A NEW LOOK FOR FACEBOOK’S NEWS FEED DIGITAL RECOMMENDATIONS
Last week, Facebook unveiled plans to implement large-scale changes to the appearance and usability of the news feed. It will be redesigned to appear cleaner and have a personalized “newspaper” feel. Below please find a top line overview of the updates as well as key takeaways for how brands can leverage the proposed changes. OVERVIEW OF UPDATES A MORE RELEVANT NEWS FEED(S)
A CONSISTENT EXPERIENCE ACROSS PLATFORMS
• While the news feed will still show all posts (Edgerank algorithm has not changed), there will be new, dedicated feeds users can select to filter their news feed. For example, a user can select “All Friends,” which would only show their friends posts, or “Photos” to view only posts that are photos, or users can select “Following,” which would only show pages they’ve liked.
• The mobile, tablet, and desktop experience will almost mirror each other, whereas they currently look very different.
• Ads such as sponsored stories can show up in any feed, even the “All Friends” feed. • The “Following” feed (pages a user has liked) will appear in chronological order, allowing users to more easily discover brand content.
APPS WILL BE A BIGGER PART OF TIMELINE • Content from apps will be more prominent in the form of an apps section which will display next to user’s photos and user’s friends list as well as in the “About” section. • To simplify how apps are displayed on timeline, facebook is replacing aggregations with app sections.
COMMITMENT TO VISUAL STORYTELLING • It’s been reported by Facebook that the most commonly posted stories are photos. As such, photos will now appear larger, providing a more visual experience. • Users can select to view a “Photos feed” which, will display just photos – e.g., photos uploaded directly to Facebook and posted from Instagram. • Both organic and paid page “Liked” stories will now display the page’s cover photo in addition to users profile pictures and friends that like the page. • The new Timeline navigation is switching places with the ads that currently live on the top right side.
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The “Following” feed (pages a user has liked) will appear in chronological order, allowing users to more easily discover brand content.
KEY TAKEAWAYS • The new content layout provides vibrant visuals, creating an easier way for brands to showcase content, resulting in more engaged users. • Moving forward, brand content calendars should be sure to include more photos as part of their posts. Photos should be rich and eye-catching, as it will be the focal point of the feed. • Make sure your cover photo tells the brand story — you have an opportunity to provide more context about the page to the user. • Due to the chronological order of the “Following” feed, brands should pay close attention to when their fans engage with them most and post accordingly.
For more information, please contact:
Mitzi Emrich
Chief Social Media Strategist 646.837.9418 | memrich@mww.com | www.mww.com
© MWW GROUP, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
To get the new news feed before the general public you can join the wait list here: https://www.facebook.com/ about/newsfeed
SOURCES • http://www.facebook-studio.com/news/item/a-new-look-fornews-feed • http://allfacebook.com/facebooks-revamped-news-feedaspires-to-be-a-personalized-newspaper_b112410