That Facebook Rocket Icon Is Another News Feed In Testing

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If you’ve been on Facebook and noticed the rocket icon recently, you might be wondering what it is. It’s basically another News Feed the social network has been testing over the last couple of days, but users seem pretty confused about what it is.

Some Facebook users stumble across rocket icon

Facebook hasn’t made any official announcement about the rocket icon, which is probably why so many people are confused by it. The company made a huge announcement about Stories and Camera, two features that most people is calling out as clones of Snap’s offerings.

The rocket icon is showing up in both the Android and iOS versions of the core Facebook app, but not everyone is seeing it. Users around the world are reporting seeing it at either the bottom or top of the screen, depending on which version of the app they’re using.

What is that rocket icon?

According to TechCrunch, the rocket icon is the next episode in Facebook’s ongoing series of News Feed alternatives. The social network tests different Feeds every so often, and this one apparently consists of content shared by Pages or sources that the user doesn’t follow but that the social network believes they might like.

The content that appears in the News Feed found by clicking on the rocket icon is similar to content shared by sources the user already follows. The content may also be items that are popular with the user’s friends.

This test with the rocket icon is very similar to other tests Facebook has run in the past, like one that was marked with a square in only the Android version of the Facebook app. There was also another test that named the second News Feed “Explore,” which offers some insight into what the company is trying to do here.

Facebook wants you to spend more time

As TechCrunch noted, the social media firm hasn’t spent a great deal of effort trying to help people find new content, instead preferring to focus on what users have already clicked to say that they like. In a statement sent to the tech blog, a Facebook spokesperson said users have been telling them that they want “an easy way to explore new content they haven’t connected with yet.”

There’s no word yet on when that other News Feed might become visible to all users yet, but it seems like that it will be at some point, given that people have been asking for something like it. Reports that this rocket icon is showing up on both the Android and iOS versions of the app also could point to the full rollout being imminent, given that the Explore tab was only popping up on the Android version early this month.

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