For now, the test is being conducted in only six countries: Bolivia, Cambodia, Slovakia, Guatemala, Serbia and Sri Lanka. But it is already clear that the change was not good for the pages. Social networking manager Filip Struharik shows that, according to CrowdTangle, the interactions in the posts of the sixty-plus pages in Slovakia have fallen dramatically in recent days, between 60% and 80%. Non-sponsored posts are now in the Exploration Feed, released for everyone last week. It gets very hidden in the interface, lost among the various options in the “More” menu of the application; while the news feed, of course, follows as the gateway to Facebook. This test indicates a future in which pages will have to pay for their posts to appear to the followers themselves. It’s a way for Facebook to increase its advertising revenue – after all, with almost two billion users, it can not be ignored.
Facebook says, however, that “there are currently no plans to implement this outside test countries, nor to charge Facebook pages for all of their distribution in the news feed or the farm feed.” Adam Mosseri, head of the news feed on Facebook, explains in a statement: “People tell us they want an easier way to view posts from friends and family.” So they are testing two feeds. Snapchat does something similar: the stories of your friends stay in one place and Discover – with news and the like – in another. Mosseri says on Twitter that the test in the six countries “will probably last for months because it takes time for people to adjust.” So, what do you think about this? Simply share your views and thoughts in the comment section below.
