Facebook revamps News Feed: 5 things you should know about it

Facebook on Wednesday announced a major revamp for its News Feed feature. The update gives users greater control over what they see and what they share on the platform. It also gives them a better understanding of how the News Feed suggestions work.

To make changes to their Facebook accounts as per the newly released features, all users need to do is go to the News Feed preferences and Privacy Settings in the Facebook app and make the changes that they deem necessary.

Here are five things you need to know about the new News Feed:

-- Facebook users can now control people who comment on their post. They can make their posts public or pick between ‘Friends’ and ‘Profiles and Pages you mention’ options.

-- There is a new Favorites tool that lets users control and prioritise their posts from friends and Pages that they care about the most. Users can select up to 30 friends and Pages to include in Favorites. These posts will appear higher in ranked News Feed and can also be viewed as a separate filter.

-- Facebook also has a Feed Filter Bar that offers easier access to Most Recent, making it easier for users to switch between an algorithmically-ranked News Feed and a feed that is sorted chronologically with the newest posts first. Android app users can access the Feed Filter Bar when they scroll up on News Feed. This functionality will be available in the iOS app in the coming weeks.

-- Additionally, there is a new Snooze button that lets users hide posts from a person, Page or group temporarily. It also enables users to turn off political ads.

-- The company said that it is also providing more context around the content that it suggests in News Feed by expanding “Why am I seeing this?.” This means that users will be able to tap on posts from the friends, Pages, and Groups that they follow as well as some of the posts Facebook suggest to you and get more context on why they’re appearing in their News Feeds.