This week, Facebook revealed it has been spending the past year recalibrating its News Feed algorithm and adding what it calls a critical “human” element: value. You may recall the News Feed is the dominant stream of content we see in the center of a PC or mobile device as soon as we jump into Facebook. It’s typically a combination of regular content, like recipes from your sister, and sponsored content, like promoted posts from your favorite band. Facebook has supposedly improved its algorithm so that – in short – we should expect better, more relevant content.
Apparently, this is the direct result of feedback aggregated over the past year from contractors they've tapped across the U.S., to provide feedback from content recommended in their own feeds. Pretty cool. So will this change what we see?
I think what they revealed at today’s F8 Developer Conference was promising and a legitimate warning to anybody still abusing content creation on the world's most popular social network. We'll get to that in a sec. If you’re a content creator and use Facebook on behalf of a brand or client, listen up >
Here are the three ways they are improving the algorithm:
- No More Baiting – In the past, the Facebook algorithm took a popular article as such because of the number of clicks, likes and shares. Well, just because 40 of my friends took the “Which Brady Bunch Family Member Are You?” quiz, doesn’t mean I want to see it in my feed. Facebook will now recognize that I don’t typically interact with that content, so I should see less of it and better stuff instead. Sorry, Marsha.
- Fewer Hoax Articles – This is so needed. Who else is tired of the tabloid-styled headlines in posts meant to intrigue? “Guess Which Game of Thrones Star Was Caught Leaving...” You know what? I don’t care. Facebook’s algorithm will recognize that I never did care and so I should see this less. Yay. Let’s be real though, as curiosity can get the better of us. Let’s say I did click to find it to be a false article or worse. We’ll be able to tell Facebook, "no thanks" going forward. See below.
- Reducing Overly Promoted Posts – Marketers, beware. We all have our favorite brands, bands and gurus but that doesn’t mean we want to see every sponsored post. I know, sometimes it's difficult for us to take our own medicine. What, you don't want to see my client's (your favorite band!!!!!) new partnership with Pepsi? Facebook allows to filter that out and say, "no, but latest album news? YES" by adjusting our ad settings.
All of this has to do with feedback. And today's news means Facebook is at least making it easier for us to give more of it. For marketers, we'll need to invest our efforts in quality content more than ever. That's a good thing, because ideally, this new algorithm tweak will instill a confidence in the average Facebook user that content here is valuable. And so recommendations, likes and shares will be so too. That's powerful if you think about brand reputation.
Quick tip: To provide feedback on an article, just click on the arrow in the upper, right-hand corner of any post, including sponsored. You'll find a drop down with a handful of ways to engage (or not) with the post and will notice a few new bits and bobs. Try them out and see what changes. If you're a marketer, stay on the right side of quality content and just focus on providing value at all times.
Note: This blog post has been slightly modified since its original post on LinkedIn.com.
Jessica Payne is the founder of STRATEGY FOR IMPACT LLC, a brand strategy, digital marketing and coaching advisory in sunny Los Angeles. See what she's up to on Twitter @jpaynebu or visit www.strategyforimpact.com to take your business from good to epic.
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