Facebook has a news section, specifically for finding major and local news, inside its main mobile app.
Called Facebook News, it is described as a “place on Facebook for all the news you care about”, and it’s primarily intended to provideFacebookusers with more control over their news experience and the news stories they see on the platform.
Here’s how Facebook News works.
When and where is Facebook News available?
Starting in 2019, Facebook began testing News among a few hundred thousand users in the US. In June 2020, it became available to all in the US. In August 2020, Facebook revealed it would expand its news feature internationally within the next six months to a year. As of today, Facebook News is available to users in the UK, Germany and Australia too.
Facebook said in a blog postthat News could arrive in France, India, and/or Brazil, but for the moment, it is restricted to the US, UK, Germany and Australia.
How do you find Facebook News?
Facebook News is a tab in the Facebook app for mobile. It appears as a bookmark - under the three-lined “more” menu - on mobile. Those who frequently visit the bookmark will see News available as a tab or button in the Facebook app.
On desktop
How does Facebook News work?
Facebook said it wanted to build a place for users to find more news on Facebook. Facebook News, therefore, features a wide range of news content across four categories of publishers: General, topical, diverse, and local news.
Here are the key features of Facebook News:
Facebook said it wants to recognise original reporting, as it’s more expensive to produce. So, its curation team of journalists, who manage the Today’s Stories section of Facebook News, reward original stories by choosing them first. Other features include breaking news alerts, timely news digests, and targeted notifications.
Which publishers are on Facebook News?
Facebook News serves up reporting from over 200 general news publishers, including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, and BuzzFeed in the US. In the UK, publications including Channel 4, Sky News, The Guardian, The Economist, The Independent, Cosmopolitan, The Daily Mail, Financial Times and The Telegraph were all on board.
According toThe Vergeand theBBC, Facebook is paying some publishers “for content that is not already on the platform”, offering a new revenue stream in the industry. Facebook said publishers who wish to participate will need to be in itsNews Page Index, which it developed in “collaboration with the industry to identify news content”.
Publishers need to abide byFacebook’s Publisher Guidelines, which supposedly includes “a range of integrity signals in determining product eligibility, including misinformation - as identified based on third-party fact-checkers - community standards violations (e.g., hate speech), clickbait, engagement bait, and others”. Facebook promised to continually check integrity status to ensure eligibility criteria is being met.
Can you trust Facebook News?
Facebook hasn’t released the full list of publications joining Facebook News, raising serious concerns about its potential to spread fake news. But Facebook said it usesjournaliststo help program Facebook News, and there’s an underlyingalgorithmsfor customising your story feed. Users can react, articles, and hide articles, but they can’t comment. They can also hide topics and publishers.
Want to know more?
Check outFacebook’s announcement blog post for more details.you may also check out your own curated Facebook News atwww.facebook.com/news.
