Facebook said it is altering the behavior of the NewsFeed again, this time to help show people more of the content that matters to them.
Before today, Facebook used actions such as liking, commenting on, or sharing posts to determine the post’s worth to users. Facebook has learned that content can be relevant or meaningful to people even if they don’t take action on a particular story. Thus, NewsFeed is adjusting its algorithm to also account for the amount of time people spend reading posts.
Facebook says, generally, people spend more time on stories, photos, and accounts that are relevant to them. Facebook hopes to better infer what people want to see based on their reading habits, and will place this content higher up in the NewFeed.
Facebook said the change is rolling out starting now and will take several weeks to fully complete for all users.