Facebook Trying To Rid News Feed Of Click Bait

(RTTNews) - Facebook will be using a new algorithm to stop or marginalize the appearance of "clickbait" pages on news feeds which the social networking giant's users have always complained about.

Clickbait are content on the internet that has a sensational or provocative headlines like: "When She Looked Under Her Couch Cushions And Saw THIS… I Was SHOCKED!"; "He Put Garlic In His Shoes Before Going To Bed And What Happens Next Is Hard To Believe"; and "The Dog Barked At The Deliveryman And His Reaction Was Priceless." The main purpose of clickbait are to attract attention and draw visitors to a particular web page.

Facebook said its new algorithm will categorize tens of thousands of headlines as clickbait by considering two key points: (1) if the headline withholds information required to understand what the content of the article is; and (2) if the headline exaggerates the article to create misleading expectations for the reader.

Facebook had earlier made an attempt to stop clickbait in 2014, by focusing on user behavior.Facebook's algorithm searched for links that users Liked and then clicked, but then immediately returned to Facebook and then Unliked because of being a spam.