Facebook announced in a blog post on Thursday, April 22, it was looking for user feedback regarding its News Feed to better “understand the content people find most valuable.”

Facebook’s News Feed is the first thing most people see when they log onto the social network, and the content there is made up of posts from friends, family, and communities or businesses they follow.

Facebook appears to be looking for feedback on a number of approaches to lessen the politically-charged landscape of current Facebook as it stands now. These tests will be run globally, the company added.

The approaches include determining whether people find a post inspirational, gauging interests in the topics people like, determining the content people want to see less of, and making it easier to leave feedback on specific content – such as being able to more easily ignore or skip past things they don’t want to see.

In a statement to The Verge, Facebook clarified their work on this, saying:

“For the purposes of our surveys, we’ll ask people how inspiring they find a given post on their News Feeds, so we’re leaving it up to them as to what they find inspirational. According to feedback sessions we’ve conducted, though, people have told us they find content to be ‘inspiring’ if:

• It gives them positive, new ideas to do something different
• It’s information that changes their thinking or perceptions
• It provokes uplifting and creative thinking.”

The Verge noted that certain controversial content can just as easily be seen as inspiring for a subset of its users.

While Facebook does admit it sees engagement as “one of many types of signals we use to rank posts in News Feed,” it is hoping the surveys will provide a more comprehensive picture that can shape how Facebook works in the future, at least in terms of what people find valuable. – Rappler.com