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Last week Facebook introduced an incredibly useful update called See First that’s so very handy you’ll wonder why they didn’t do this sooner. No longer does Facebook have to guess which friends and Pages are the most important to you.
With the new See First feature you can now tell Facebook which friends and Pages you want to see at the top of your News Feed. These are the updates, photos and check-ins that you care about the most.
You can select up to 30 friends and/or Facebook Pages you want in your See First list that will appear at the top of your News Feed. These favorites aren’t ranked in order, you simply choose up to 30 people/Pages you don’t want to miss then Facebook will put them at the top of your Feed.
Maybe your See First list includes your dearest friends whose lives you want to follow closely. Or perhaps these are your friends who are leading the most interesting lives. Or maybe these are the friends who post uplifting positive messages that get your day off to a great start. Or perhaps these are Pages whose updates you don’t want to miss (such as The Wonder of Tech!).
Availability
The new See First feature is currently available on Facebook’s website and the iOS app for iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch.
[important]See First isn’t available on Android yet. Expect to see See First arrive on Android’s Facebook app shortly. Stay tuned to The Wonder of Tech for updates![/important]
How to Use Facebook See First
For iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch
1. Open the Facebook app on your iDevice.
2. Tap the More icon (three stacked lines) in the lower right corner of your screen.
3. Scroll down to Settings.
4. Tap News Feed Preferences.
5. Tap “Prioritize who to see first.”
6. Tap on the friends and Pages you want to see at the top of your Feed. Again, you don’t have to rank them. Choose up to 30 favorites.
7. Tap Done.
8. Tap on the News Feed icon in the bottom left corner of your screen. Pull down and release to refresh your News Feed. Your See First favorites should now be at the top of your Feed. (If they’re not, that may mean your favorites haven’t posted anything recently.)
[tip]See First is easier to use on the iOS app because you don’t have to visit each Facebook page you want to add to your See First list, as you do if you use the Facebook website to set your list. [/tip]
For Desktop Computers
Set Friends on See First
1. Go to Facebook’s website and go to the page of a friend you want to include in your See First list.
2. Click the Following button in the lower right corner of their cover photo.
3. Choose See First to see updates from that friend at the top of your News Feed.
Set Pages on See First
1. Go to Facebook’s website and search for the name of Page you want to include in your See First list.
2. Click the Liked button in the lower right corner of the cover photo.
3. Choose See First to see updates from that Page at the top of your News Feed.
[warning] You only get a combination of 30 friends and Pages for your See First list so choose wisely. If you aren’t satisfied with your list you can go back to change it at any time. [/warning]
Blocking Friends
You can also block friends, if you don’t want to see updates from them in your News Feed. When you block friends, you’re telling Facebook that you don’t want to unfriend them but you don’t want your News Feed to include their updates.
Your blocked friends won’t know they’re muted and your Feed will no longer be polluted by their updates you don’t want to see.
[note]Check out Fix Your Flooded Facebook Feed (Without Unfriending Anyone) to find out how to block people on Facebook without unfriending them. [/note]
Poll
Will you use See First to manage your Facebook News Feed? Vote in the Wonder of Tech poll:
Your Thoughts
Are you excited about Facebook’s new See First feature? Do you like the idea of prioritizing your friends and Pages on your News Feed? Do you wish you could rank them? Are you going to put your most important friends and Pages first? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below!
Sounds great!!!
Hi Jerry, You’re right! This is a truly great update from Facebook, one that everyone can use. The poll results say it all: 100% of voters are going to use See First (results so far).
I hope you enjoy See First, Jerry!
Carolyn,
I think I will really like this one! I do already in a way with picking people to be my closest friends, those show up in my updates on the side.
But this new way of picking 30 is quite cool. Thank you for sharing how to do it via desktop or mobile, I didn’t see one for Android or did I miss it?
Hi Lisa, Yes, this update really will make Facebook more useful for everyone. You get control over which friends and pages you want to see at the top of your News Feed. You don’t have to wade through updates from friends or Pages that aren’t important to you to get to the “good stuff.”
See First isn’t available for Android devices yet. I mentioned that under the Availability section above. It should be coming soon, stay tuned to The Wonder of Tech for news about See First when it comes to Android!
Hey Carolyn,
This would be pretty nifty for a lot of people to bypass the edge rank. Sometimes you tend to miss your friends posts on Facebook and have to search for it. This is will come in handy so that you can see the ones that are most dear to you whether they’re close friends, family or even business relationships.
One question though. Is there a limit to those you want to block?
Hi Sherman, Great point. Yes, if you have a dear friend who doesn’t post much, you may miss it when he posts an update if you don’t add him to your See First list. Facebook may just assume that the friend isn’t important because you don’t have many interactions with him.
Now, with See First you can let Facebook know which friends and Pages you want to see, which should be much more effective than letting Facebook figure this out on its own.
While See First has a limit of 30 friends and Pages you can add to your list, Facebook doesn’t have a limit on the number of friends you can block, at least no limit that I’m aware of. So block as many friends as you like on Facebook, but I hope you don’t have too many annoying friends!
Hi Carolyn,
I think this is a really cool idea that Facebook has come up with and like you mentioned it’s a wonder they did not come up with that before. 30 friends and pages seems like a cool number too except that for those who have lots of friends and pages it might be a challenge narrowing down the list of those to see first.
I checked it out on my desktop already but is still trying to figure it out on my Android. Thanks for sharing. Have a great day.
Hi Yvonne, You’re right, this is a very cool idea from Facebook that seems as if they should have offered from the beginning. Yes, if you have a lot of friends and Pages you might have a difficult time choosing only 30. Who knows? Facebook may increase the number in the future if See First is a hit. Judging from The Wonder of Tech poll results (so far), everyone likes this idea.
See First isn’t available yet on Android, though it should be coming soon. I’ll post an update when See First becomes available on Android.
Hey Carolyn,
I’m SO using this one. I have some friends that I get tired of what they’re posting but I don’t necessarily want to unfriend them. I think this is going to come in very handy actually.
The blocking them will be something I’ll use too. I actually did unfriend several people this morning, just not interested in what they share and we’re really not that close anyway.
I do though like having the option to be able to control who I see the most. Really glad they incorporated this feature and I’ll have to play with this over the weekend.
Thank you my friend for telling us about this one. Enjoy your week.
~Adrienne
Hi Adrienne, Excellent point, you can have Facebook friends in many categories: those whose updates you don’t want to miss (put them on your See First list!), those whose updates you don’t care so very much about and those whose updates you’d rather not see (block them). You may even have friends you want to unfriend.
With See First and blocking you have more control of your News Feed than ever before. I’m so glad you’re going to be using See First, Adrienne. I hope you enjoy Facebook even more now!
Hey Carolyn,
That is an excellent feature, and it is new to me – I haven’t heard about it yet!
My Facebook newsfeed is a total and complete waste at this moment and it needs to be sorted big time. I have kept this task for a later time when am more free – since I thought the only option is to unfollow some people who aren’t relevant to me anymore.
But I guess this is an easier option, rather than having to go through each and every friend on my list – I can just make a short-list of 30 people.
However, is it good for the marketers? This might lower the organic reach of our fan pages further.
thanks,
Uttoran Sen,
Hi Uttoran Sen, You’re right, you used to only be able to block people on Facebook, you couldn’t move your favorite friends and Pages to the top. But now with See First that’s just what you can do so your News Feed doesn’t have to be a mess any more. Just take a few minutes to choose your 30 favorites and you can take control of what you see first on Facebook.
You’ll still see Facebook ads so if a Page wants to promote a post, that won’t be affected. But to get a prime spot on someone’s See First list, a Page must have very important information. I think See First will give people who run Facebook Pages even more incentive to post frequently about important topics.
Today I got to know about some cool tips. Earlier today I was reading an article on LifeHacker which was about some cool tips for WhatsApp and now you shared some really helpful tips about Facebook Feeds. I use both of these apps actively to be connected with my friends. Hope these tips will make my FB experience even better.
Hi Tauseef, Don’t you just love getting cool tips that make your life easier? That’s what The Wonder of Tech is all about! I’m so glad you learned about See First here, Tauseef. I hope it makes your Facebook News Feed much more interesting for you!
Hi,
I made those changes and now my facebook feed is looking more cooler. Now I’m seeing what I want to see and not a wall flooded with unnecessary posts.
Hi Carolyn,
I just tried this and I think it will be useful. Useful to see that you can switch back to default too. I’ve added two people to my list so far! I added the students because it can be important for them to contact me if they can’t do it with Skype. One of them is at Disneyland Hong Kong today, I just saw the photos! I thought I was finished helping student, but they still ask my advice and introduce new students to me. They have Master’s degrees now, so are trying to develop careers.
It’s the Black Country Festival here, so I took over 800 photos at the weekend! On Saturday it was Wednesbury Carnival and Sunday a drive with horses and carts. That was chaotic and I shot video too. Next week there are more events, a Vintage Fayre and a Classic Cars event. I got good photos of the fun fair on Saturday! I’m keeping busy…
Hi Carolyn,
I don’t see the option of “Prioritize Who to See First” in News Feed Preferences in my iPhone Facebook App. Do you know what is wrong?
Thanks!
Darragh
Hi Darragh, Check App Store => Updates in the lower right corner of the screen and see if you have the latest version of the app. If not, update the app.
Please let me know if that works, Darragh.