Facebook appears to be testing an interesting new feature by providing an icon to some users along the bottom of the home page.

The tiny image of a rocket set to launch is said to give the user access to an alternative news feed. One that is created by Facebook to complement your original content by offering popular articles, videos and photos that would not normally be shown to you.

It has appeared on iOS and Android apps so far and links not to another user’s feed but to an entirely unique second news feed of content chosen for the user by Facebook.

Out of this world

As the latest in a series of recent changes and tweaks, many are asking what else Facebook has planned. As always with the social media giant, they are using random testing groups as a starting point to see how well the new innovation goes down before deciding whether or not to roll out the change on a wider scale.

The aim is to give people access to what is going on outside of their regular news feed. This is understandable given that Facebook has received requests from users who complain of seeing the same content coming from the same people constantly.

Blast off?

It is not yet known if the reaction to the idea has proved popular enough to implement the new icon on a wider scale but it seems to be a logical development given the direction that Facebook intends for itself as a social media news source.

And it is yet another effective use for those clever little algorithms designed by Facebook to understand content that people like and appreciate. In a similar way to Instagram’s explore tab, the robots decide what to show in the rocket feed by analysing past likes and patterns.

So it all may look slightly random and unfamiliar at first but I would say there is a good chance that everyone will be launching into multiple news feeds in the near future.