Facebook Will Expand News Tab In January

You heard it right, another update is set to reach your Facebook screens next year.

Many social media users rely on the networks to provide them with current news and affairs. But there has been some issue of how reliable sources can be.

That’s why Facebook has dedicated a feature on solely bringing users truthful, informative news in an easy-to-navigate area in the app – which is ready and set to expand in January.

Continue reading to find out the ins and outs of this new update: 

When And Where?

So, what are the logistics? 

The News Tab, many are familiar with, is set to expand here in the UK during January 2021.

This is the first region to get Facebook’s ‘trusted and reliable’ feed of news content outside of the US parameter. 

What’s Involved? 

The News Tab will incorporate a mixture of curated and personalised top stories to ensure that users are up-to-date with the latest news pieces from reliable sources.

Below shows the current US version of this update and provides a preview of what users in the UK can likely to expect:

There is a separate News Tab, highlighted in blue on the top toolbar. 

According to the network’s creators themselves, the news updates are from ‘Facebook approved sources’, therefore consumers can trust that what they consume is real. 

Content that appears can be also tailored to interests, for example above shows that ‘2020 US Election & COVID-19’ have been selected. Therefore, users can keep up to date with news they want to see – rather than just what they’re given. 

Trialed And Tested In The US

This new Facebook tool was previously launched in selected US cities during October 2019. It was in June 2020 that this new feature was rolled out for all of the US. 

The main purpose of this was to provide useful coverage about COVID-19 during the midst of the pandemic.

It has been planned since August for the expansion of this feature into the UK. The main reason behind this was due to its initial success with its US launch.

As stated by Facebook: “We’ve found more than 95% of the traffic Facebook News delivers to publishers is new audiences that have not interacted with those news outlets in the past.” 

It will be interesting to discover the key UK findings once launched.

What Makes The News Reliable?

You may question, how can Facebook display all relevant and accurate news to its users?

In order to be approved by Facebook, the publications need to mirror Facebook’s Publish Guidelines.

According to Facebook, a few examples include signals in determining product eligibility such as:

• Misinformation (which is identified based on third-party fact-checkers)
• Community Standards Violations (e.g. hate speech)
• Clickbait
• Engagement bait

Are you looking forward to this new update?