The Facts of Facebook

It’s no secret that Facebook has changed over the years. Instead of seeing content posted as it happens, I started to notice a shift in the newsfeeds. Personally, I've noticed I get less news and media postings, although I am following those sites.

So what happened?

Facebook changed their algorithm…again.

In February of this year we learned that Facebook wanted to make their audience happier with their experience using the social platform so they adjusted a few things to make a viewers time more engaging. Unfortunately, businesses hoping for a wider Facebook presence watched their reach drastically decrease and more effort needed into gaining followers, likes, and comments. As a matter-of-fact, as reported by Hootsuite, Mark Zuckerburg, Facebook’s founder and CEO, is quoted as stating, “As we roll this out, you’ll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media. And the public content you see more will be held to the same standard—it should encourage meaningful interactions between people.”

With social media replacing a lot of things we used to use to discover new businesses (i.e. the phone book), it’s no secret that an active Facebook presence is important for businesses to stay-in-touch with their current and potential client base. Facebook is all about creating “community” and now they are forcing businesses to “pay-to-play” to be a part of it.

So what happens now?

That’s where you have to make sure your business can counter-act the limiting algorithm and curate content that is sure to keep your audience wanting more. Be careful though, if you’re not savvy on social media, do your research on how to stay relevant or hire someone who knows how to post and when to post; both extremely vital aspects to the new standard that Facebook launched.

Some quick tips on what Facebook deems important:

• Love button over Like button

• Comments and likes on posts

• Replies to comments

• Sharing content over messenger

• Comments and reactions to something shared from your site

Additional things Facebook is monitoring:

-How much time someone is spending viewing your content

-The time you are posting content

-How informative your content is

-The type of content (photo or video - with video being out preferred)

-How complete your profile page is

There’s no guarantee that Facebook won’t change their algorithm again, but at least they’re letting us know why and what they're looking for. As a business you want to be in the marketplace, you want a piece of the community, and Social has changed the face of how we do business in any ways. Being able to flow and adapt with these social platforms will keep your business on it’s game and hopefully growing with these progressions.