There’s a new rocket icon on your Facebook app, and here’s what it means
You may or may not have noticed that there’s a rocket icon on your Facebook app. If it’s not there, DON’T WORRY — you haven’t been deliberately excluded by the folks who run Facebook. The Facebook rocket is a test feature, therefore it only appears for a small subset of users. But, it’s a strange icon — so what’s the deal?
The rocket is a news feature that aggregates a separate feed of popular posts from pages and users you have not “liked” or “friended.”
Users have observed that it contains a great deal of content from nearby pages and users — but, like Instagram, it also displays topics that are relevant to a user’s specific interests. So, it seems like the feature takes into account a user’s “likes” and friends when posting news.[/subheader]
https://twitter.com/udfredirect/status/848841344546217984
[The rocket feature] is a complementary feed of popular articles, videos, and photos, customized for each person based on content that might be interesting to them," a Facebook spokesperson confirmed to The Independent, adding that it's meant to provide an "easy way to explore new content they haven’t connected with yet."
This is what the new rocket icon on Facebook app does https://t.co/gwKMHqhahI pic.twitter.com/82Q8dGgS0P
— Express Tribune Tech (@ETribuneTech) April 3, 2017
A Mashable reader in the test group provided a screenshot to the publication — and it looked a little different than the rocket feature on other people’s phones. Labeled “Explore,” the feed has more of a magazine vibe and lays out news items side by side.
If the feature receives positive feedback, we may all see rockets appear on our Facebook apps in the near future.
