Facebook’s Newest Algorithm is on the Horizon…What Does it Mean?

Facebook announced the newest change to the platform recently, and with it comes many questions.

Most people are familiar with the Russian groups that attempted to influence the 2016 presidential election via Facebook ads.

In the wake of this, Facebook faced massive criticism about how the news feed can be manipulated.

So that begs the question…what exactly is Facebook going to change about the news feed?

For starters, Facebook is going to put more attention on status updates from users friends and family members. At the same time, limiting articles or anything published by brands or businesses.

What does this mean for businesses and brands?

CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg released a statement on Thursday that stated, “We feel a responsibility to make sure our services aren’t just fun to use, but also good for people’s well-being.” So because of this, users will see less content from businesses and brands which could be potentially damaging for marketers.

Zuckerberg then stated, “As we roll this out, you’ll see less public content like posts from businesses, brands, and media.”

This new algorithm will undoubtedly make it harder for businesses and brands to get there content out there. But it’s not the end of the world.

Consumers will still see posts from brands and businesses, but just less of them. If a business or brand puts out good content for their consumers and they enjoy their page, then users can prioritize that page. If your content is a little iffy, then it is going to be really hard to get in front of your consumers.

Adam Mosseri, the head of the news feed team at Facebook revealed that content users Facebook connections engage with, will spring to the top of the news feed. Live video will be highlighted at the top of the news feed along with celebrities posts, private groups and other forms of engaging content.

Mr. Mosseri also noted that the new algorithm takes into account the likes, comments, and shares of posts. With this in mind, the more likes and comments you get, the higher your post will be in people’s news feeds.