Facebook Likes don't go as far as they used to in News Feed update

Most people just want to be liked — even if that means a cursory thumbs up on Facebook.

But a News Feed update announced Tuesday, which will roll out over the coming weeks, will somewhat deemphasize the feature

Posts highlighting what a friend Liked or commented on will either show up lower in your News Feed or not show up at all, according to Facebook. The move was made based on user feedback.

“Many people have told us they don’t enjoy seeing stories about their friends liking or commenting on a post,” Max Eulenstein, a Facebook product manager, and Lauren Scissors, a user experience researcher, wrote in a blog post.

These users will likely welcome this week's change. I, for one, always hated seeing what posts my ex-boyfriend engaged with.

For the rest of Facebook's 1.4 billion-plus monthly active users,

the quiet demise of a small feature that has existed since 2006 will hopefully yield a little less News Feed noise.

the quiet demise of a small feature that has existed since 2006 will hopefully yield a little less News Feed noise.

But that also depends on how Facebook executes two other News Feed tweaks: allowing posts from the same people back-to-back in sparse News Feeds, and prioritizing updates from Facebook friends users engage with the most.

In theory, that could yield a better News Feed experience, if it also means Facebook Pages won't pop up in your feed, as Facebook suggests.

"In some cases, post reach and referral traffic could potentially decline," the post stated. In which case, a Facebook Page's influence may have diminished slightly alongside the ubiqutous Like.

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