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| CNN |
The most recent update to the Facebook mobile app mainly just infected
it with the same Snapchat yellow fever that Messenger came down with
recently, but there was something else as well. On the nav bar, right
next to the News Feed icon, some users have reported the appearance of a
new one - a rocket.
This new icon has appeared with no warning and no fanfare, so what
exactly is it? Well, according to users who have taken an immense leap
of faith and actually tapped it, it's a news feed. That doesn't
so much answer the question as raise further questions. Why do we need
two different news feeds? How is this one different? Why a rocket? Where
did I leave my car keys?
As it turns out, this appears to be another venture into the realm of
alternative news feeds, and this one has a rather neat USP: the rocket
feed (or launchpad or whatever they end up calling it) only shows you
content from pages which you don't follow. The idea is to help
you discover new content you wouldn't have seen otherwise, guiding you
towards a more interesting Facebook experience.
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The content you see is chosen based on your activity, it's all stuff that Facebook thinks you might like. In that sense, it's basically a more condensed, dedicated version of those 'recommended' posts you'll see appearing sporadically on your regular news feed.
It's hard to know whether or not this is a positive step. On the one
hand it's nice to see a place where the content you see isn't based on
your likes and comments, or those of your friends, but on the other hand
if all the content your seeing was selected based on, well, liking and
commenting, then it's really just the same thing with a different label.
Encouraging users to explore new things is all well and good, but
interest measurement only gets you so far.
If they're putting serious effort into making the feature as
sophisticated as it can be, then it could end up being every bit the
haven it has the potential to be - a well curated feed of content which
isn't influenced or muddied by the activity of other people on your
friends list. The great paradox of Facebook has always been that it's
only as interesting as the people you're connected with, so it will only
be a viable source of content if you have a broad range of people on
your friends list.
All Facebook have really said about the rocket feed is that it's a
response to people's expressed desire to explore new content. It's
obviously still being road tested, but it may end up getting more
attention than any of Facebook's other recent additions, and that in
turn could significantly influence the way the platform evolves.
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