Facebook will begin showing users' posts that are more relevant to popular events or topics of discussion.
Users' News Feeds will now push less-relevant posts further down the page, potentially showing users posts that are much more engaging and interesting to them.
"Our goal with News Feed is to show everyone the right content at the right time so they don't miss the stories that are important to them," said the company in a statement. "Our latest update to News Feed ranking looks at two new factors to determine if a story is more important in the moment than other types of updates."
While Facebook previously decided which posts should be shown first by how many people were liking or sharing them, the company will now take into consideration when people are liking and sharing them. This basically means that trending topics will be a large part of how the social media website decides which posts should be placed where.
"One way we show timely content higher-up in News Feed is to show people stories about things that are trending as soon as they occur, so you can immediately know what your friends or favorite Pages are saying about the stories of the day," continued the blog post.
Essentially, like on Twitter, Facebook will show posts that relate to, for example, a sports game that is happening at the time of the post. After the game, posts will be displayed far further down on the page because of the fact that it is no longer as relevant.
For users this will translate into fewer posts from days ago and more posts from recent events being shown.
While the social media company frequently tweaks its News Feed algorithm, this is one of its larger updates over the past few months.
For those who use Facebook as a way to keep up with the news, the addition could be very handy. For those who do not log in as frequently, however, it could mean that they miss out on popular posts.
Facebook will be rolling out changes gradually over the next few weeks.
"We will be rolling out these changes gradually and do not expect posts to see significant changes in distribution as a result of this update," continued the company. "If a Page posts about a trending topic or if a post sees a high velocity of engagement early on that then drops off, that post may begin to see increased distribution early on and less distribution over time. Pages should keep producing great content that is relevant and resonates with their audience."
