10 Years Ago This Week: Facebook Prioritizes Friends

To celebrate 10 years of Creator Weekly, I’m sharing tech highlights from 2015 that still resonate 10 years later. This update was for the week ending April 25, 2015.

10 years ago this week Facebook said your News Feed would prioritize content from your Friends over content from Pages. A decade later they are still trying to find the right balance.

Facebook Moved Friends' Posts Higher in the News Feed

Facebook Announcement April 2015 "Balancing Content from Friends and Pages" 

Back in 2015, Facebook asked people to rate their feeds and give feedback. They then announced that that were adjusting the News Feed to try to address that feedback.

There were two main pain points. 
First, people were concerned about missing important updates from friends.

So Facebook adjusted the News Feed to put content posted by Friends like photos, videos, status updates and links, higher up in the feed.

People also said they weren’t interested in seeing stories about their friends liking or commenting on a post. So those were pushed lower in the News Feed.

But if content from Friends was boosted, that meant content from Pages would be less visible. Creators, businesses, organizations, anyone using a Page were concerned that their posts wouldn’t be seen.

Facebook would only say that the impact would depend on the Page's audience, and what was posted and  how often you post, without specifics. That doesn't seem very helpful. 

The view from 2025

Meta announcement in March 2025 "Bringing the Magic of Friends Back to Facebook"

Finding the right balance between Friends on the one hand and public posts from non-Friends and Pages is something that Facebook has been continuously struggling with. 

Of course it's complicated. You may not be interested in everything your friends and family post, and some of those "friends" from decades past may no longer be meaningful connections. 

And Facebook also wants to provide a platform for creators and businesses. 

Here are some notable changes. Over and over Facebook has re-prioritized content from your personal connections

2016: People were still concerned they would miss important stories from Friends, so Facebook adjusted the News Feed so that "things posted by the friends you care about" are higher in the feed. And they even declared "friends and family come first" was the driving principal of the News Feed. Facebook noted this would likely cause "reach and referral traffic to decline for some Pages." 

2018: The News Feed is updated to better "bring people closer together." It prioritizes posts that "spark meaningful conversations and meaningful interactions between people", while also prioritizing posts from friends and family. They noted this would mean less content from publishers, businesses and Pages (other than the posts "sparking meaningful conversation").

2019: Facebook adjusted their algorithm based on surveys to more highly rank posts from people "you have a close relationship with, with prediction models "continuously updated based on the interactions people have with their friends on Facebook." The algorithm was also tweaked "prioritize the Pages and groups we predict an individual may care about most."

2021: You can select up to 30 Friends and Pages as "Favorites" to rank more highly in the News Feed.

2022: Select "Show More" or "Show Less" on posts to help customize your feed.

And less than a month ago Meta announced they would be bringing back “OG” Facebook experiences.

The first change: "Bringing back the magic of friends". To do that, Facebook launched a new Friends tab that shows nothing but content from your Friends, including stories, reels, posts, birthdays and friend requests.

And maybe that’s the solution - have a separate friends feed and a not-friends feed. 

Is Facebook Really About Friends & Family?

And sometimes what Facebook announces publicly isn't the same thing they say under oath.

There is an ongoing antitrust trial against Meta where the FTC's case argues Facebook’s core business is connecting with friends and family and they have a monopoly on that.

To that Mark Zuckerberg testified that Facebook’s feed had moved away from just friends and family, and it is “more of a broad discovery-entertainment space.”

I expect the balance will keep shifting as Facebook's real goal is to maximize people’s time spent on the platform and engagement.

References

Facebook Newsroom; 21 April 2015: Balancing Content from Friends and Pages

Meta Newsroom; 27 March 2025: Bringing the Magic of Friends Back to Facebook

Reuters; 14 April 2025: Meta's Zuckerberg Disputes US Antitrust Case in Trial Testimony