Facebook users, you’re getting more control. The social network is now asking its users what they want to see when they open the Facebook app.
A new setting added today to the “More” page of the Facebook app asks which friends you want at the top of your feed and makes it easy to unfollow your more annoying friends. While users could previously tell Facebook they want to see less from certain posters or mark friends as Close Friends, this is the first time users can directly edit settings to alter the flow of the News Feed.
Users can also select pages to prioritize or unfollow. When I tried it out, the unfollow page was filled with brands that I usually scroll right past when I see them in my feed, which was a good reminder to unfollow them.
However, the prioritize section was more of a mixed bag. One of my best friends, who doesn’t post that often, was right at the top and I added him to my priority list so I don’t miss his posts in the future. But my longtime girlfriend was 10 rows down, after a handful of people I forgot I was friends with.
There are also sections for refollowing pages you’ve unfollowed (maybe it was an accident, or you did it in a fit of rage?) and a tab to discover new pages, which mimics the Suggested Pages sections seen elsewhere on Facebook.
The constantly updating Facebook algorithm will still control much of what you see, raising posts similar to what you’ve liked or commented on before. The prioritized friends don’t currently seem to show up on the desktop site or other Facebook feeds like the Paper app.
