NPR: Facebook Rolls Out New Plan For News Feed with More Posts from Friends and Family

A major announcement came from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday. According to a recent NPR article, Zuckerberg announced on his own Facebook that the company would be emphasizing more meaningful content to users on their feeds and content from friends and family would start to have more weight than those from businesses, brands and media. The driving factor of this change—the platform was created to bring people closer together and stay connected.

"The research shows that when we use social media to connect with people we care about, it can be good for our well-being. We can feel more connected and less lonely, and that correlates with long-term measures of happiness and health," Zuckerberg wrote. "On the other hand, passively reading articles or watching videos — even if they're entertaining or informative — may not be as good."

Criticism on the increase in targeted disinformation that may have disrupted the U.S. elections is another potential driving factor in the decision. Zuckerberg hopes that this change will create a shift back to helping users have meaningful social interactions over finding relevant content. This news does alarm businesses that have invested in the platform and use it to promote and spread content to customers and a targeted audience.