How to influence the Facebook algorithm
HOW TO INFLUENCE THE FACEBOOK ALGORITHM
First - let’s look at how the algorithm works
The Facebook algorithm is a system that Meta uses for determining content visibility and plays a pivotal role in determining the content that users encounter on the platform. Facebook refers to this as "personalized ranking," as it tailors the content displayed to users based on their interests and preferences.
Every time someone opens Facebook or refreshes their feed, the Facebook algorithm fires up and customises what you will see.
It uses three key factors to determine which content to show individual users:
1. Post Interactions: Posts that other people have engaged with a lot are given priority.
2. Source of the Content: Content from friends or pages that you interact with most frequently will be prioritized.
3. Content Type: You will see more of the types of content that you usually engage with. i.e. If you engage with a lot of videos, you’ll see more videos.
Every post from your friends or pages that you follow is evaluated based on these primary signals, influencing its position within the your particular feed.
How to Customise Your Facebook Feed
Facebook provides you with options to influence and personalize your feed, effectively training the algorithm to align with your preferences:
Favourites: You can choose up to 30 people and pages to designate as your favourites. Their posts will receive higher visibility in your feed. You can manage your favourites in your "Feed Preferences" within “Settings and Privacy”, where you can also do the opposite and unfollow people or pages.
By interacting with posts you can access a range of options to add or remove another user from favourites. This will influence algorithm and teach it the type of content you want to see more or less frequently. Similarly, Facebook offers the option to hide ads, which also assists the algorithm in understanding your preferences for advertisers to show or avoid.
Navigating the Algorithm: Language to Avoid
To make sure you don’t upset the grumpy algorithm, there are certain words to avoid when you are creating content and posts:
Slurs
Harassment: Racist, sexist, homophobic, or any form of language that targets or harasses specific groups should not be used.
Negative Stereotypes
Violence or threats
Anything else that violates Meta Community Standards
Did you know that you can ‘reset’ the algorithm for your feed? Well, kind of…
You can’t actually completely reset it, but you can give it a bit of a tune up. Here’s how:
Click on your profile picture and then Settings and privacy > Feed.
From here you can do the following:
Add people or pages to your Favorites so you see more of them.
Do the opposite and Snooze people or pages temporarily.
Unfollow a person or page to stop seeing their posts but stay connected.
Have a look at the Reconnect section to rediscover people or brands you have previously unfollowed – if you change your mind then you can follow them again.
Back in Settings and privacy > Settings > Ads you can review and modify the type of Ads you want to see more or less of. Unfortunately you can’t turn off Ads completely!
Remember you can also do most of these things directly on posts or ads as you see them in the news feed.