2021
09/17
17:25
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How the Facebook algorithm works and the way to break it down

Why do some posts go viral with engagement, while others wither and die off without so much as a few courtesy likes? I’ll show you that how Facebook Algorithm works. 

The Facebook Algorithm is essentially the machine learning that goes into what a user sees on their newsfeed when they scroll through Facebook. It Ranks all the posts that have the possibility of being shown on a user’s news feed based on how likely a user will have a positive reaction to that content. 

In late 2019, the average reach for Facebook posts dropped by 2.2%. For brands, this meant that posts were only being seen by 5.5% of their followers. The average reach of an organic post from a Facebook page is only 5.2%. This is partly due to changes made to the Facebook algorithm that prioritize posts by people over content made by pages.

Posts don’t appear in chronological order. Instead, Facebook algorithm sorts the posts they think you’ll be most interested in at the top of your feed.


Facebook Algorithm history

2016 is when Facebook started shaping the modern algorithm. At this time, they put friends and family posts on priority instead of brand, entertaining content, and measuring the value of a post based on the time spent with it.

2017 can be considered “the era of video.”  Quality videos (high views)and Facebook live videos (high engagement)started taking over in 2017.

2018 continued the 2016 push for quality of content and “bringing us closer together.”  What Mark Zuckerberg mean is that they will improve the quality of your feed, not quantity(depends on who you interact with more frequently). At this time, high-quality engagement was more important than ever before.

2019 Facebook made a push to make feeds more personal by introducing surveys. The goal was apart from friends and family to figure out even more information about brands you like and dislike and what type of posting you prefer. At this time, posts that sparked controversy and got people to react was spreading more rapidly. For instance, Fox News got more engagement.

2020 Facebook is trying to simplify and help with the understanding of how the new algorithm works. There are 4 main metrics: inventory,signals,prediction,score.

The algorithm in 2021

“We are sharing new details about how our ranking system works and the challenges of building a system to personalize the content for more than 2 billion people and show each of the content that is relevant and meaningful for them, every time they come to Facebook.”

Signals

  • 1. Use the characteristics of a post, such as who is tagged in a photo and when it was posted
  • 2. Inventory is all of the available content that lives on Facebook that is could potentially live on a user’s feed. 
  • 3. Predictions on how users will react to each post in the inventory
  • 4. A final score based on all of the ranking signals.

Signals are the indicators to Facebook that help them prioritize what will be put to the top of the feed.

It is about:who(friends,family); Type of Content(videos, photos, articles, links); Interactions With Post(likes, reactions, comments, and shares).

All the data is used to predict whether you might like it.

But liking is not the only way people express their preferences on Facebook. 

Facebook is of course constantly monitoring your interactions with other members’ content. The Facebook algorithm ranks all available posts that can display on a user’s News Feed based on how likely it is that the user will have a positive reaction to the post.

You can customize what and how much you see from each of your Facebook friends. 

Ways to break it down

Timing

Figure out the ideal times for your followers. Facebook rank posts with more engagement first, so it is critical to know when your audience is online and most active. Get your posts seen by the people who matter most to your business. To get you started,schedule your post at any time on JarveePro. 

Interaction

Start conversations that get people talking on your posts and ads. The signals will rank the engagement. To make seen on your post, you are supposed to fuel your Facebook engagement. The easiest way to do this is to be genuine. Resonate with your audience and make the audience sense your sincerity.

New features

Use Stories to “skip the line” of the Facebook algorithm. Facebook Stories allows you to publish short-form. Facebook gets over 500 million daily viewers on Stories. At this time, you can put your brand in your followers’ news feeds.

As is the case of any social network, taking advantage of new, up-and-coming features is a smart move. That is why it is necessary that marketers keep up to date on all the changes and updates as Facebook roles them out.