Facebook Lets Users Decide What And Who They See In Their News Feed

Facebook is giving users more control over the content they see in their News Feeds with a new feature announced Thursday that will let them decide which of their friends and the pages they follow show up first when they head to the social network.

The News Feed Preferences, as the feature is formally called, lets users easily put stars on their favorite friends and pages, letting Facebook know those are the people and services they want to see at the top of their News Feeds when they open up Facebook. Conversely, the feature also makes it simple for users to go and choose friends who they want to unfollow, letting Facebook know they no longer want to see posts from those friends in their News Feed.

"We know that ultimately you’re the only one who truly knows what is most meaningful to you and that is why we want to give you more ways to control what you see," Facebook said in a blog post announcing the new feature.

Facebook News Feed Preferences also make it straightforward for users to see which of their friends they've unfollowed, in case they want to reverse that decision. Additionally, the new feature includes a "Discover new Pages" component that shows users suggestions for pages they may want to follow.

The new feature is available Thursday for Apple iOS users and will roll out for Android users and on the Web over the next few weeks. To find the feature, tap "More" on the bottom right of the Facebook app, then scroll down and tap "News Feed Preferences."