JAKARTA - Soon, Facebook users will find it increasingly difficult to find political content on the Kabar Berita page - or better known as Beranda. This is because the social media giant is trying to ease political tensions between the camps - which according to experts have been going on for years via Facebook.
Facebook's Product Management Director, Aastha Gupta, shared the announcement on the company's official blog on Wednesday, January 9. Aastha said that Facebok will temporarily reduce the political content in Kabar Berita.
"As Mark Zuckerberg discussed in our previous conversations, one of the common suggestions we hear is that users don't want political content to fill the News Feed," wrote Aastha at the company's official announcement.
Therefore, continued Aastha, over the next few months Facebook will reduce the spread of political content in certain countries. Among others, Canada, Brazil, Indonesia, and the United States.
The reduction was carried out as a test form by the company to better understand user preferences for political content. In addition, based on the trial results, the company will also design several approaches so that users can be more comfortable with the Home News display.
“During this trial, we will study how to rank political content on user pages using different signals. Apart from that, we are also looking for the most appropriate approach to use for the next stage, "explained Aastha.
Meanwhile, information related to COVID-19 originating from official health organizations such as the CDC or WHO, as well as certain state health agencies and services affected by the pandemic will be exempted from this test. Content originating from official government-owned institutions will also be excluded.
Aastha also said that to find the best approach, his party would conduct a direct survey of the user experience.
“It is important to note that we do not delete all political content on Facebook. Our main goal is to prevent users from easily finding and interacting with political content on Facebook, while respecting (users) tastes, "emphasized Aastha.
According to Aastha, this step was taken to improve user comfort while browsing the News Feed page. Based on the company's analysis, political content is only 6 percent of the total content viewed by users on Facebook.
Like other platforms, Facebook is also working to stop the spread of misinformation and fake news. Previously, the company launched an update that would block users if they were caught sharing or creating misinformation content about vaccines and COVID-19.
"We always try to improve Kabar Berita, and this means finding the best balance of content that users want to see," concluded Aastha.
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