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Axios Media Trends

Facebook will begin to prioritize posts from friends and family over public content and content from publishers, the company announced Thursday. 

Why it matters: Facebook is the most widely-used news and information platform in the world; almost half of Americans  use it for news and information. These changes will significantly impact the way people around the world receive and distribute  information, possibly limiting the spread of fake news. But the change will completely shift the publishing landscape away from publishers that rely on the news site for traffic.   

Facebook says it will also prioritize "posts that spark conversations and meaningful interactions" between people. The company says Pages will still remain in the News Feed, but they may see their reach, video watch time and referral traffic decrease.

Sound smart:  Facebook has tweaked its algorithm almost every single year in a way that caused widespread outcry from publishers who lean heavily on the platform, but the end results were less dramatic than expected with steady but manageable decreases in metrics like reach or click-throughs to sites. This time is different because of the intensity of the focus on fake news and Facebook’s role in election interference.

If this plays out bigger than Facebook’s previous algorithm tweaks, you'll be witnessing a decrease in power of the machine that helped to create fake news and increased polarization in America. 

Traffic patterns show that Facebook has been planning this pivot for months. The company began changing its algorithm to down-rank referrals to publishers in September, and has consistently sent less traffic than Google news ever since. 

Data: Parse.ly referrer dashboard; Chart: Lazaro Gamio / Axios

To mend relationships with publishers, it created the "Facebook Journalism Project"  in anticipation of strategy changes and has been trying to convert premium publishers of to its separate "Watch" video content tab since last year. 

Today's announcement is a change in strategy from what Facebook had been saying about its platform. In October, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg told Axios that Facebook is built to bring people closer to their "weak ties," or people they aren't close to. Now, they are saying that they want to bring people closer to the ones they care about. 

The move resembles Snapchat's latest redesign efforts to separate social communications from media publishers, in an attempt to curb fake news through affirmation bias.

In an interview with The New York Times, CEO Mark Zuckerberg says, “We want to make sure that our products are not just fun, but are good for people ... We need to refocus the system.”

Facebook Head of News Feed Adam Mosseri says the update is "more about valuing stories that facilitate meaningful interactions between people. As it turns out people interact more with stories from friends than from publishers, and so on average friends and groups see gains and publishers see less distribution."

Publishers have spent the past year complaining about Facebook in one-on-one conversations and off-the-record meetings. At the heart of the dispute is whether Facebook has been fairly compensating publishers for their content and their efforts in helping to grow Facebook products that then get abandoned. Now Facebook is pushing those publishers aside.

Facebook to prioritize posts from friends over publishers

"We want to make sure that our products are not just fun, but are good for people"

Mark Zuckerberg last year. Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

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Facebook

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Big Tech

<p>Facebook will begin to prioritize posts from friends and family over public content and content from publishers, the company <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="announced " data-vars-click-url="https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/01/news-feed-fyi-bringing-people-closer-together" data-vars-content-id="4e22b509-f043-4149-b4b3-93418b03bfe0" data-vars-headline="Facebook to prioritize posts from friends over publishers" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://newsroom.fb.com/news/2018/01/news-feed-fyi-bringing-people-closer-together" target="_blank">announced </a>Thursday. </p><p><strong>Why it matters: </strong>Facebook is the most widely-used news and information platform in the world; almost <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="half of Americans" data-vars-click-url="http://www.journalism.org/2017/09/07/news-use-across-social-media-platforms-2017" data-vars-content-id="4e22b509-f043-4149-b4b3-93418b03bfe0" data-vars-headline="Facebook to prioritize posts from friends over publishers" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="http://www.journalism.org/2017/09/07/news-use-across-social-media-platforms-2017" target="_blank">half of Americans</a>  use it for news and information. These changes will significantly impact the way people around the world receive and distribute  information, possibly limiting the spread of fake news. But the change will completely shift the publishing landscape away from publishers that rely on the news site for traffic.   </p>

From the Valley to D.C., Big Tech players like Facebook, Google and Amazon are under more scrutiny than ever as new technology develops and privacy and antitrust concerns grow in lockstep with companies’ ambitions.

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Trump, in a speech at the CIA headquarters today, did not hold back against the media.

He also called out TIME's Zeke Miller for incorrectly stating in a pool report that a bust of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was removed from the Oval Office:

They said - it was very interesting - but, 'Donald Trump took down the bust, the statue, of Dr. Martin Luther King.' And it was right there. But there was a cameraman that was in front of it.

So Zeke [Miller], Zeke, from Time Magazine writes this story about how I took down - I would never do that because I have great respect for Dr. Martin Luther King.

But this is how dishonest the media is. Now - big story! The retraction was like where? Was it a line or do they even bother putting it in?

Miller was looking for differences in the newly decorated Oval Office when he made the mistake. He tells us he "rushed" to fix the pool report, followed by taking to Twitter to admit his mistake and apologize several times. White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer acknowledged and accepted his apology, and Tweeted out a photo of the bust in question.

Trump’s TIME accusations vs how it actually went down

Trump wasn't really holding back against the media here...

Politics

<p>Trump, in a speech at the CIA headquarters today, did not hold back against the media.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/axios/status/822904721367322625"></a></blockquote><div style="display:none"></div></div><p>He also called out TIME&#x27;s Zeke Miller for incorrectly stating in a pool report that a bust of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was removed from the Oval Office:</p>

President Biden has made the COVID-19 crisis and a post-Trump return to national unity and traditional democratic ideals his top priorities. From vaccinations to stimulus to schools, Biden is seeking bipartisan compromise while showing a willingness to use executive authority and bare Democratic majorities in the U.S. House and Senate to implement his policies. Republican leaders are navigating deep party divisions over if and how to move beyond former President Trump.

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Bubba Atkinson

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Facebook to prioritize posts from friends over publishers

Top 5: Pelosi calls Bannon racist, military leaks & more

How 5 of the world’s biggest players are reacting to Trump this week

Trump World's week one ends with Hannity highlights and abortion moves

Trump’s TIME accusations vs how it actually went down