A new feed filter option will allow you to scroll through posts from your favorite accounts, as well as a chronological feed that will be made available to all users. The features were launched into limited testing in January and will be available to all users by the end of the day on March 23.
The feed options will be available to global users, but not on the web version of the app.
The new options, Following and Favorites, will be visible from a pop-up at the top of the app.
The image is from the screenshot on the social network.
During his December testimony before the Senate panel that focused on the potential harms to young people using the app, company head Adam Mosseri said that the chronological feed would be brought back.
Lawmakers and regulators are increasingly concerned about Big Tech's use of filters to sort the content people see after numerous studies have pointed towards the possibility that people are trapped inside. They are worried that platforms are leading users down rabbit holes, sometimes towards extremist views, as they are just for what will make someone click and engage more. They are particularly worried about the impact on younger people.
During the Senate hearing, Mosseri was asked if he believed users should be able to use the app without being manipulated by algorithms, and he said the comapny was working on a feature that would give users that.
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The feed options were tested earlier this year. The main, algorithmic Home feed, the chronological feed, and the new Favorites feed are the three different options for viewing your feed. The accounts of best friends, family, and perhaps some favorite creators would be included in the latter feed. You could use this option to separate the main feed from any other accounts you wanted to see. Up to 50 accounts can be set as favorites.
When scrolling through the main Home feed, posts from those accounts on your Favorites list will now rank higher and be designated by a star icon.
The image is on the social media site.
In the new feed options Following and Favorites, posts will appear in chronological order without any ranking involved.
The following and favorites can't be set as the default.
According to research, people are more satisfied with a ranked feed, so it will not default users to a chronological feed when they open the app. The opposite was true recently. After the company introduced an easier way to move in between its algorithmic and chronological feed, users were so angry that they couldn't set the latter as their default.
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The backlash was similar to when it first switched to an algorithmic feed. It ignored it.
Today's users have become so focused on ranking content that they sometimes seek it out. TikTok's home feed is so sophisticated that it is described as scarily accurate. As of 2021, TikTok was the largest app by downloads, and it saw the most consumer spend.
The reality is that many of those who vocally demand a chronological feed as their default tend to be heavy users of a service or power users who like to tightly control every aspect of their online interactions. Someone who only launches a few times a month probably doesn't care that their feed was sorted and ranked for them.
Feed ranking decisions should be the choice of the users, not the platforms.
In providing choice, the platforms would satisfy their power users while those who didn't care would continue to leave their feed.
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This isn't like default younger teens profiles to private, it's a choice that was made under regulatory pressure to ensure younger users were safer on its service. Feed ranking is how a user wants to interact with the service. A chronological feed option could reduce the harm that comes from the use of technology. It may stop pushing vulnerable teens towards eating disorder content if they like some posts about healthy eating and exercise.
The platforms don't want users to get a by-default chronological feed. Users can be shown more ads if they scroll through ranked feeds, which are more engaging. That means more money.
It is possible that the platforms will eventually have that choice. Several bills have been introduced in the U.S. in an effort to force platforms away from their reliance on algorithms. The act wants to make companies liable if they amplify misinformation that leads to violence. The Don Push My Buttons Act would give users more control over their online experience by giving them the ability to decline to be served content that is better suited for engagement. The Act would require platforms to give users an option to switch off the algorithms. The Digital Services Act includes regulations on recommender systems that determine what people see.
It was not done to appease its users, but because it has seen the writing on the wall and wants to get ahead of the coming legal requirements that could force it to make changes anyway.
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