Facebook Feed Slot Trade-off: Friend Suggestions vs. Buy and Sell Group Recommendations

You are a product manager on Facebook's News Feed. The feed currently includes a People You May Know unit, which recommends people the user might want to add as friends. An engineer on your team proposes using that spot to recommend Buy/Sell groups instead: local groups whose members post items for sale and arrange purchases. How would you decide whether this swap is a good idea, and what would lead you to ship it, change it or reject it? ```hint Count what the slot gives up Both units compete for the same scarce spot in the feed, and they create value on different timescales. Think about what each one contributes, which users depend on each, and how you would weigh a gain from one against a loss from the other. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Is the proposal a full replacement for every user, or could the two units share the spot or alternate depending on the user? - Would the new unit suggest groups to join, or individual items for sale from those groups? - What prompted the idea: weak engagement with friend suggestions, a goal to grow Buy/Sell groups and local commerce, or something else? - Does the change cover both the mobile app and the web, and every market at once? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - The purpose of the feed and of each unit, and how friend connections and group membership each feed into Facebook's longer-term goals - A trade-off analysis by user segment, including who loses the most if friend suggestions leave the feed - A decision metric that puts both units on a common footing, plus unit-level metrics and guardrails for feed health and safety - An experiment that handles spillover between users and slow-moving effects, with ship criteria set before the results arrive - A clear recommendation that questions whether an all-or-nothing swap is the right choice ### Follow-up Questions - The test shows far more Buy/Sell group joins, somewhat fewer accepted friend requests and flat time spent. Do you ship it? - Fewer new friendships today may only show up as lower engagement months later. How would you capture that in your decision? - Buy/Sell groups lead strangers to meet in person to exchange goods and money. Which safety signals would you track, and could they block the launch?