Earlier this year Facebook added a new feature to their newsfeed enabling users to rate newsfeed stories. A number of people that I spoke with about this feature said that the rating system wasn’t effectively eliminating newsfeed items from the users who’s stories they were rating down.
While I’m not quite sure why this adjustment was made, it’s clear that regular adjustments are being made to their system. This most recent change may be the cause of the delayed newsfeed update. With a rapid turnaround time I think Facebook was able to prevent a massive loss of users! I’m not sure if they have simply reverted to the old model temporarily or if they have chosen to eliminate story rankings.
In theory, the story rankings would make the newsfeed more effective but it also adds a layer of complexity. Perhaps not many users were using the feature. I know that I definitely didn’t have time to rate most of the stories that were displayed in my newsfeed. What was your experience with the rating system? Did it work? Did you use the feature?
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I did use the ratings feature, but was never too sure whether it had the effect of "down rating" stories from particular applications or particular users… It was rather confusing for me – much more so than the "Hide this Story" issue you mentioned earlier today. Perhaps that's just me?
Comment by Daryl — April 15, 2008 @ 12:11 pm
I used the ratings but didn't see that it had any effect on my news feed content. I actually don't like that it's gone now because I used the ratings on each item in my feed to mark which ones I've looked at. It allowed me a quick way to glance at my feed to see any new items that have appeared. Now that won't be as simple. I'm going to make a feature request to Facebook to have some sort of way to mark an item as read.
Comment by Matt — April 15, 2008 @ 12:24 pm
I'd like a "no more newsfeed stories about this friend" kind of option", to go along with the "no more application invites from this friend"
Comment by Charlie — April 15, 2008 @ 12:37 pm
I used the feature, but I never had a clear impression that it had an effect. What I do and has a clear effect: I block all applications (which other users have installed), which send news to my newsfeed and I do not like. The result: A very clean newsfeed. The only thing I would like get rid of know is the "Most popular items in Network" and similar stuff.
Comment by Mark — April 15, 2008 @ 12:55 pm
I pointed this out on Twitter. I'd also love a "no more stories about this friend" option. I've demoted certain people using other user options as well and they still show up in my feed.
Comment by Lauren — April 15, 2008 @ 12:56 pm
I used it for the same purpose as Matt. It was a nice tool to dig up the stories that were read.As for those marked as 'don't like,' I noticed an almost immediate effect on both Group stories and select 3rd party applications. Almost certainly once I gave the thumbs down more than one or twice, I wasn't likely to see those stories ever again.
Comment by JT — April 15, 2008 @ 1:05 pm
I used the ratings but didn't see that it had any effect on my news feed content. I actually don't like that it's gone now because I used the ratings on each item in my feed to mark which ones I've looked at. It allowed me a quick way to glance at my feed to see any new items that have appeared. Now that won't be as simple. I'm going to make a feature request to Facebook to have some sort of way to mark an item as read.
Comment by Matt — April 15, 2008 @ 1:24 pm
I'd like a "no more newsfeed stories about this friend" kind of option", to go along with the "no more application invites from this friend"
Comment by Charlie — April 15, 2008 @ 1:37 pm
I pointed this out on Twitter. I'd also love a "no more stories about this friend" option. I've demoted certain people using other user options as well and they still show up in my feed.
Comment by Lauren — April 15, 2008 @ 1:56 pm
I used it for the same purpose as Matt. It was a nice tool to dig up the stories that were read.
As for those marked as 'don't like,' I noticed an almost immediate effect on both Group stories and select 3rd party applications. Almost certainly once I gave the thumbs down more than one or twice, I wasn't likely to see those stories ever again.
Comment by JT — April 15, 2008 @ 2:05 pm
Mine is still down. I used the rating mainly as a tool to check whether I've read the newsfeed item or not. Before the rating I would flip through the newsfeed and miss 3/4 of it. will probably go back to doing that once there is no way to see whether I've read something already or not.
Comment by rutipo — April 15, 2008 @ 2:40 pm
And Charlie – you can click on "preferences" on the top right hand side of the newsfeed and add the person to the "less about these people" list.
Comment by rutipo — April 15, 2008 @ 2:42 pm
Mine is still down. I used the rating mainly as a tool to check whether I've read the newsfeed item or not. Before the rating I would flip through the newsfeed and miss 3/4 of it. will probably go back to doing that once there is no way to see whether I've read something already or not.
Comment by rutipo — April 15, 2008 @ 3:40 pm
I did use the ratings feature, but was never too sure whether it had the effect of “down rating” stories from particular applications or particular users…
It was rather confusing for me – much more so than the “Hide this Story” issue you mentioned earlier today.
Perhaps that’s just me?
Comment by Daryl — April 15, 2008 @ 5:11 pm
I used the feature, but I never had a clear impression that it had an effect. What I do and has a clear effect: I block all applications (which other users have installed), which send news to my newsfeed and I do not like. The result: A very clean newsfeed. The only thing I would like get rid of know is the “Most popular items in Network” and similar stuff.
Comment by Mark — April 15, 2008 @ 4:55 pm
And Charlie – you can click on “preferences” on the top right hand side of the newsfeed and add the person to the “less about these people” list.
Comment by rutipo — April 15, 2008 @ 6:42 pm
I used it.. it was always a red cross if it was an application spamming my newsfeed. In all honesty, I only use Facebook for events, photos, and keeping up with friends (old and new)I dont want the applications bugging me. Apparently they say that you can change these settings in your NewsFeed Preference Page. Well thats real easy to find.. and once you do, there is nothing there about Applications bugging me!BTW even if you put "Less stories about this friend" .. they still come up occasionally.
Comment by Jez — April 16, 2008 @ 12:40 am
I used it.. it was always a red cross if it was an application spamming my newsfeed. In all honesty, I only use Facebook for events, photos, and keeping up with friends (old and new)
I dont want the applications bugging me. Apparently they say that you can change these settings in your NewsFeed Preference Page. Well thats real easy to find.. and once you do, there is nothing there about Applications bugging me!
BTW even if you put "Less stories about this friend" .. they still come up occasionally.
Comment by Jez — April 16, 2008 @ 1:40 am
I used the ratings feature all the time (it wasn't that tedious to remember to do) and it actually did work. I managed to wean out nearly every single 'application' announcement. Now the feature is gone and the news-feed will drive me crazy again.
Another annoying new thing is 'people you might know' … there is a reason I did not add these friends in the first place!
Comment by Lenina — April 16, 2008 @ 8:14 am
I used the ratings feature all the time (it wasn't that tedious to remember to do) and it actually did work. I managed to wean out nearly every single 'application' announcement. Now the feature is gone and the news-feed will drive me crazy again.
Another annoying new thing is 'people you might know' … there is a reason I did not add these friends in the first place!
Comment by Lenina — April 16, 2008 @ 9:14 am