【Rebekka Armstrong Archives】

Facebook is Rebekka Armstrong Archivesrolling out a major change to its "Trending Topics" section that will result in everyone in the U.S. seeing the same news stories, which should become timelier and more in line with the news of the moment — and a bit more resistant to "fake news."

Facebook's automated system will now select which articles to feature based on a broader survey of what the media is covering, as well as which stories in particular are resonating with readers and spurring additional coverage. The change could help stem the tide of misleading stories — some of which surfaced in Trending — by relying more on what numerous media outlets are reporting on, rather than focusing on individual posts that are generating engagement.

The selection of those stories will also not take into account personal preference — a major step for Facebook, which has almost entirely relied on personalization for everything users see within its social network. The stories in Trending will also feature headlines directly from publishers.

Facebook's massive audience and emergence as a go-to source for news makes the change extremely significant, as millions of people in the U.S. will now see the same news stories on the social network's desktop version — including headlines from particular news outlets.

The changes will begin to go into effect on Wednesday but only in the U.S. for now and will be rolled out over the next couple weeks.

The headlines are also a new change to Trending, which could make that little box a suddenly very valuable piece of digital real estate. Facebook announced that it will take into account a variety of factors including story engagement, publisher engagement and if other publishers are linking to that article. Trending had previously contained keywords that would reveal headlines when clicked on or hovered over with a mouse.

The section may also become quicker to surface breaking news. In fact, Trending has accrued something of a reputation for not being terribly good with real-time news. Facebook said it will now begin taking into account how many publishers are posting on the same topic to decide whether a story is worth putting in Trending, rather than looking at engagement around individual posts.

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The changes take effect on Wednesday and will not change the News Feed.

Will Cathcart, vice president of product management, wrote in the announcement that the changes were the result of user response.

"We’re listening to people’s feedback and will continue to make improvements in order to provide a valuable Trending experience," he wrote.

Trending has been among Facebook's most embattled features ever since Gizmodobroke a story alleging that some of the section's human editors (who have since been removed from the process) had downplayed conservative media outlets in choosing what stories and publications to promote.

The story caused a massive headache for Facebook, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg going as far as meeting with some conservative leaders to assure them that the company as not stacked against them.

After that, Facebook removed much of the human element from Trending, though a quality review team remains in place. They will still be part of the new system.