Facebook Trending Change

[easysurfer]

I like how Facebook's trending topics now is truly a trending process that just shows what is talked about and how much. I did feel in the past that FB had a bit of drama in their "news" topics.

Who would have thought that a tiny section on Facebook’s homepage would cause so much controversy?
The “Trending” feature, where a few popular news topics are listed on the social network’s homepage, is getting a makeover,Facebook said on Friday. Most notably, Facebook’s hot topics will no longer appear next to descriptions that are written by humans.
Instead, Facebook will show each subject—usually a celebrity’s latest scandal or a current event—next to the number of people discussing it on the service. Human editors will no longer play a role in hand-picking the topics featured other than for verifying quality.

Facebook Will Increase Its Automation of Its Trending Topics Section

Now, if only the same kind of non-human selection is used to determine what's on reality TV .

 

[Music Lover]

I suspect this announcement is an attempt at damage control but it really won't change a thing. Social media has an obvious partisan bias.

Facebook was recently outed for their political bias...top trending stories were routinely ignored that made the "wrong" party look good, or by omitting top stories that made their party of choice look bad.

Twitter also engages in selective deletion of tweets along partisan lines.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

I think I am now about a month into my Facebook account deletion. I can say, without hesitation, that was one of the best decisions I have made since I decided to retire.

The folks that I would have talked to through FB are still in my lives and we still communicate and the others? Well, that's OK...I probably didn't really like them anyway!

 

[CaliforniaMan]

i just checked, and you know something is truly wrong with the FB trending list when "Go Topless Day" is way down at #7. How could there be six things more important or timely than this?

 

[HFWR]

Who cares what's trending? Beanie babies, shag carpet, disco, and mullets were all trends...

 

[aja8888]

I think I am now about a month into my Facebook account deletion. I can say, without hesitation, that was one of the best decisions I have made since I decided to retire.

The folks that I would have talked to through FB are still in my lives and we still communicate and the others? Well, that's OK...I probably didn't really like them anyway!

You just reminded me that I opted out of Facebook months ago. I suppose I missed a lot of stuff, but frankly, I can't remember missing much of anything that happened within my circle of friends and family.

Trending stories? I'll catch those the next time around.

 

[RunningBum]

I hate this change. Now you just see a name or topic with no explanation. It's like their being a-holes about being called out for promoting certain things. They could've kept the text while basing it on # of discussions.

 

[Aerides]

I have to imagine they'll add text back in at some point. It was removed because "humans" were entering it, thus adding to the bias/perception.

But yeah, now if I see a name trending... Did someone die or say something stupid? Is there a hurricane now? Oh, no just posts about one from 10 years ago? Lack of context renders it all useless because I'm for sure not clicking everything to figure it out. At least, before, sometimes I'd see something of interest based on the synopsis.

 

[ziggy29]

I don't like the trending at all. Didn't like it in Twitter, hate it more in FB. It makes some stuff a lot more "viral" than it should be.

 

[easysurfer]

I hate this change. Now you just see a name or topic with no explanation. It's like their being a-holes about being called out for promoting certain things. They could've kept the text while basing it on # of discussions.

At first I didn't like for the same reason. But found out if you hover over the item, then headline and explanation shows as a pop up.

 

[Dawg52]

I rarely look at the 'trending' stuff. It's a box that could be removed for all I care.

 

[dixonge]

This is why I use FBPurity - blocks that whole section out.

 

[Rosie]

This is why I use FBPurity - blocks that whole section out.

+1

It removes ads, sponsored posts, trending topics boxes, and other annoyances.

For any fb user who might be interested:
https://www.facebook.com/fluffbustingpurity/