Chennai: After hash tag fiasco Facebook is yet to learn its lesson, as it has again aped Twitter and the newly added feature has not gone well with its users. This time it is for introducing ‘trending stories’. The feature displays selected news stories to the users depending on their area of interest. If you are browsing through your desktop, you can notice it at the top right column under the news feed. Many users felt that it was annoying as it contained just some celebrity gossip which was irrelevant to them. Members cannot turn it off too. Some have resorted to using F.B. Purity (a third-party browser extension) to filter unwanted information. Facebook responded by saying that it is open to feedback.
The social networking website has launched this feature in different countries including U.S., U.K. and Canada, PC World reported. In India, only some select users are provided with this feature and the roll out will be gradual.
S. Shyam Sundar, founder of the Media Effects Research Laboratory at Pennsylvania State University opines that users are benefited as the news that matters to them will find them rather than they looking for it. Some have responded back by saying that they are happy to browse a reliable news website for the same.
The Menlo Park, California based networking site not only shows the trending topics but mentions as to why it is trending. Its rival however chooses only to display the trends and not analyze them. As of now, when you browse Facebook from your Smartphone it does not show the trending feature. An application that will allow the same is being tested. However, Twitter’s mobile app shows the trends. The common ground between the social networking giants is that, both showcase the trending topics based on the preferences and location of the person using it.
Over couple of months, Facebook has attempted to improve its news feed features including the one that highlights more pictures from the users and it has further worked on its ranking system to display more news posts. Some of these changes were well received and some were met with criticism. Even Twitter adding photo preview feature faced resistance. It is time to see how the largest social network in the world will handle the situation at hand.
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