Facebook News Feed is the personalized stream of posts Facebook ranks for you from people and Pages you have connected with. Meta later shortened the product name to Feed; its newer interface distinguishes Home, which emphasizes discovery and recommendations, from the Feeds tab, which emphasizes recent posts from friends, Favorites, Pages, and groups.
What Facebook News Feed means
Meta product manager Jacob Frantz described News Feed in 2015 as “a personalized stream of stories that you build from the people and Pages you’ve connected to on Facebook.” In practice, it is not one identical list shown to everyone: the posts available to you and the order in which they appear are personalized. Meta’s 2015 explanation of News Feed gives the original plain-language definition.
“News” does not mean the stream is limited to journalism. It can include posts from connected people and Pages, as well as groups and recommendations, depending on the Facebook surface.
How Facebook ranks posts
Meta’s 2018 description breaks ranking into four broad parts: the available stories, signals about the person and content, predictions about likely actions, and a relevance score for each story. Adam Mosseri summarized the aim as organizing stories so relevant content appears near the top. That is Meta’s account of the system, not an independent audit or a guarantee that every person will find the results relevant. Meta’s 2018 explanation of News Feed ranking.
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In a more detailed account published in January 2021, Meta described a layered process: gather eligible posts, score them using characteristics of the posts and signals about the user, apply integrity processes and successive ranking stages, and take contextual factors such as content diversity into account. Meta characterized this as multiple machine-learning models rather than one simple, universal “algorithm.” Technical details can change, so the description should be understood as Meta’s public account in 2021. Meta’s 2021 account of how News Feed makes predictions.
Signals and feedback
Among the signals Meta has publicly described are whom and what a person follows, likes, or has recently engaged with, along with post characteristics such as type and recency. The system makes predictions about possible actions; likes, comments, and shares are not the only inputs Meta says it considers.
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Meta has also described using survey responses about whether a post was “worth your time” to inform later ranking. This is direct feedback alongside behavioral signals, not proof that the system’s choices will feel meaningful to every user. Meta’s 2021 explanation of feedback in ranking.
Meta’s dated scale figures
In its January 2021 explanation, Meta said the process served more than 2 billion Facebook users, considered more than 1,000 potential posts per person, and narrowed candidates to a few hundred shown in a Feed session. These are figures from Meta’s 2021 account, not current 2026 statistics.
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Home and Feeds: how the labels differ
In July 2022, Meta announced a distinction between Home and Feeds. Home was described as the first tab for discovery and recommendations; the Feeds tab was described as a way to see the most recent posts from friends, Favorites, Pages, and groups. Favorites is a list a user can curate. The announcement explains the intended distinction, but does not establish the exact interface every account sees today. Meta’s 2022 announcement of Home and Feeds.
| Facebook surface | What Meta described | Primary purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Home | Recommendations and discovery, alongside content in the Facebook experience | Discover content |
| Feeds | Recent posts from friends, Favorites, Pages, and groups | Browse recent posts from selected connection categories |
These labels help explain why “News Feed” remains familiar even as Facebook’s product names and navigation have changed. The announced distinction is about emphasis, not a promise that Feeds contains every post or excludes recommendations and advertising.
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How to influence what appears
Facebook has documented controls that let people adjust parts of their Feed, including Favorites, Unfollow, snooze, reconnect, and Feed Preferences. Meta’s October 2022 overview describes ways to customize the Feed; the exact control names or placement may vary by app, account, region, and interface version. Meta’s overview of Feed customization.
- Favorites: curate a list of people or Pages whose posts you want to prioritize.
- Unfollow: stop seeing someone’s posts in your Feed without necessarily removing the connection.
- Snooze: temporarily stop seeing posts from a person, Page, or group.
- Reconnect: find accounts you previously unfollowed and choose to follow them again.
- Feed Preferences: review available settings for managing what appears in your Feed.
Meta’s 2019 “Why am I seeing this?” explanation said Facebook could show factors such as a connection to the post’s source, patterns of interaction with a source or content type, and a post’s popularity among connected sources. It also described shortcuts to related controls. Treat this as an explanation of the feature at that time rather than a guarantee that today’s menu uses the same labels or location. Meta’s 2019 explanation of “Why am I seeing this?”.
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