Facebook has just updated its News Feed algorithm to give more weighting to third-party apps.

Third-party power

Facebook revealed the news in a blog post, following an announcement at the recent f8 Developer's Conference.

“We’ve found that stories people choose to explicitly share from third party apps are typically more interesting and get more engagement in News Feed than stories shared from third party apps without explicit action. 

“In the coming months, we will continue to prioritize explicitly shared stories from apps in News Feed over implicitly shared stories,” Facebook wrote.

Sharing is caring

Under the update, users who actively post content from a third-party app will be ranked more highly, while apps that rely on automatic sharing (for example, Spotify, which can be configured to share every song you listen to) will be ranked lower.

The update does not apply to scheduling apps such as HootSuite.

Content still king

While Facebook continually tweaks its News Feed, this update is significant as it gives users more control over what they post, and view, on Facebook as it becomes more cluttered with promoted content.

The update also gives brands with third-party apps a new opportunity to cut through on the increasingly competitive News Feed.

To find out more visit newsroom.fb.com.

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