Facebook's News Feed has gone through a number of changes over the years, with the company attempting to streamline the best way for users to visualize the content they care most about right at the top of the social media site. Today, Facebook hopes to be one step closer to that goal, with the roll out of a new "See First" option to its iOS app that will allow users to choose up to 30 people or fan pages that will automatically appear at the top of their News Feed every time they check the site (via Re/code).

Facebook_news_feed_screenshots_2.0

Photo via The Verge

As Re/code reports, Facebook promises that any pages or people added to a user's See First list won't be used to target customers with ads. In fact, Facebook hopes that the more streamlined experience will encourage users to visit the site more often, and perhaps counterbalance the fact that users may generate less ad income for the company thanks to not needing to scroll through the News Feed for as long anymore.

“It sounds counterintuitive, but the worse we do on rankings, the more we make people try and scroll through, the more likely they are to just go away,” a company spokesperson told Re/code. “If we show you the stuff you really really want first, you’ll come back more often.”

The update will present users with possible suggestions for following pages and people when initially beginning the process to set-up a See First list, and also allow users to unfollow friends and pages from within the app, which you could only do on the web in the past. The update for Facebook [Direct Link] will begin rolling out throughout the day today, with the company promising the same features will be coming to Android and the web sometime soon.

Top Rated Comments

TonyC28 Avatar
115 months ago
I'm kind of sick of Facebook these days, but if they would give me the option to permanently set my News Feed to simply appear in chronological order that would be great.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bushido Avatar
115 months ago
can they just stop with all this filter crap? just show everything in line of the news feed. one of the reasons i no longer use the app is cuz it always reverts back to the top news bs.

i dont know a single person who uses anything BUT the chronological order. who wants to see stuff from days ago mixed with current events
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nepalisherpa Avatar
115 months ago
What I want is a default option to view every post in a chronological order. Is it really difficult to provide this option?
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chrfr Avatar
115 months ago
I'm kind of sick of Facebook these days, but if they would give me the option to permanently set my News Feed to simply appear in chronological order that would be great.
I agree, but even with that setting, Facebook still "curates" what you see in a seemingly random fashion.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ArtOfWarfare Avatar
115 months ago
Also, Facebook appears to have silently introduced a new mascot, seen in the screenshots in the article:

Crab with a tuft of blonde hair.

Crabs with blonde hair definitely makes me think of my friends. I'm glad they have this mascot now.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Dan DeWilde Avatar
115 months ago
The average user would see over 1500 posts per day if they showed you every update in order. You aren't going to go through all that. Instead they have been surfacing the stuff that's most relevant to you and the stuff you have shown that you like to see the most. Quit pretending you'd be interested in scrolling through all the Pages that aunt Ruth liked just to see your friend's videos.
As it stands, I currently see THE SAME updates multiple times/day because someone made a comment to it. Just show the status updates in chronological order based on the time they were originally POSTED, not based on the last time it was commented on. Its not that hard - that's how they used to do it until they tried to get all fancy which is when people started getting ticked off at FB.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Delta Feature

Delta Game Emulator Now Available From App Store on iPhone

Wednesday April 17, 2024 9:58 am PDT by
Game emulator apps have come and gone since Apple announced App Store support for them on April 5, but now popular game emulator Delta from developer Riley Testut is available for download. Testut is known as the developer behind GBA4iOS, an open-source emulator that was available for a brief time more than a decade ago. GBA4iOS led to Delta, an emulator that has been available outside of...
iOS NES Emulator Bimmy Feature

NES Emulator for iPhone and iPad Now Available on App Store [Removed]

Tuesday April 16, 2024 11:33 am PDT by
The first approved Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) emulator for the iPhone and iPad was made available on the App Store today following Apple's rule change. The emulator is called Bimmy, and it was developed by Tom Salvo. On the App Store, Bimmy is described as a tool for testing and playing public domain/"homebrew" games created for the NES, but the app allows you to load ROMs for any...
iPhone 15 Pro Action Button Translate

All iPhone 16 Models to Feature Action Button, But Usefulness Debated

Tuesday April 16, 2024 6:54 am PDT by
Last September, Apple's iPhone 15 Pro models debuted with a new customizable Action button, offering faster access to a handful of functions, as well as the ability to assign Shortcuts. Apple is poised to include the feature on all upcoming iPhone 16 models, so we asked iPhone 15 Pro users what their experience has been with the additional button so far. The Action button replaces the switch ...
maxresdefault

Hands-On With the New App Store Delta Game Emulator

Wednesday April 17, 2024 12:19 pm PDT by
A decade ago, developer Riley Testut released the GBA4iOS emulator for iOS, and since it was against the rules at the time, Apple put a stop to downloads. Emulators have been a violation of the App Store rules for years, but that changed on April 5 when Apple suddenly reversed course and said that it was allowing retro game emulators on the App Store. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel ...
iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature

iOS 18 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Friday April 12, 2024 11:11 am PDT by
iOS 18 is expected to be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. iOS 18 is rumored to include new generative AI features for Siri and many apps, and Apple plans to add RCS support to the Messages app for an improved texting experience between iPhones and Android devices. The update is also expected to introduce a more...