Facebook Is Changing How Conservative Sites Appear in Your Newsfeed – Here’s How To Fix It

The Political Insider ^ | 1-29-2018 | Thomas

[UMCRevMom@aol.com]

As you have probably already noticed, Facebook is going through dramatic changes. Now, they are about to roll out massive updates to its newsfeed that will dramatically change the type of content you see

Facebook is going to focus on your nexus of family and friends, in addition to a list of what they label “trusted sources.”

Those “trusted sources” aren’t based on what you trust, but what they trust. They claim the pages will be based on “diverse and representative” criteria determined by sample pools of Facebook users. But no one – except Facebook itself – knows just what the rules are for the selection process.

Facebook noted they will rank news outlets it deems to be "reputable." Here is a recent Fox Business report on the massive changes:

VIDEO https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=8MOhsoDBI3Y

Facebook is under tremendous pressure from the left and anti-Trump Democrats in Congress to make changes after the 2016 election. And their hastily made changes will dramatically change how you read the news.

But there is a way to ensure you don’t miss stories from the The Political Insider. Below are the instructions for how to update your Facebook settings so that your newsfeed prioritizes posts by sites you follow, like The Political Insider, rather than letting the platform determine what you get to see.

Step 1) Go to the drop-down arrow at the top righthand corner and select "News Feed Preferences."

Step 2) Select "Prioritize who to see first."

Step 3) Select "Pages Only"

Otherwise, we highly recommend a secondary option, where you can go to the page of the site you follow (such as The Political Insider) and choose "See First" in the drop-down menu below the button labeled “Following.”

Here is an excerpt from Mark Zuckerberg that explains the platform's new emphasis on promoting "Trusted" news sources in order to protect against "sensationalism, misinformation, and polarization."

There's too much sensationalism, misinformation and polarization in the world today. Social media enables people to spread information faster than ever before, and if we don't specifically tackle these problems, then we end up amplifying them. That’s why it's important that News Feed promotes high quality news that helps build a sense of common ground.

The hard question we've struggled with is how to decide what news sources are broadly trusted in a world with so much division. We could try to make that decision ourselves, but that’s not something we're comfortable with. We considered asking outside experts, which would take the decision out of our hands but would likely not solve the objectivity problem. Or we could ask you — the community — and have your feedback determine the ranking.

We decided that having the community determine which sources are broadly trusted would be most objective.

Here's how this will work. As part of our ongoing quality surveys, we will now ask people whether they're familiar with a news source and, if so, whether they trust that source. The idea is that some news organizations are only trusted by their readers or watchers, and others are broadly trusted across society even by those who don't follow them directly. (We eliminate from the sample those who aren't familiar with a source, so the output is a ratio of those who trust the source to those who are familiar with it.)

This update will not change the amount of news you see on Facebook. It will only shift the balance of news you see towards sources that are determined to be trusted by the community. [https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10104445245963251]

Mark Zuckerberg about a week ago

Continuing our focus for 2018 to make sure the time we all spend on Facebook is time well spent...

Last week I announced a major change to encourage meaningful social interactions with family and friends over passive consumption. As a result, you'll see less public content, including news, video, and posts from brands. After this change, we expect news to make up roughly 4% of News Feed -- down from roughly 5% today. This is a big change, but news will always be a critical way for people to start conversations on important topics.

Today I'm sharing our second major update this year: to make sure the news you see, while less overall, is high quality. I've asked our product teams to make sure we prioritize news that is trustworthy, informative, and local. And we're starting next week with trusted sources.

There's too much sensationalism, misinformation and polarization in the world today. Social media enables people to spread information faster than ever before, and if we don't specifically tackle these problems, then we end up amplifying them. That's why it's important that News Feed promotes high quality news that helps build a sense of common ground.

The hard question we've struggled with is how to decide what news sources are broadly trusted in a world with so much division. We could try to make that decision ourselves, but that's not something we're comfortable with. We considered asking outside experts, which would take the decision out of our hands but would likely not solve the objectivity problem. Or we could ask you -- the community -- and have your feedback determine the ranking.

We decided that having the community determine which sources are broadly trusted would be most objective.

Here's how this will work. As part of our ongoing quality surveys, we will now ask people whether they're familiar with a news source and, if so, whether they trust that source. The idea is that some news organizations are only trusted by their readers or watchers, and others are broadly trusted across society even by those who don't follow them directly. (We eliminate from the sample those who aren't familiar with a source, so the output is a ratio of those who trust the source to those who are familiar with it.)

This update will not change the amount of news you see on Facebook. It will only shift the balance of news you see towards sources that are determined to be trusted by the community.

My hope is that this update about trusted news and last week's update about meaningful interactions will help make time on Facebook time well spent: where we're strengthening our relationships, engaging in active conversations rather than passive consumption, and, when we read news, making sure it's from high quality and trusted sources.

[Delta 21]

Still trying to block that smart ass Mark Zuckerberg from my newsfeed! When you get that figured out , give me a ping !

[ptsal]

Time for one-click social media account deletion.

FaceBook Freedom Act
Google Gag Act

[Boogieman]

“Here’s How To Fix It”

Ooh I know...

Don’t use Facebook!

[Boogieman]

“They are a public utility.”

Nah, they are just a website. Let’s not play silly games of redefining words to suit our political agenda like the left does.

[petitfour]

Every time a conservative Facebook user sees something from CNN or other MSM sources in their news feed, report it as fake news. Overwhelm the system.

[mombonn]

I’m a proud #neverfacebooker.

[Az Joe]

Bump

[drpix]

"BIG BROTHER WILL TELL YOU WHAT TO SEE!"

[Vermont Lt]

They are a public utility?

Like power, gas, and electricity? You mean my life could be placed in jeopardy without them?

Facebook is hardly a utility.

[SaxxonWoods]

Yeah, it’s easy isn’t it? Unfollow what and who you don’t want to see and follow that which you like.

Facebook is very useful if you control it to fit your wishes.

[sauropod]

Bkmk

[ilovesarah2012]

Mostly you can see my granddaughter. LOL

[ransomnote]

Ping NOT Q

With Facebook and Twitter actively suppressing conservative voices (e.g., “shadow banning”, deleting conservative accounts to purge opinions) and using algorithms to “drive the narrative” wherever they want it to go, perhaps it’s time eliminate their broadcasts from our lives. The linked OP helps with removing unwanted propaganda feeds you may be receiving.

[eccentric]

"Why even go there in the first place?"

It is where I keep in touch with my family on a couple of family pages. FreeRepublic doesn't have that feature, do they? I like to use the "LIKE" button and its varieties. I wish FreeRepublic had that. Also, I posted my old army pictures onto a page on facebook and know that they will last forever now.

[Ciexyz]

Suckerberg, the little snot. He stole that company from his friends (the twins) and pushed them out.

[G Larry]

Don’t use FB...

[thingumbob]

Bookmarking for the spouse to review. I hate Fake book.

[spintreebob]

In 2017 I went to facebook maybe 10 times. What am I missing?

[Steve Van Doorn]

“trusted sources” has been going on for a long time at Google. Try searching someone specifically on Freerepublic you get very limited information.

Duck Duck Go is the best but still limited. We're in need of a new search engine.

[KSCITYBOY]

btt