The company is relying on its statistics and data obtained that puts such things into the limelight. And according to those, the app is not showing great engagement or interest from users across the board.
On that note, Facebook will now be solely relying on its algorithms to help curate things like the app’s news feed. But some people aren’t happy with the news as they feel Facebook is struggling with issues like putting an end to disinformation.
This is why they resorted to algorithms in the first place to combat the matter but it didn’t work so they opted to add more humans into the workforce to better the matter. But seeing algorithms be given whole control seems to be a round-the-clock affair on social media and the results aren’t fruitful.
Today, Facebook’s parent firm went public with the news that its leading feature called Top Stories that’s located in the news tab would now be taken care of through this algorithm beginning next year. As mentioned by a spokesperson for the app, a lot of people that use Facebook are not resorting to it for the purpose of news. Hence, it’s just not the right decision to make more and more investments in those areas that aren’t aligned with the preferences of users out there today.
The firm has mentioned over time how 3% of things that people see on their feeds are linked to the world of news and current affairs. The firm sees all sorts of news links as a minor form of revenue and growth. Hence, they’re on the lookout for ways to better scale back features dealing with the ordeal.
Recently, a UK-based firm spoke about how Facebook was actually on the verge to put an end to human curation on new tabs in the UK. And now, so many tabs that were once controlled by humans would be controlled by the likes of this algorithm.
During the early part of this month, the Press Gazette mentioned how there were only 15 contractors and journalists working on a freelance basis that were paid to produce feeds that entailed millions of users of the app in the UK. These people were barred from working in other organizations, despite the fact that there were guarantees of their working hours.
Even those particular investments that require human help in this curation appear to be on the outskirts. Facebook mentioned how it has had a Top Stories part located in a news tab while most of the rest of it is handled thanks to such algorithms.
Facebook was seen calling out such news tabs as one that has had Top Stories be a part of the overall ordeal. The rest of such things end up getting handled through the likes of algorithms. There was also a whole discussion on how the app is now only going to resort to showcasing pieces of news from top sources like The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and more. A few independent sources would be a part of it too.
Seeing Facebook take a step back from the news and calling it a really unprofitable affair is worrisome. Could there be something else that the app is not willing to talk about? As it is, Instant Articles are being shut down by early next year and it would no longer be paying publishers for any content seen on the app.
H/T: Gizmodo
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by Dr. Hura Anwar via Digital Information World
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