Facebook tries new feature: Grouping news feeds by topics

Will users find it useful or annoying? Social networking juggernaut Facebook introduced this week a new "test" feature that groups together news feeds by topic. "You may notice some of your News Feed stories are now grouped together by topic. We want to show you the most relevant and interesting information, and this test is designed to show you trends among what your friends are saying," Facebook said on its Facebook account. A sample screenshot indicated news feeds about a certain topic like "Harry Potter" would be grouped together. But not all Facebook users liked it, with some commenting that the new feature was "stupid." "Don't like it. it's stupid. and this huge chat bar on the side of my screen is really annoying," said Jon Scott. Another user, Shannon Ryan, said, "I wish you'd stop messing with the feeds and chat. Its not user friendly." A separate article on tech site Mashable said the new feature "hopes that the update will help make sense of your News Feed." "As with every Facebook change, not all users are loving the algorithmic alteration. Many of the initial comments on Facebook’s post were negative," it said. — RSJ, GMA News