If You Use Facebook For News, Read This New Update

The way you see your news on Facebook is about to change completely. Facebook announced on Aug. 26 that the Trending Topics section on your feed will no longer be curated by people. Instead, an algorithm will surface what you see.

Previously, the Trending Topics section would include a short description of the news. Now, only the topic will show up, as well as a how many people are talking about it.

To find out more about the topic, you'll need to click on the title. There, a search results page will show who's talking about it and what the news actually is. Facebook states that the results you see on this page "are surfaced algorithmically, based on a high volume of mentions and a sharp increase in mentions over a short period of time." If you just hover on a topic, you'll see an excerpt of the topic from a news outlet.

Facebook is making this change to an algorithm because it will allow the feature to grow globally. The company also writes that a team is still in place to make sure what the algorithm shows is actually news.

This isn't totally unexpected news, considering the backlash Facebook received when numerous outlets reported that the Trending Topics section was biased. Though the company conducted an investigation and found no evidence of such claims, the idea that Facebook isn't entirely unbiased continues. Maybe this change will help change that perception — or worsen it when an algorithm surfaces the wrong type of content.