactions" rather than the type of News Feed scrolling that critics say is addictive, chief executive Mark Zuckerberg says.Users should see the change across the next few months. "The first changes you'll see will be in News Feed, where you can expect to see more from your friends, family and groups," he said. Zuckerberg said in a post on Facebook that the changes would be "major" and lead to a short-term drop in the time spent on the network, but that it would be better for users and for the business over the long term.
The social media platform boss said his company felt a responsibility to ensure that their users not only enjoyed the product, but were not being negatively impacted by it.
"The research shows that when we use social media to connect with people we care about, it can be good for our wellbeing," Zuckerberg wrote."We can feel more connected and less lonely, and that correlates with long term measures of happiness and health.Zuckerberg wrote that users had complained that content from the wider public was pushing aside posts and photographs from friends and family."As we roll this out, you'll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media.
"And the public content you see more will be held to the same standard — it should encourage meaningful interactions between people."Facebook recorded more than 2 billion users per month during 2017 and Zuckerberg expects the time users spend on the platform will drop."But I also expect the time you do spend on Facebook will be more valuable," he said."And if we do the right thing, I believe that will be good for our community and our business over the long term too."The latest move represents a major shift, one intended to highlight the posts users are most likely to engage with rather than passively consume.(UNI)
