Facebook Algorithm Updates
Jason Davis — August 7, 2017 — August 7, 2017
geralt / Pixabay
Across the Internet, spam is a big problem. Links to pages that are filled with ads that contain unnecessary or useless information are a big problem. Moreover, some of the sites actually contain malware that will try to infect your computer.
Google and Facebook combat this on a regular basis. Unfortunately for you and I, since the presidential election cycle of last year, it has gotten worse. It’s amazing how this last election has transformed the Internet and our experiences on these social networks.
So we know what Google has been up to with their updates. In fact even WordPress itself is getting ready for a big change coming later this fall. Or maybe as late as next summer. But what about social media? In particular, what are the Facebook algorithm updates?
Videos
I look at the Facebook newsfeed lately (app on iOS and Android only) and I don’t see as many videos as I used to. Now if you’re on a desktop machine your experience is completely different so for this I’m only speaking about mobile. You’ll notice that all the videos in are segregated from the main feed. And there’s probably less spam in your feed from sites.
We’ve said for years the content is king. However, as of late, both social and search are judging not only content but the links that go to the content. Spammy looking links can get you disqualified. And spammier looking sites will work against you. Now more than ever how your website, or content, looks and how your links appear is going to have to be moved to the front of the line as priorities go. Otherwise your online presence is going to suffer greatly. The end result being unable to get in front of the audience you want to reach with your message.
Our research shows that there is a tiny group of people on Facebook who routinely share vast amounts of public posts per day, effectively spamming people’s feeds. Our research further shows that the links they share tend to include low quality content such as clickbait, sensationalism, and misinformation. As a result, we want to reduce the influence of these spammers and de-prioritize the links they share more frequently than regular sharers.
Like Google link quality matters:
This update will only apply to links, such as an individual article, not to domains, Pages, videos, photos, check-ins or status updates.
The lesson here?
Focus on content not getting clicks. And, watch those post titles. If they look like click bait then you’ll see your content de-prioritized. Also watch your posting rates, too much will turn off your followers and could lessen your reach. It is worth noting that these changes don’t clearly flesh out what some of the terminology they use means. But we are all sitting and waiting, and they are probably still figuring it out too.
So what now?
My advice is do not share links that lead to the types of websites I mentioned earlier. It all comes down to links just like the Google update. As we share information across the Internet we do so with the link. It is pretty much the foundation of the web in terms of how information is shared.
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