Last week, Facebook made an announcement that it is making new changes to what you will see on your feed. They are revamping the kinds of videos, photos, articles and posts that you see most often, prioritizing what comes from your family and friends and playing down what content is coming from publishers and brands. Essentially, you'll hear more from your family and friends who have started lively debates in the comment sections of posts and less from links that may lead you away from the site. The driver behind this change is so visitors feel like they're engaging the people they know on the site, and Facebook is working behind the scenes on the algorithms that guess what you're interested in.
While the underlying goal is that people feel more positive when they are on the site because they are communicating with people they know in meaningful dialogue, this situation doesn't come without winners and losers. There is definite potential to see more content that reinforces our own ideologies because we're interacting with those who think like us. While this may result in a more positive user experience (I mean, who doesn't like their opinions validated??), fake news can still spread when a relative posts a link with an inaccurate article and it receives likes and comments. That post is now prominently displayed.
The biggest loser, however, is brands. In years past, third parties such as news outlets, brands, small business sites, took over huge swaths of your feed. Now, their huge marketing and branding opportunity will be scaled back, and many of these organizations rely on this outlet to reach people. De-emphasizing these posts will definitely hurt their brands, and the "chance to go viral" decreases.
If you're like me and enjoy having access to your favorite brands and content: not to fear. With a little work, you'll be able to access your options in your News Feed and prioritize the pages of trusted brands and publishers you want. You can do this with friends, as well.
While changes in Facebook's algorithms are nothing new, this one will have serious impact on brands and the company at large.
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