Facebook has just made another set of updates to its crucial News Feed algorithm. The latest changes reflect a move for Facebook users to be able to see even more content from their dearest family and friends. In light of these changes, Facebook has shared what their “core values” for the News Feed algorithm are, the values that remain consistent over time despite all of the changes they put into place. This is quite significant as it’s the first time Facebook is attempting to be more open about their algorithm in their mission to make it better and better for users over time.
Prioritizing Content for the News Feed
Facebook’s first consideration for the algorithm (and first priority) is to show users the content they want to see from their family and friends. This content shows up on the News Feed based on the personalized standards of what types of posts users like, how often they like posts from certain friends, et al. The second priority is information and they categorize such it to include such content as news and celebrity stories. The third priority is entertainment. It’s important to Facebook that users always have interesting feeds. Entertainment is a broad term including any interesting content and viral posts.
Of course every individual Facebook user has their very own, personalized algorithm based on their own actions. Changes are made based on who they unfollow, posts they’ve hidden, content they’ve requested to “see first” and more. The algorithm is also designed to work to filter out hoax stories, spam and other misleading or annoying to see posts.
How the New Algorithm Affects Your Business
What does the latest change to the algorithm mean for your business? The social giant has admitted that this will likely have an effect on traffic for Business Pages. If you don’t share the kind of content that users typically share with their friends, you can expect a noticeable decline. If this doesn’t reflect your business on Facebook, now is the time to make the necessary changes to gain these results.
What type of content receives shares? This is not a simple question to answer but when you work to only share content that engages, you will greatly increase the odds of gaining shares. People share content that hits an emotional chord, content they feel will be special or useful for their family and friends and more.
What posts have you seen the most success with in the past?
