Facebook is flooding the news feed with positive stories in a fight for its image

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Facebook has found itself in the midst of a wave of negative press. The company has been found to show favoritism for celebrities and it has been ignoring massive drug trafficking problems that persist on the platform.

Now it has come out that the company has been testing ways to make improve its public image. According to The New York Times, one of the things the company is testing is promoting positive stories about Facebook on people’s newsfeeds.

The Times says that Mark Zuckerberg himself signed off on the initiative last month. Known as Project Amplify, this new scheme was hatched in an internal company meeting way back in January.

The aim of the project was to show Facebook in a better light by promoting positive stories about the platform. But it was a tricky move, as the company had never used users’ newsfeeds to boost its reputation.

Facebook spokesperson Joe Osborne has refuted the claims of The Times, saying this:

“There is zero change to the News Feed ranking. This is a test for an informational unit clearly marked as coming from Facebook. It’s not the first of its kind, and is similar to corporate responsibility initiatives people see in other technology and consumer products.”

Whether or not The New York Times’ claims are true, Facebook has definitely taken a more aggressive approach when it comes to defending the platform.

Just last week, the company fought back against the scathing Facebook Files from The Wall Street Journal, with Vice President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg calling the Journal’s claims “just plain false.“

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