Facebook has yet again announced changes to its news feed algorithm. This time instead of promoting content from pages, business pages more specifically, it will allow a user to see more of what their friends and family are posting. This is causing some panic among business pages that rely on Facebook for generating traffic.
Facebook released a statement titled “Building a Better News Feed for You” with their reasoning and why they’ve decided to make another change to how its millions of users can interact with the platform. In this statement, they also released their core values that determined the change.
These values include:
Connecting friends and family first: Facebook started out as a platform meant for users to connect with people they care about. A user will start seeing more and more of what their friends and family are posting. So, if you interact a lot with a specific friend, your news feed will rank their content at the top.
A Platform for All Ideas: Facebook will not suppress specific kinds of content (remember their recent issue of allegedly having a political bias)? Facebook wants all opinions and viewpoints shared. So as long as it is something that is relevant to a specific user, they will be able to have that content ranked heavier in their news feed.
Authentic Communication: Facebook is attempting to reduce the misleading and ‘spammy’ types of content that have been cluttering up news feeds. They want to promote what’s genuine and what will resonate with users. Personally, I hope to stop seeing clickbait articles like “She does this simple thing, but you won’t believe what happens next….”. Anyone else with me?
You Control Your Experience: Whenever you take an action to ‘unfollow’, ‘hide’, or ‘see first,’ Facebook takes notice and will start to deliver content that’s more meaningful for you. If you unfollow or hide something, Facebook will no longer prioritize similar content.
Constant Alteration: Facebook will be constantly monitoring and making updates to provide users with the best experience possible. They want user feedback to keep making improvements to the platform.
Because users now have more control over their Facebook experiences and what they see in their news feeds, many business owners are worried that user preference will affect their page’s traffic. However, these news feed changes don’t have to mean doom for your business page. Facebook users want to see fun posts that tell a story. Tacky, promotional posts tend to turn users off. So, in order to ensure your page’s posts don’t get ‘hidden’ or ‘unfollowed,’ simply work to improve your posts by telling a story, not just selling a product.
At (spark), we’re excited to use our social media expertise to make the most of this improved Facebook news feed algorithm. We know just how to craft the most engaging and creative posts for our clients in order for them to make a true connection with their audience. Facebook users want to see their news feeds full of things that matter to them. Make sure your posts matter.
