Facebook is adding a new component to the news feed that answers the question “why am I seeing this post?”.

Users now have more insight into how past interactions on Facebook impact the ranking of posts in their news feed.

This is the first time Facebook has built information directly into the app on how news feed ranking works.

How “Why am I seeing this post?” works

Users can access “Why am I seeing this post?” from any news feed item using the drop-down menu in the right-hand corner.

Facebook will then show the following information:

  • Why a certain post is being displayed in the news feed — for example, if the post is from a friend, a group the user joined, or a page they followed.
  • Which factors have the greatest impact on the ranking of posts, including:
    • How often you interact with posts from people, Pages or Groups
    • How often you interact with a specific type of post, for example, videos, photos or links
    • The popularity of the posts shared by the people, Pages, and Groups you follow.
  • Shortcuts to controls, such as See First, Unfollow, News Feed Preferences and Privacy Shortcuts.

Facebook is also providing users with more insight into the ranking of paid posts with an update to “Why am I seeing this ad?”.

Updates to “Why am I seeing this ad?”

You can now discover additional details about ads shown when information on an advertiser’s list matches your Facebook profile.

Previously, “Why am I seeing this ad?” showed how demographic details, interests, and website visits contribute to the ads displayed in the news feed.

Another way to target users with advertising is to upload existing information such as email addresses and phone numbers.

Going forward, “Why am I seeing this ad?” will now indicate when the advertiser uploaded the information or if the advertiser worked with another marketing partner to run the ad.

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