Facebook is constantly changing and evolving to meet the needs of its users. The social media giant recently introduced new ways for you to control what you see on your News Feed.

The new changes include features that allow you to control who can comment on your posts, new ways to prioritize posts on your News Feed, and help you understand the reason behind the Suggested Posts on your News Feed.

In this article, we'll explore the three ways that Facebook is giving you more control over your News Feed in 2021.

1. Control Who Can Comment on Your Public Posts

Facebook has added a new menu of options that allows you to control who can comment on your public posts. You can choose whether you want only profiles and Pages you mentioned, only friends, or if you want everyone to be able to comment.

This is different from the previously available Share With option that lets you to choose who can view your post (e.g., Public, Friends, Only me, etc.).

The new feature gives you control over interactions on your public posts by allowing you to choose a commenting audience for the post. This means that while your post may be visible to the public, you can set the commenting audience to a more limited group of people, such as your Facebook friends.

How to Set a Commenting Audience for Your Public Posts.

Comments on public Facebook posts

To set the commenting audience for a post, follow these steps:

  1. Tap on the … icon on the top right corner of your published post.
  2. Tap on Who can comment on your post?
  3. Choose from the available options: Public, Friends, or Profiles and Pages you mention.

Related: Is Facebook Doing Enough to Tackle Misinformation?

2. Organize Posts in Your News Feed

Facebook’s Feed Filter Bar, a new menu at the top of the News Feed, makes it easier for you to sort posts in your News Feed. The Favorites option in the Feed Filter Bar allows you to select up to 30 friends and Pages whose posts you want to see first, or view in a separate feed entirely.

Tapping on Most Recent on the Feed Filter Bar switches the post arrangement from the default algorithmically-ranked News Feed to one where newer posts are shown first. If you, for any reason, wish to opt for the default News Feed, you can enable it by tapping on Home in the Shortcuts menu.

Android users will start seeing the Feed Filter Bar at the top of their News Feed soon. Facebook says the feature will be available to iOS users “in the coming weeks”.

How to Organize Posts in Your News Feed

Favorites on Facebook

You can opt for any of the post arrangements pattern (Home, Favorites, and Most Recent) by tapping on your preferred one on the Feed Filter Bar.

3. Understanding Suggested Posts

Facebook is also expanding its Why Am I Seeing This option to give more context to the Recommended Posts you see on your News Feed.

You can tap on the Why Am I Seeing This option on posts from friends, Pages, and Groups you follow as well as on posts suggested by Facebook to understand why they’re appearing in your News Feed.

Facebook displays suggested posts on your News Feed from Pages and Groups you don’t already follow, but it thinks you may be interested in based on the post engagement, related topics, and your location.

How to Check Why You’re Seeing a Post

You can know why a post is appearing in your News Feed by tapping on the … icon on the top right corner of the post and clicking on the Why Am I Seeing This option on the menu.

If also gives you the option to then manage your preferences in the popup. This gives you an easy way to get rid of certain posts or topics that appear on News Feed when the algorithm makes incorrect assumptions about your interests.

Related: Learn How Hackers Can Hack Your Facebook Account and How to Fix It

Making the Most of Your Control Over Your News Feed

We all know that the Facebook News Feed can be a little overwhelming. Your feed is filled with updates from friends, family, and favorite brands, but sometimes you don't want to see posts about your ex or post-election drama.

You can use these new features to gain control over your News Feed so you can focus on what matters to you.

Is your feed still cluttered? Use these tools to filter out annoying Facebook posts.

Overall, Facebook Is Getting Better

Facebook is constantly working on ways to improve its site. You can tell this from the improvements in other areas in its platform.

If you haven't tweaked your settings in a while, make sure to explore the different options to make your News Feed and settings work better for you.