Facebook automatically restricts shared status updates from apps

Facebook will stop status updates, which apps automatically post, such as which songs someone is listening to on Spotify. According to Facebook, friends have little interest in the automatically shared status updates.

The automatically shared updates generate little interest, so Facebook will only allow sharing from apps if users do it themselves, the social network says. In addition, it will make sorting the News Feed easier; Facebook selects from the posts that it can serve a user and without the automatic posts, the algorithm has to choose from fewer updates. In addition, users appeared to be surprised at the updates that apps had posted for them.

Facebook has already pushed back automatic sharing from apps in recent weeks, so that users see those updates less. Spotify, among others, uses that option, whereby the music service automatically places on Facebook what a user is listening to.