In Addition To Algorithms, Humans Will Help Facebook Curate News Tab

Algorithms have long been a helpful tool Facebook relies on to determine what kinds of news stories should be seen by users. However, the renowned social network has just announced that in addition to algorithms, a “small team of journalists” will be responsible for curating a new section called News Tab on its mobile application version.

According to Campbell Brown, the head of global news partnerships at Facebook,

Accordingly, Facebook plans to let algorithms classify most of the stories. Meanwhile, the journalists’ major duty is to highlight the highly relevant stories in the shortest time. Facebook may have to spend much time training algorithm systems on how to offer similar customization as humans can do.

This move might surprise many users, especially those who accuse Mark Zuckerberg’s tech company of its political bias. In fact, Facebook has faced lots of accusations pointing out that it is showing bias in algorithms. However, its bias also contributes to limit the possibility outlets can make use of to play with the system.

The News Tab’s test version is expected to be launched at the end of this year. It may soon become a part of a growing trend. More particularly, Apple News has employed journalists to monitor relevant articles. Meanwhile, the US employment-oriented service LinkedIn builds an editorial team by itself.

In terms of Facebook’s case, its move also shows us that there are always certain limits in even complicated algorithms. This is especially exact when that platform owns a huge user base.