Well it can be. I notoriously don't follow most of my friends newsfeed except the ones i see or talk to often. Then I follow pages that are of interest to me. Socioeconomic pages, tech pages, science ad medicine related, sports team I like and Oatmeal :)

As far ads are concerned, I use ad block on desktop browsers and Sponsored content can be tweaked to the point by continuous reporting that you will stop getting obnoxious Sponsored storied from Facebook.