Table of Contents
- Introduction
- No longer trending
- So what’s next? Watch out for “Today In”
- Watch section with news video
- Breaking News Label
- Wrapping Up
Introduction
Back in 2014, Facebook added a new chapter in its social story with the introduction of the “Trending Section”. With this section, the platform ensured to keep its users aware about the topics which were popular with the Facebook community. With around 5 categories (All News, Politics, Science and Technology, Sports, and Entertainment), it helped users find the most “trending” topics.
In fact, this trending section offered a hack for content marketers to build their content around specific categories and find more visibility through it.
Facebook says they are removing this section this week.
No longer trending
In its farewell to Trending, Facebook told that the product had become less relevant for its users and as a consequence, it accounted for only about 1.5% clicks on average. This shift is mainly a result of changing user preferences in consuming news content. Since Facebook users are increasingly using videos to get their information and relying more on their mobile devices to access their social accounts, there is a greater need to change news delivery mechanism in accordance with the demands.
So what’s next? Watch out for “Today In”
Today In is a local news solution that connects people to local publishers in their city. This is currently being tested by the platform in six cities and can be a beneficial solution for local publishers. The platform is employing machine learning software to deliver content through this section.
Watch section with news video
Facebook is planning on rolling out a dedicated section called “Watch” for its US audience. This section will comprise live coverage as well daily news briefings.
Breaking News Label
Facebook is offering a “breaking news indicator” to around 80 publishers at the moment. This is being tested for publishers in North America, South America, Europe, India and Australia. This indicator is a way for publishers to cut through the feed noise. Also, as can be seen in the image below, this feature is definitely mobile-friendly. Currently, this indicator doesn’t have any impact on rankings but once the test results are evaluated, breaking news indicators could become a ranking metric for the news feed.
Wrapping Up
While trending section is leaving our profiles, Facebook is making way for more meaningful news content. This could also be a potential measure to fight fake news. With these rollouts, Facebook promises to deliver high-quality content to its users.
