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Facebook pushes personal posts with new Lists feature

The new tool comes as the social network continues to overhaul your news feed.

Richard Nieva Former senior reporter
Richard Nieva was a senior reporter for CNET News, focusing on Google and Yahoo. He previously worked for PandoDaily and Fortune Magazine, and his writing has appeared in The New York Times, on CNNMoney.com and on CJR.org.
Richard Nieva
2 min read
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Facebook's new Lists feature will let you make... guess what.

Facebook

Facebook wants you to post more about yourself, instead of filling your news feed with viral videos and news articles. On Tuesday, the social network released a new feature called Lists that's designed to encourage personal posts.

The Lists feature lets you, well, create lists. The idea is to spark conversation or get advice from friends. For example, you can post "places I'd like to travel" with a numbered or bulleted list of desired destinations, expecting reactions and suggestions from friends. Or you can toss up "every Star Wars film ranked," knowing that a heated debate will follow.

You can add colors and emojis to the post to liven it up.

The move comes as Facebook is making significant changes to the news feed. Last month, Facebook said it was de-emphasizing news and brand content and focusing more on posts from friends and family. The company then said it would rank the news that it does show by "trustworthiness," asking users to weigh in on the outlets they trust most. In addition, Facebook decided to prioritize local news over national news because national news tends to be more divisive.

Facebook has been reckoning with its scale and influence and how the service can affect people psychologically. 

"Our focus in 2018 is making sure Facebook isn't just fun, but also good for people's well-being and for society," Zuckerberg said in a post in late January, outlining Facebook's goals for the year. 

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