Facebook announces original news shows, harps on 'trusted content'

Facebook today announced its first original news shows for the social network, joining other online platforms producing video to compete with television.

The news shows will be produced for Facebook by a variety of partners including CNN, Fox News, ABC News and Univision. The programs are producing the social network's on-demand video service called Facebook Watch, which is part of an effort to compete with platforms such as Google-owned YouTube, and potentially develop a wider following.

Facebook said the launch of news shows was also aimed at offering its members "trusted" content following concerns that the platform was used to spread misinformation. "Earlier this year we made a commitment to show news that is trustworthy, informative, and local on Facebook," said a statement from Facebook news partnerships chief Campbell Brown.

"As a part of that commitment, we are creating a dedicated section within Watch for news shows produced exclusively for Facebook by news publishers. With this effort, we are testing a destination for high quality and timely news content on the platform."

Facebook's 'Hello' Button is causing a lot of trouble: Here's why

TECHNOLOGY NEWS - The "Hello" button, rolled out silently by Facebook for some users as part of testing last month, has created trouble for some users as they are complaining about using it accidentally.

The "Hello" button allows users to get people's attention by sending them a virtual "Wave", similar to the infamous Facebook "Poke".

Since "Hello" is placed right next to the "Add Friend" button, some users clicked on the wrong choice unintentionally, finding themselves in an awkward confrontation, Mirror.co.uk reported on Wednesday.

"This could be particularly awkward if you were checking out the profile of someone you don't know or -- even worse -- stalking an ex-partner," the report said.

However, the users can undo their mistake by tapping the button again and hitting the "OK" option that pops up.

"The feature is still in a testing phase and not all users have it on their profiles yet," the report added.