{"id":151,"date":"2021-04-13T16:31:17","date_gmt":"2021-04-13T16:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.digitalvasu.com\/blog\/?p=151"},"modified":"2021-04-13T16:39:29","modified_gmt":"2021-04-13T16:39:29","slug":"social-media-guideline-2020-digital-vasu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.digitalvasu.com\/blog\/social-media-guideline-2020-digital-vasu\/","title":{"rendered":"Social Media Guideline 2020 (Digital Vasu)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A brief history of the Facebook algorithm:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2004 \u2013 2009:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facebook was born in 2004, but its newsfeed didn\u2019t show up until 2006. The Like button premiered in 2007, but it\u2019s probably safe to say that Facebook didn\u2019t have what we think of as \u201cthe algorithm\u201d until 2009, when the platform debuted a new sorting order for newsfeeds based on each post\u2019s popularity.<\/strong> (Goodbye, reverse-chronological order).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2009 \u2013 2019:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A decade of further tinkering behind the curtain created the experience that billions of users now take for granted: personalized feeds created by galaxy-brain software that analyzes tens of thousands of data points in order to maximize the amount of time people spent on the platform<\/strong>. Because more screen time = more ads seen = more money for Facebook\u2019s shareholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2015<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, in 2015, Facebook introduced the \u201cSee First\u201d feature to let users choose which Pages they\u2019d like to see at the top of their feeds. They also started downranking Pages that posted a high volume of overly promotional organic content. (i.e., organic posts with content identical to ads.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2016<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2016, Facebook began prioritizing posts from friends and family, as well as \u201cinformative\u201d and \u201centertaining\u201d content. It also started measuring a post\u2019s value based on the amount of time users spent with it, even if they didn\u2019t like or share it. Live video was also prioritized, as it was earning 3x as much watch time, compared to regular video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2017<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2017, some big changes included weighing reactions (i.e., hearts or the angry face) more than likes. They also started weighing videos by completion rate.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

2018<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, in January 2018, responding in part to widespread criticism, Mark Zuckerberg announced Facebook news feed changes that prioritize \u201cposts that spark conversations and meaningful interactions.\u201d<\/u><\/strong> The change was meant to increase the quality, rather than the quantity, of the time that people spend on Facebook, as well as take more responsibility for how the platform affects its users\u2019 well-being.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the short term, brands had valid concerns about the fact that their organic content would no longer be prioritized as highly as posts from friends, family, and groups. The algorithm was now set to prioritize posts that earned a lot of high-value engagement<\/strong> (eg., comments, reactions, comment replies\u2014and if a post was shared over Messenger to a friend, that counted too). In other words: to get the reach to earn engagement, brands had to be earning engagement already.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A year later, in March 2019, at least one study found that while engagement had increased 50% year over year, the algorithm changes also increased divisiveness and outrage as it tended to promote posts that got people worked up. (Fox News, whose reporting evokes strong opinions from many, became the top publisher on Facebook by engagement.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simultaneously, the algorithm ended up rewarding fringe content (a.k.a. fake news) from unreliable sources that knew how to game the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Facebook algorithm will probably always remain a work-in-progress. So let\u2019s take a look at what matters to brands who want to optimize their organic reach today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How the Facebook algorithm works in 2020<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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The algorithm currently ranks the posts each user sees in the order that they\u2019re likely to enjoy them, based on a variety of factors, ranking signal<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ranking signals are data points about a user\u2019s past behavior, and the behavior of everyone else on the platform, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Facebook mentions three major categories of ranking signals:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n