Many people have already posted about the recent Facebook updates and shared it with their friends, but I know there are still many out there who aren’t aware of these changes. That’s why I decided to blog about it and share it here so that more users will know about these important updates and be able to properly configure their Facebook account settings.
News Feed Settings
If you’ve recently logged in to your Facebook account and noticed that you’re missing new updates from some of your friends, then you need to check your News Feed Settings. A recent Facebook update has enabled an option by default to only show posts from “friends and pages that you interact the most“. Meaning, if you haven’t interacted with a certain friend (message, chat, comment, tag, etc.), then you won’t see/receive any updates from that friend on your News Feed.
There are two ways to configure your News Feed Settings:
Via the Most Recent link on the top part of the News Feed
- Login to your Facebook account.
- Click on “Most Recent > Edit Options“.
- On “Edit Your News Feed Settings > Show posts from” option, make sure that “All of your friends and pages” is checked.
- Click on “Save“.
Via the Edit Options link at the bottom of the News Feed
- Login to your Facebook account.
- Scroll down to the bottom of the page.
- Click on “Edit Options“
- On “Edit Your News Feed Settings > Show posts from” option, make sure that “All of your friends and pages” is checked.
- Click on “Save“.
Now you won’t miss updates from any of your friends or pages. If you noticed, below the “Show posts from” section is the “Hide posts from” option. Aside from the two filter options, this allows you to further customize your News Feed settings and block updates from specific friends or pages. To learn more about how to control your News Feed settings, refer to this post.
The option to show updates only from friends and pages you interact the most can be useful for some users as it displays less updates and only new updates from friends and pages that interest them the most. However, Facebook shouldn’t use it as the default setting especially if they don’t notify users about it. The default setting should be “All of your friends and pages” and then let the user decide whether they want it that way or not.
Secure Browsing
The other update has something to do with security and was created to address the vulnerability caused by unsecured web browsing. A certain Firefox extension called Firesheep allowed malicious users to browse the activity of other Facebook users on the same WiFi network (airport, public library, school, coffee shop, etc.) and even read or write on their accounts when logged on to Facebook via an unsecured connection (HTTP).
To address this issue, Facebook has added the option to login using HTTPS which is encrypted and secure. Here’s how to enable or setup secure browsing via HTTPS on your Facebook account.
- Login to your Facebook account.
- Click on Account > Account Settings.
- Under “Settings“, click on “Account Security“.
- Make sure “Secure Browsing (https)” is checked.
- Click on “Save“.
It is recommended that you enable this feature especially if you login to your Facebook account on public WiFi networks. It will keep your account and private information safe from prying eyes.
IMPORTANT: If you already enabled HTTPS and would want to access a Facebook application (e.g. games), Facebook will show a message asking whether you want to switch to a regular connection (HTTP) instead of a secured connection (HTTPS).
If you click on “Continue” and use the regular connection, HTTPS will no longer be enabled the next time you login. You’ll have to enable it again if you want to use it again for secure browsing.
Hope that this simple tutorial has helped you to properly configure your Facebook account settings not only for your News Feed but also to keep your account secure. If you found this post useful, I’m sure your family and friends who are on Facebook will do too, so feel free to share it with them. You can share this post via the bookmarking buttons below or via the toolbar.
Thanks for the info dude…only have known it here…
Thank you for letting us know of the updates.
@aieee 2011 – The HTTPS will only get disabled if you open Facebook apps. If you don’t open apps, your browsing connection will remain as HTTPS.
what if I already have some applications subscribed… do I get https even if I am not opening those apps..
@Marios – Exactly why I published it here and why we need to share this with your family and friends on Facebook. You’re welcome. :)
Agree most people don’t even know about those updates or don’t even pay attention, so its good you keep people up to date,
Thank you
Marios
@Sreejeesh – I believe no one did. Most people knew about it from friends who posted it on Facebook. You’re welcome!
I never got any notification about these updates,Thankfully I got it here
@Joie – Yeah, most FB users aren’t aware of these updates because it wasn’t announced. That’s why I decided to post it here so more users would know about these updates.
You’re welcome! Regarding the theater mode issue, you read my mind. I already have a draft for that and will publish it later this week or early next week. :D
I didn’t know that there’s an update on facebook. Thanks for writing a walkthrough. I was wondering if you know how to get rid of the theater view when browsing pictures from FB?
@Tinh – You’re welcome! Is that so? What do you mean partially blocked? What parts of Facebook are blocked or not blocked?
Thanks for your updates but unfortunately FB was partially blocked in my country
@Ron – You’re welcome! Glad I could share this with you. We need to let our FB friends know about these updates. :)
Thanks for this very interesting post about the updates Facebook rolled out. I like the secure browsing and notification security settings as well.
@neo – That’s true. However, all FB users should know about these updates because these are not just about new features but something that can affect their account security and news feed. :)
some fbookers are just not interested in the inner workings lol. i had some friends i wished to invite for the “messages”, they simply refuse and say “im contented” lol. little do they know itll be rolled out to all users sooner or later, just like the new “profiles”.