Facebook is tweaking the way its Trending Topics feature is curated. After coming under fire for supposed bias of certain political stories from the US, the social media company has opted to not let their editors write headlines or summaries for the articles that make the list. While editors still vet the list, Facebook will rely heavily on the algorithm that culls the articles, which is based on how often users post or share certain stories. What you’ll be seeing this time is comments from the users and excerpt from the actual article.
Facebook’s post on these changes also shows their reaction regarding the alleged bias the company has: “Earlier this year, we shared more information about Trending in response to questions about alleged political bias in the product. We looked into these claims and found no evidence of systematic bias. Still, making these changes to the product allows our team to make fewer individual decisions about topics. Facebook is a platform for all ideas, and we’re committed to maintaining Trending as a way for people to access a breadth of ideas and commentary about a variety of topics.”