Facebook: what’s on my newsfeed?
What Does Facebook’s Latest Algorithm Change Mean for Publishers? As Usual, No One Really Knows
Making sure that peoples’ newsfeeds are populated with content relevant to them is a key factor contributing to Facebook success. After all, everyone would jump ship if his or her newsfeed was filled with irrelevant garbage with a sprinkling of something actually worth looking at. So it’s no surprise that the actual inner workings of Facebook’s newsfeed algorithm is an enigma, but at least we hear generally what new changes are being made. These such changes have consequences; it can easily boost the number of visitors to a website that is just beginning to grow in popularity and just as easily cut visitors to one that is fairly well-established. Clearly, noting the changes made to Facebook’s algorithm and making the necessary adjustments could potentially save a site from disappearing and being forgotten.
According to the Fortune earlier this year, Facebook has an addition to its algorithm: it takes into consideration the amount of time you spend looking at content. From results of a “Feed Quality Program”, it was noted that the activity of a user (i.e. clicks, shares, likes, comments, etc.) may not accurately represent what he or she wants to see on the newsfeed, meaning that users may spend time looking at a post and want to see more posts of that kind, despite not interacting with the post itself. This could potentially mean that content that is simply clickbait and not actually relevant to the user would be moved closer to the bottom of the feed, moving the kind of content that readers actually spend time enjoying to the top. The amount of the content is also taken into consideration so posts that naturally take longer to get through do not have an artificial boost. The success of Facebook’s new change is unknown, but the idea seems to be heading in the right direction.