Mashable: Facebook is Changing its Newsfeed—Again

Facebook announced on Wednesday it was making a significant change to the News Feed, favoring posts shared by friends and family over posts from brands and publishers.

That means when you visit Facebook on the web or on mobile, most of the stories and videos you see will be there because your Facebook friends have shared them, not because a company whose page you once "Liked" posted a story or update.

In his announcement about the change, Facebook's Adam Mosseri, vice president of product management and the News Feed, doesn't say publisher posts will be demoted because of the change, but the "friends and family come first" approach has clear implications: Since publishers (including Mashable) depend on Facebook for a significant portion of their audience, the change will affect media brands' ability to reach that audience.

For those brands, the News Feed change doesn't necessarily mean a decrease in engagement. It does, however, mean publishers will likely face renewed pressure to create content that is, above all else, "shareable." That would seem to favor entertainment-based stories and viral hits above more boring-but-important news such as public policy initiatives.

From a user perspective, the change means Facebook will be an even better place to discuss stories that your friends are already talking about. Facebook will also prioritize friends' posts you interact with the most — if you like (or, better yet, love) cat videos from your cousin every time you see them, they'll start to appear higher and higher in your feed over time.