Keeping its push to remove fake news from its website, Facebook will now be asking users to rank the news organizations that they trust.
Depending on how trustworthy the sources rank, Facebook will prioritize those sources. The social media company recently surveyed its users to see what news sources they find reliable.
Fake News Phaseout
The results of the recent survey by Facebook will be used to gauge the ranking of news stories. By using its users to rank the news organizations, it's able to shake off any questions of bias.
Facebook wants to bring down the amount of news on its News Feed down from 5 percent to 4 percent.
"I've asked our product teams to make sure we prioritize news that is trustworthy, informative, and local. And we're starting next week with trusted sources. There's too much sensationalism, misinformation and polarization in the world today," said Mark Zuckerberg. "Social media enables people to spread information faster than ever before, and if we don't specifically tackle these problems, then we end up amplifying them."
Zuckerberg says that the survey will work by asking those that are familiar with a news source whether they find it trustworthy. This eliminates those who aren't familiar with a news source from the equation.
He adds that some sources are trusted by those who regularly consume it, while others are trusted by even those that don't follow them. Zuckerberg hopes to promote high-quality news on the News Feed.
He further argues that this survey will allow the company to shift to prioritizing news that is found to be a good source of news by the user base.
Facebook Is Reducing Branded Content
However, there is concern among publishers that this change will leave them out. Facebook previously announced that it wanted to make its News Feed more intimate again. It would overhaul the way content is displayed on its News Feed.
Zuckerberg noted that businesses, brands, and pages were posting more content than friends and family on Facebook. Now, the company will shift toward more content posted by friends and family to focus more on relationships and community.
Consequently, this could hurt businesses that depend on traffic from Facebook. The transition could see financial hit toward Facebook as well. By showing fewer videos and posts from businesses that pay for the exposure, it could also lower Facebook's bottom line.
What's more, people will also be spending less time on the social network. However, Zuckerberg countered by saying that time spent on "Facebook will be more valuable." He also added that the move would be good for the community.
