Facebook launches "Why am I seeing this post" feature in S'pore on May 17, 2019

Interesting.

Melanie Lim | May 17, 2019, 12:15 PM

Ever wondered why you're seeing a certain post or ad on your Facebook News Feed?

Launching in Singapore on May 17, 2019, this feature intends to help people better understand why they see certain content on their News Feed and customise who they want to see content from:

Image via Facebook

Specifically, people will be able to understand:

  • Why they're seeing a certain post on their News Feed
  • How their user habits influence the order of the posts they see
  • Shortcuts to controls which help them personalise their News Feed

Here's a breakdown of the feature:

Image via Facebook

Here's an example of how this feature will look like on your mobile device:

Image via Facebook

Ramya Sethuraman, Product Manager for Facebook News Feed explained: "Some common misconceptions people have of us is that we sell user data, decide what you see on our platform, and limit the number of friends who show up on your News Feed."

The Facebook News Feed operates on a four point system:

  • An Inventory, which stores all potential posts from friends, groups and pages you have chosen to connect with
  • Signals, which informs the order of these posts based on things like who posted something or when it was posted
  • Predictions, which is what Facebook uses to predict how likely someone is to convert on an ad
  • Score, which is how much an advertiser bids on a certain ad

Cool.

Following Facebook's decision to prioritise interactions between family and friends, users will also be able to choose who they see content from.

This comes in the form of controls like "See First", "Unfollow", "Hide" and "Snooze":

Image via Facebook

Here's how the controls look like on your mobile device:

Image via Facebook

Nice.

Next time you have a crush on someone or an acquaintance you're not too fond of, you know what to do.

Top image courtesy of Con Karampelas and Facebook