Media Faces Uncertain Future On Facebook

New changes to the Facebook news feed algorithm have set off new uncertainty and speculation in the media, where outlets have come to rely on the site for traffic.

Facebook announced on Thursday that it would start prioritizing posts from users’ friends and family over content from news sites and other brands. CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated the  new changes are intended to make Facebook’s user experience “more valuable.”

According to The Hill, a move to downplay the spread of media content on Facebook could also be a response to criticisms that Facebook has allowed “fake news” to spread on the platform. But the move is also raising questions about the impact it will have on businesses that dependon the network to reach an audience.

David Chavern, the head of the News Media Alliance, a trade group representing outlets across the country, said that Facebook does little outreach to the media despite having huge amounts of influence over news outlets’ traffic.

“Everyone expected the internet to be a place where everybody gets a voice, that's super democratic, but it turns out that the underlying dynamics of the internet is that there are a few huge gatekeepers, Facebook being one of them,” Chavern told The Hill.

Chavern added that many companies rely on the site to generate traffic and “Facebook gets to decide whether they live or die.”

Adam Mosseri, the head of Facebook’s News Feed division, acknowledged in a separate blog post that the changes could have adverse affects on media outlets.

“As we make these updates, Pages may see their reach, video watch time and referral traffic decrease,” Mosseri wrote. “The impact will vary from Page to Page, driven by factors including the type of content they produce and how people interact with it. Pages making posts that people generally don’t react to or comment on could see the biggest decreases in distribution.”

According to Facebook’s announcement, the company will give priority to posts that it predicts will drive more engagement through shares and comments, and that less content from company pages will show up at the top of users’ feeds.