Why fake news is giving way to friends and family

Q What are the changes Facebook has announced? A Facebook is changing how its main page, the news feed, works. It will be relegating posts from newspapers, businesses and brands, while boosting posts from friends and family.

This means that people will soon be seeing more posts from people they know, rather than streams of clickbait and news stories, although there will still be adverts.

Facebook says the change is aimed at creating more meaningful interactions between users.

Q Why is it doing this?

A Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg says the change will be “good for people’s well-being”. Facebook believes that people who passively scroll through the site glancing at news or videos are less happy, while those who engage with friends enjoy using the social network more.

Others say it could be a clever ploy to boost user engagement, with Facebook gathering more data about its users and increasing money from advertising. It could also be to reduce the amount of news posted on the website, which would suit Facebook after it spent 2017 battling accusations it caused fake news to spread.

Q How different will your Facebook feed look? A Not all that different. While Facebook considered changing its news feed entirely, it is thought posts will still appear in the same place. Now updates, pictures and videos from friends and real people will be given priority over the news stories and viral videos that have flooded Facebook.

Q What will the impact be on businesses that use the platform? A Many publishers worry the changes could hit their web traffic as Facebook cuts them out of the top spots in its news feed. Some believe Facebook is about to prioritise its groups feature, which could see more businesses looking to engage with users directly.