The company has changed its global search algorithm to “highlight articles that we identify as significant original reporting,” and to keep such articles in top positions for longer.
Plus: Big advertisers ban YouTube (not over vaccines), the National Cancer Institute wonders how to respond to health misinformation, and how to fill a data void.
Indiana University researchers “have found that steep competition for users’ limited attention means that some ideas go viral despite their low quality — even when people prefer to share high-quality content.”
“Say you read a lot about cooking, and someone similar to you has also read a lot about cooking, but also read a Saturday profile from International about a chef in Italy. We may surface that story in your queue in your newsletter.”
“I think we need to be way more humble. As I often say, technology has value but it doesn’t have values. It’s what we do with it. There’s a lot of bullshit in the Valley.”
“If you took away advertising from the platforms we have currently, if you took away the need to addict people and harvest their data and keep them refreshing their pages, what would that experience look like?”
“I see my role as a sort of reinforcement editor, ensuring that the good stuff is always percolating to the top. Sometimes the news isn’t as neat as an algorithm wants to make it.”
Owen, Laura Hazard. "Facebook’s News Feed changes appear to be hurting — not helping — local news." Nieman Journalism Lab. Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, 19 Apr. 2018. Web. 20 Mar. 2025.
APA
Owen, L. (2018, Apr. 19). Facebook’s News Feed changes appear to be hurting — not helping — local news. Nieman Journalism Lab. Retrieved March 20, 2025, from https://www.niemanlab.org/2018/04/facebooks-news-feed-changes-appear-to-be-hurting-not-helping-local-news/
Chicago
Owen, Laura Hazard. "Facebook’s News Feed changes appear to be hurting — not helping — local news." Nieman Journalism Lab. Last modified April 19, 2018. Accessed March 20, 2025. https://www.niemanlab.org/2018/04/facebooks-news-feed-changes-appear-to-be-hurting-not-helping-local-news/.
Wikipedia
{{cite web
| url = https://www.niemanlab.org/2018/04/facebooks-news-feed-changes-appear-to-be-hurting-not-helping-local-news/
| title = Facebook’s News Feed changes appear to be hurting — not helping — local news
| last = Owen
| first = Laura Hazard
| work = [[Nieman Journalism Lab]]
| date = 19 April 2018
| accessdate = 20 March 2025
| ref = {{harvid|Owen|2018}}
}}
