Facebook wants users to post fewer viral videos and share more about themselves.
That’s the message it seems to be sending with a new feature called ‘Lists’ that’s rolling out to some Facebook users starting on Tuesday.
Like the name suggests, the tool lets users post numbered to-do lists, travel wishlists, how-to lists and bucket lists, among other things.
Lists will now appear in users’ news feeds as they scroll through Facebook.
Facebook is launching a new feature called ‘Lists’ for all users on Tuesday. The tool lets users post numbered to-do lists, travel wishlists, how-to lists and bucket lists, among other things
The feature is meant to encourage users to post more personal status updates that may spark conversation from friends.
Users can also pose questions to their friends as a way to give or receive helpful advice and tips.
To try out the tool, users click in the status update box, then navigate to the option that prompts users to create a list.
There, users can choose from a variety of colored, gradient backgrounds and select between a bulleted or numbered list.
After adding a title, users can also add emojis to their lists.
Facebook has been gradually overhauling status updates on the news feed over the past year or so.
In 2016, the firm introduced colored backgrounds to status updates, as part of an effort to encourage text posts.
WHAT IS FACEBOOK’S NEW LISTS FEATURE?
Facebook on Tuesday introduced a ‘Lists’ tool that lets users post to-do lists, lists of their favorite songs, bucket lists and other topics.
The feature is only available for some users right now, but it will become available for everyone soon.
In the Lists tool, users can choose from a variety of gradient backgrounds and add emojis.
To post a list, users click on the status update box and select the ‘Create a list’ button. From there, they can choose from gradient backgrounds and add emojis to their lists
They can also choose whether they want to post a numbered or bulleted list.
To access the tool, click in the status update box on your news feed.
From there, navigate to the option that prompts users to create a list.
Users can also ask their friends questions and get advice.
So far, some have posted how-to lists, cooking recipes, lists of the best places they’ve eaten and more.
WhatsApp also has a Facebook-like status feature (pictured) that allows users to change the text and background colour of their updates
It was also testing a colored comment feature for some time, though it’s unclear whether that will be ever be rolled out officially.
A few savvy users had spotted that Facebook was testing a Lists feature last month, noting that it could be used to construct how-to lists like ‘How to make a cup of boiling water.’
On Tuesday, one Twitter user questioned whether the Lists feature would be used to generate more targeted ads for users.
Adam Mosseri, head of Facebook’s news feed product responded to the tweet, saying: ‘We built lists because we saw lots of people creating lists as long as statuses and with pictures, and thought it would be good to make it easier for people to create lists first class.’
Facebook’s news feed has gradually become a place for users to post videos, memes and news alongside a plethora of ads.
The firm has also seen a drop in the number of personal posts being shared by users, with those kinds of posts declining by about 21% between 2014 and 2015, according to the Information.
But with lists, Facebook is hoping users will start sharing more personal content that can be shared or reposted by friends, which might make them want to come back to the site more often.
It’s not the only way that Facebook is trying to generate more reasons for users to return to Facebook.
Facebook also announced that it’s planning to introduce a breaking news section to its Watch platform. The Watch tab was launched last August and billed as a place for professional shows
Facebook on Monday said it plans to add a news section to its Watch tab, where use can watching breaking news videos, Recode reports.
Campbell Brown, Facebook’s head of news partnerships and a former NBC News anchor, didn’t say when the feature would be rolling out or which news organizations will be broadcasting.
It’s part of a broader effort by Facebook to re-shape what kinds of news content are shared and prioritized on the website.
Facebook has begun emphasizing local news and, last month, started asking users to evaluate which news outlets they trusted the most.
Facebook launched the Watch tab in August 2017, billing the platform as a place for users to watch professional-grade video content from outlets like millennial-focused news and entertainment creators Vox Media, BuzzFeed and ATTN.
Since then, the firm has tried to add more live content and may be planning to feature more content from individual creators in a bid to compete directly with YouTube.