The social platform's dedicated news tab is now being offered to select publishers
It's estimated that 43% of American adults get their news on Facebook . With an upcoming U.S. presidential election in 2020, the massive social platform has an opportunity to mend fences with its reputation after 2016's fake news fallout and corresponding Cambridge Analytica scandal. In October 2019, Facebook announced the launch of Facebook News , a dedicated tab for news on the platform that aims to give users more control over the news they read.
Facebook News launched to only about 200,000 U.S. users , with articles from local publications in major cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington D.C., and Houston. Roughly 200 publishers are working with Facebook on the initial rollout. The feature is still being tested and is currently only available on mobile.
According to an announcement from Facebook on the feature, users can expect to find a wide range of content on Facebook News, including:
- Today's Stories chosen by a team of journalists to catch you up on the news throughout the day.
- Personalization based on the news you read, share, and follow, so you can find new interests and topics, and so Facebook News is fresh and interesting every time you open it.
- Topic sections to dive deeper into business, entertainment, health, science & tech, and sports.
- Your Subscriptions , a section for people who have linked their paid news subscriptions to their Facebook account.
- Controls to hide articles, topics, and publishers you don't want to see.
Some of the articles served to users on Facebook will be curated by humans, but the feed will mostly be organized through an algorithm that should become more personalized based on each reader's behavior.
Currently there are several hoops to jump through to become a Facebook News publisher. Pages must serve a large audience, follow Facebook's integrity standards, and be registered in the platform's News Page Index to be considered.
Click here to begin the registration process for your Page to become part of Facebook News.
At RebelMouse, we're dedicated to sustainable growth across the entire digital publishing ecosystem. We power sites with a rich user experience, but also enable our publishers to create content that easily travels across platforms, including Facebook. We're closely monitoring this newest feature from Facebook, particularly the screening process for publishers to be accepted into the program. If you have any questions about Facebook News and its current rollout, please email support@rebelmouse.com or talk to your account manager today.