Facebook Demotes News Feed Preferences

April 27th, 2008

Two weeks after it removed per-story (thumbs up/thumbs down) preferences from the News Feed, Facebook today further simplified the News Feed interface by removing (update) moving the Preferences link to the bottom of the page. News Feed Preferences allow users to indicate types of stories and people that they want to see more or less news about.

Apparently, while powerful ideas in theory, when taken in conjunction with other factors in Facebook’s News Feed algorithm both general and per-story News Feed preferences must not affect user satisfaction significantly enough to merit their presence. Facebook is apparently able to do a better job of choosing the right feed stories for you based on your behavior rather than the preferences you express - a significant technical accomplishment.

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Posted by Justin Smith

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8 Responses to “Facebook Demotes News Feed Preferences”

Jeff Says:
April 27th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
I’ve still got the preferences link, though it’s at the bottom of the page. They better not take it away, there are lots of people I’d like to remain “friends” with, but who would show up in my feed wayyyy too often.`
Jordan Says:
April 27th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Look at the bottom of your News Feed.
Will Says:
April 27th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Looks like preferences are still there to me .. Story Types sliders, More About These Friends list, and Less About These Friends list. Loaded for me at http://www.facebook.com/feed_prefs.php
Amin Issa Says:
April 27th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
Just to note, it’s not removed. It’s simply repositioned. Instead of being at the top right of your News Feed, it’s at the bottom right of your News Feed, far from where you would usually go to while reading if you keep up with the flow of your News Feed over the day.
Kevin Gao Says:
April 27th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
seems like the right move - i never really noticed changes based on those preferences and i’m willing to bet 50% of people didn’t use them and the other 50% didn’t bother to tweak the preferences enough (and vote enough times) to have significant impact.
zpjet Says:
May 24th, 2008 at 1:45 am
is it only me who is missing the one and only most important slider - APPLICATIONS?
Rhicy Says:
October 14th, 2008 at 4:50 am
Занимаюсь дизайном и хочу попросить автора http://www.insidefacebook.com отправить шаьлончик на мой мыил) Готов заплатить…
concerned user Says:
October 31st, 2008 at 8:50 pm
ATTENTION FACEBOOK USERS
ATTENTION FACEBOOK USERS

Wish you had approval on tagged pictures before they hit newsfeed?

http://facebookprivacy.petitionhost.com