Facebook Adds News Categories To Newsfeed

Facebook has added a new customization feature for the newsfeed, with an emphasis on News. The new feature allows you to categorize the news you get from your feed.
Facebook Newsfeed Categories Alert

Just click on the Edit gear icon option at the top of your feed to get started.

Facebook Newsfeed Category Edit Gear

From there, you can add news topics to show up in your feed.

Facebook Newsfeed Category Customization

You can further customize individual news feeds to include news sources, fan pages, and groups.

Facebook Sports News Feed Customization

After you configure your newsfeed categories to your liking, your feeds will include popular content from those sources that have been shared by those to whom you are connected on Facebook.

Facebook Customized Newsfeed

Why Is Facebook Categorizing The Newsfeed?

That is the question, isn’t it?

Yes, it’s probably more convenient for users who are increasingly using Facebook as a source of news, to be able to categorize the newsfeed by type of news.  Pew research indicates that 63% of Facebook and Twitter users get news on their respective sites.

Twitter & Facebook As A News Source

Isn’t it just as likely that Facebook also would like to create more opportunities for users to discover news stories and, more importantly, to engage with them given the emphasis they are putting on enticing publishers to host their content on Facebook via their Instant Articles program?

Introducing Instant Articles, a new tool for publishers to create fast, interactive articles on Facebook.

Posted by Facebook Media on Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Isn’t it just as likely that by creating more opportunities for users to watch and engage in news content through their feeds, that Facebook can collect the signals that will help improve that engagement and demonstrate to publishers the value of hosting their content on the social platform?