Social media platforms like Facebook often prioritize algorithm-driven content over chronological updates, leading to inefficient browsing experiences. Users frequently waste time scrolling through irrelevant or repetitive posts just to catch up on what they missed since their last visit. This undermines satisfaction and disproportionately affects casual users, busy professionals, and older demographics who prefer straightforward access to new content.

The Core Idea

One approach to address this is introducing a "Since Last Visit" filter in Facebook's news feed. This optional toggle would display posts in chronological order, starting from the user's most recent logout time. Unlike existing "Most Recent" modes, it would act as a personalized time-boundary, hiding older content the user has likely already seen. The feature could coexist with algorithmic feeds, allowing users to switch between efficiency and discovery modes.

Key implementation considerations include:

• Tracking activity across devices by using the latest logout timestamp or letting users manually set reference times
• Maintaining ad visibility by keeping sponsored posts in the filtered feed or offering an ad-free version as a premium upgrade

Strategic Advantages

While similar to Twitter's chronological mode or Reddit's "New" filter, this proposal adds unique value by focusing specifically on a user's absence period. Testing could begin with a basic MVP—a dropdown toggle that triggers the filter—before exploring advanced customizations like:

1. Excluding certain post types (e.g., group updates)
2. Adding time-window options ("Since yesterday at 5PM")

The concept leverages Facebook's existing infrastructure to solve a common pain point, potentially increasing long-term engagement by making sessions more purposeful. Its success would depend on balancing user benefits with Facebook's advertising needs through careful design and iteration.