Facebook has changed it’s algorithm… AGAIN.
Last week, Facebook announced in a blog post that they are implementing some changes in the news feed again. Though this won’t affect our pages THAT much, it is still wise to familiarise yourself with these changes so you can better plan your content marketing.
Facebook explained that there has been many instances where the stories displayed in our news feed are the ones which are already irrelevant because the event is already done.
“…there are some instances where a post from a friend or a Page you are connected to is only interesting at a specific moment, for example when you are both watching the same sports game, or talking about the season premiere of a popular TV show,” Erich Owens, Software Engineer and David Vickrey, Engineering Manager of Facebook.
So what are these changes?
Factoring in trending topics
One of the changes Facebook is implementing is factoring in the trending topics. The social media giant wants to show us stories that are trending as soon as they occur, so we can see what others are saying about the topic.
So for example, a friend of yours posts about a football game that is currently trending, his post is more likely to show up in your newsfeed compared to another friend of yours who posted about his sumptuous dinner.
Facebook said that “early testing of a small percentage of posts has shown that this update on average leads to a more than 6% increase in people engaging with these stories (e.g., more people share, comment, like or click).”
Looking at when people like or comment
The second update takes into account the rate at which people are liking or commenting on a post. Currently, Facebook is looking at the number of likes a post gets to determine whether the story should go to the top of the newsfeed. But with this update, the time when people choose to comment, like, and share the content would now be a factor.
“If people are engaging with the post right after it is posted, and not as much a few hours later, this suggests that the post was most interesting at the time it was posted, but potentially less interesting at a later date. Based on this signal it is more likely to appear higher in News Feed earlier on and lower at a later date.”
With these changes, all business pages should keep producing create engaging and quality content all day. Like what Milk always suggests, it’s advisable to post at least twice a day (in the morning and in the afternoon). Always keep an eye on your insights to know when your audience is most active on Facebook. If you’re wondering how to best use the insights tool please read our guide here >>
What do you think of these changes from Facebook? Will these benefit businesses or will it cause them to have lesser reach? Share your thoughts below.