Don’t spread the “Facebook has a new algorithm” message. It’s misleading.
A message is being passed around Facebook that claims the site has a new algorithm and implores users to leave a comment, and doing so will result in more friends appearing in that user’s newsfeed.
The message asserts that the more interaction you have with people on Facebook, the more people will show up on your newsfeed. Failing to interact with people would mean Facebook chooses who you see. An example of this message can be seen below –
Just found out that Facebook has yet another new algorithm. 🙄 So I’m doing a simple check, with your help.👍🏻🤗
Can everybody do me a quick favor?? 😁 💕 If you’re seeing this, leave me a comment – just a quick “Hey” or your favorite emoji or gif would be great. The more interaction you have with people, the more friends will show up on your feed. Otherwise Facebook CHOOSES who you see!
The message is loosely based on truth but is also highly misleading. It appears to be based on an earlier message that circulated in 2015 that claimed Facebook was limiting the reach of a post to 7% unless users interacted with the message by typing “YES”. That earlier message wasn’t particularly accurate, and neither is this above message.
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The message essentially says that due to a new Facebook algorithm, you need to interact with posts from friends to see more of their content. However this has been true for some time, and it isn’t because of a “new algorithm”. There is no “new algorithm”. Facebook is always tweaking and fine-tuning the algorithms that decide which stories appear on a user’s newsfeeds, but those algorithms have almost always taken into consideration how often you interact with a particular user’s (or page’s) posts.
That means that if you frequently like or comment on John Smith’s Facebook posts, you’re more likely to see more of john’s content in the future. This has been the case since the very early days of Facebook. After all, it is beneficial for Facebook for their users to have a positive experience when on their site, which is more likely to happen if a user sees content from those people they care more about and thus more likely to interact with.
As such, the claim in the above message that reads – “The more interaction you have with people, the more friends will show up on your feed” is misleading. In reality, it is the more you interact with specific people, the better chance they have of appearing in your newsfeed.
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It is worth noting, however, that messages like the one above may very well have the reverse effect of what was intended. Facebook recently announced that “engagement baiting” posts (posts that implore others to interact with them, like this one) may very well be punished by Facebook’s algorithms, and in fact may result in reduced visibility. As such, posting the above message may mean less of your friends or followers see your future posts, so we don’t really recommend sharing it.
The bottom line is this – interacting with certain Facebook users means an increased chance of content from those particular Facebook users appearing in your newsfeed. If you rarely interact with a Facebook user (or a Facebook page you follow) then there is a lesser chance of their content appearing in your newsfeed. This has nothing to do with a “new algorithm” and has been the case for some time now, and sharing the above message will have little or no effect. Or has we said above, possibly the opposite effect.
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