Facebook announced yesterday they are changing how they rank organic posts that are eligible to appear in a users’ News Feed.
They have announced two new pieces to their algorithm. They call them “Story Bumping” and “Last Actor”. The company has also promised a new level of transparency about how and why posts appear in certain users’ News Feeds.
They are finally trying to make the News Feed more understandable to it’s users after seven years. Facebook has always been very quiet about how content ranks both for the consumer, (who of course want a personalized experience) and publishers (who are always worried about their content not being seen by enough people).
The last couple of years the production of content has exploded. On average a person can have up to 1500 stories in their feed in a day. These stories range from friends you haven’t heard from since high school to your best friend announcing they just landed that dream job.
Facebook’s new update is changing what might be shown in the News Feed. They are now considering new stories as well as older stories, however new to that specific user.
Facebook News Feed "Story Bumping"
Basically if you miss a story because, you didn’t scroll down the page, or you simply weren’t fast enough, you might still see the content the next time you visit your News Feed. But, only if others are still interacting with the story, Facebook is trying to bring you a more relevant News Feed consisting of something closer to 300 stories.
They are planning to adapt to your behavior by:
- The amount of times you interact with a friend, page or public figure.
- The amount of times you might have interacted with this type of post before.
- Whether you or other Facebook users are hiding or reporting the post.
Facebook News Feed "Last Actor"
Facebook is also adding what they call real-time signaling, which will help decide what shows in your News Feed.
They are stating that they track the last 50 interactions you have on Facebook, and use those signals to rank your feed. This is done on a rolling basis so any ranking bump from this factor will be temporary. Facebook did not see a huge increase in engagement with this change, however it was enough for the company to roll it out with the new News Feed algorithm.
How will this affect Brands and Marketers?
The new changes will have very obvious impacts on both brands and marketers. Remember the changes do not affect the ad system, as it is separate, the algorithm discussed above is only for organic Facebook content. The company uses a different algorithm for content that is being promoted on its advertising products.
Story Bumping could be good news for brands and pages as it could allow for some content to get extended visibility. This could even allow users to see a brands content that they might have missed when it was first posted. The last actor change could also lead to more visibility, but over shorter time frames.
The ultimate goal should still be for brands and page owners to create interesting and relevant content that will lead to interaction, which includes shares, comments, likes and clicks. Of course this means business as usual… RIGHT? Contact Leap Clixx and our experts can help you with your Facebook Page.
