Facebook has decided to drop its controversial second news feed, after negative feedback from users in countries where it was trialed.
The firm rolled out the Explore Feed this past October in effort to separate content from your friends and family, and posts from Pages.
But, those who tested it out said they were ‘less satisfied’ with their experience as a result, and in some cases, found the split to be far too complicated.
The move to divide the News Feed also sparked outcry from publishers who feared it would drive traffic away from their posts.
The firm rolled out the Explore Feed this past October in effort to separate content from your friends and family, and posts from Pages. But, after negative feedback, the firm has decided to discontinue it
Facebook said on Thursday it has put an end to the test of splitting its signature News Feed into two, an idea that roiled how people consumed news in six countries where the it occurred and added to concern about Facebook’s power.
The test created two streaming series of posts.
One was focused on photos and other updates from friends and family, and a second was called an ‘explore feed.’
It was dedicated to material from Facebook pages that the user had liked, such as media outlets or sports teams.
The social media network decided to end the test and maintain one feed because people told the company in surveys they did not like the change, Adam Mosseri, head of the News Feed at Facebook, said in a statement.
‘In surveys, people told us they were less satisfied with the posts they were seeing, and having two separate feeds didn’t actually help them connect more with friends and family,’ Mosseri said.
The test began in October and took place in Bolivia, Cambodia, Guatemala, Serbia, Slovakia and Sri Lanka, and it quickly affected website traffic for smaller media outlets.
Those who tested out the new feeds said they were ‘less satisfied’ with their experience, and in some cases, found the split to be far too complicated. The move to divide the News Feed also sparked outcry from publishers who feared the move would drive traffic away from their posts
Now, the firm says it’s discontinuing the Explore Feed bookmark this week for users all around the world.
‘The Explore Feed was a trial response to consistent feedback we received from people over the past year who said they want to see more from friends and family in News Feed,’ Mosseri said.
‘The idea was to create a version of Facebook with two different News Feeds: one as a dedicated place with posts from friends and family and another as a dedicated place for posts from Pages.’
WHAT WAS FACEBOOK’S CONTROVERSIAL EXPLORE FEED?
In October, Facebook rolled out its ‘Explore Feed’ to help users discover content from outside their standard feed.
The second timeline let users discover content beyond the friends and pages they already follow – meaning it looks less familiar than the main feed.
On desktop the ‘Explore feed’ appeared on the left-hand sidebar under the ‘See more’ section.
On the Android app it could be found via the ‘More’ menu. The option ‘Explore feed’ then appears in a list.
iOS users could access the feed by tapping the hamburger button, which is listed under the ‘Explore’ menu.
After a six-country test with the two News Feeds, however, Facebook has decided to discontinue the Explore Feed.
‘In surveys, people told us they were less satisfied with the posts they were seeing, and having two separate feeds didn’t actually help them connect more with friends and family,’ Adam Mosseri, head of the News Feed at Facebook, said in a statement.
In October, Facebook rolled out its ‘Explore Feed’ to help users discover content from outside their standard feed
Mosseri said the company had also ‘received feedback that we made it harder for people in the test countries to access important information, and that we didn’t communicate the test clearly.’
He said Facebook would, in response, revise how it tests product changes although he did not say how.
Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has unveiled other changes to the Facebook News Feed in the past two months to fight sensationalism and prioritize posts from friends and family.
The world’s largest social network and its competitors are under pressure from users and government authorities to make their services less addictive and to stem the spread of false news stories and hoaxes.