The Basics of Facebook Interest Lists
What is a Facebook Interest List?
Facebook continues to roll out new features (the big one is Facebook Timeline) and Interest Lists are one of the latest. Interest Lists are Facebook’s way of de-cluttering your newsfeed. You will now be able to categorize the Pages and people you “like”, “follow”, and “subscribe to” into different groups.
For instance you may put a friend who is a chef, Ben and Jerry’s, and Starbuck’s into one Interest List called “Food.” If you select that Interest List, you will see all the updates from those Pages or people you have put on those lists. Your newsfeed, in turn, will become the news you most want as opposed to irrelevant or unwanted status updates.
Facebook’s Interest Lists should already appeal to Twitter users who use Twitter lists and are used to segmenting the news they receive. Many people would rather stick with Facebook (even with the changes) than move to another social network. News aggregators for the iPad, iPhone, and Android such as Flipboard and News.me are also on the rise and you can see why Facebook would like to keep you on Facebook even for your news. (Facebook calls Interest Lists, “your personal newspaper.”)
How do I find/create a Facebook Interest List?
After logging into Facebook, you will see “Add Interests” (“Interests” if you’ve already created a list) on the bottom left-hand side of Facebook’s homepage.
If you do not see this option immediately, click the “More” option.
When creating new lists, a wizard helps you pick from your Liked Pages, subscriptions, friends, and members of categories such as Art, Entertainment, Games, etc.
If you have liked a business or organization’s Page on Facebook you can add that Page to an Interest List directly.
The top news or “stories” from each “Interest” you subscribe to occasionally appear in your primary newsfeed without clicking directly on the list.
To create your own Interest List, simply click + Create List.
You can choose from Liked Pages, Subscriptions (people who you’ve subscribed to already), Friends, and basic categories that Facebook provides for you.
After you’ve chosen who or what will be on your Interest List, you can select your privacy settings (if that makes sense).
First, create a name for your Interest List, and then decide whether your list is available to the “Public”, “Friends”, or “Only You.”
If you want other Facebook users to see your list and even subscribe to it, make it “Public”.
Your Interest List will now appear on the left side of the screen when you log into Facebook. If you would like to add to your list, click the list and you can add. Facebook will also suggest relevant people or pages you can add to your Interest List.
Interest Lists are still brand new, so we’re yet to see if they are a Facebook main-stay. In the meantime, Interest Lists are a great way to focus on the people and Pages you love without all the other distraction that can clutter up your newsfeed.
(Second and Third Image Courtesy of Facebook Newsroom.)
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