Is Facebook planning to change the News Feed as we know it?

Facebook is considering changing its News Feed by separating social posts from public posts by introducing a new Explore Feed dedicated solely to public posts.

This suggestion has stemmed from a series of tests that Facebook has recently been running in Sri Lanka, Bolivia, Slovakia, Serbia, Guatemala and Cambodia.

Adam Mosseri, the Head of News Feed at Facebook, has assured the public that these tests do not signify an imminent change to the Facebook News Feed feature.

“There have been a number of reports about a test we’re running in Sri Lanka, Bolivia, Slovakia, Serbia, Guatemala, and Cambodia. Some have interpreted this test as a future product we plan to deliver globally. We currently have no plans to roll this test out further,” he said in his official statement.

The idea of separating social posts from public posts is one that has already been explored by Facebook for a while as a result of user feedback suggesting that customers want an easier way to see posts from friends and family, along with having a separate space for social posts and public posts.

“We always listen to our community about ways we might improve News Feed. People tell us they want an easier way to see posts from friends and family. We are testing having one dedicated space for people to keep up with their friends and family, and another separate space, called Explore, with posts from pages,” wrote Mosseri.

The series of tests performed in the given countries have not proven to be highly popular or successful. There have been several bugs reported by some of the Facebook users in these countries, according to post on Medium by Filip Struharik.  

One of those complaints is that people in Slovakia could only find popular content from Facebook, but they couldn’t find pages that they personally follow in the Explore Feed.

The tests also suggest a decrease in social media traffic to the biggest Slovak news profiles (see below image). Sixty of the biggest Slovak media pages have four times fewer interactions (shares, comments, likes) since the start of the tests. 

Despite the series of tests Facebook performed and the fact that a lot of Facebook users would like to have a separate space for public posts, it isn’t a change that Facebook is likely to implement globally in the immediate future.

“As with all tests we run, we may learn new things that lead to additional tests in the coming months so we can better understand what works best for people and publishers,” concluded Mosseri’s statement.