Tech giant Facebook will now step into the world of news, announcing a beginning of tests for Facebook News – a new section of the app, dedicated to providing you with you own custom news feed of what you would like to see and know about.
The tests will begin in the US, as Facebook share results of a survey, which featured over 100,000 people on Facebook about their interests, and discoveries that many categories are under-served by the website, but are wanted by the public, such as entertainment, health, business and sports.
There are a few key features Facebook has identified and said will be the main focuses on how and why you will get the news you see on your feed: Today’s Stories, Personalization, Topic sections, Your Subscriptions and Controls.
Each has a different meaning and characteristic, but the common goal is to provide suitable news for each individual using the app – today’s stories, for example, are chosen by a team of journalists to keep you informed on news all throughout the day, while personalization, your subscriptions and controls are more focused on conforming to each individual’s tastes, basing the news that show up on news you regularly read and are interested in, the options to hide articles and topics you don’t want to see.
Not everything however will be decided by machines and technology, as Facebook announced a curation team will be formed and it’s responsibility will be managing the Today’s Stories section – with editorial independence, the team will select stories based on Facebook’s guidelines, making sure there are no violations and nothing with, for example, hate speech, clickbait and others, pops up on your feed.
The beginning of the test will mostly feature local original reporting and publications from the largest major areas across the US, such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Philadelphia, Houston, Washington DC, Miami, Atlanta and Boston.
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