On Thursday Facebook began to change the way it filters posts and videos on its centerpiece News Feed. It is the start of what Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said would be a series of changes in the design of the world’s largest social network.
In a sweeping post on Facebook, Zuckerberg said the company would change the filter for the News Feed to prioritize what friends and family share. It said it would reduce the amount of non-advertising content from publishers and brands.
Facebook owns four of the world’s most popular smartphone apps including Instagram. For years it has prioritized material that its complex computer algorithms think people will engage with through comments, “likes” or other ways of showing interest.