SAN FRANCISCO, US (AFP) - Facebook has modified its news feed feature to let members of the world's leading social-networking service catch up on tidbits they may have missed while away from the website.

Facebook now lets members switch between getting real time streams of news or activities taking place, and highlights of what friends have shared online in the preceding 24 hours, according to Raylene Yung at the California firm.

"You will be able to catch up on what you may have missed while you were away from Facebook and then easily switch to the real-time stream when you want to see posts as soon as they're shared," the engineer said in a blog post.

News Feed picks re-cap stories based on factors including how many friends have liked and commented on them.

The Live Feed option funnels updates and news about online friends' activities to Facebook home pages as the information surfaces.

"Some of you may ask why we are changing the home page again," Yung said.

"We know it can be disruptive when things are moved around, but we hope that these changes make Facebook a more valuable experience for you."