Don’t mention the C word.

I’ve been noticing a bit of a pattern across the Facebook-owned channels over the past few months. Clients coming to me with a big drop in reach and engagement, wondering why, when they haven’t really changed anything.

Don’t get me wrong, those algorithms are incredibly unpredictable at times BUT there is one thing that has started to stand out as a pattern.

The C word- well actually two of them - Coronavirus and Covid19. Accounts that talk/have talked about the virus repeatedly are noticing a drop in the number of people that the algorithm sends their posts out to.

Now this could be a coincidence but let’s look at the facts:

Facebook has set up a COVID19 Information Centre. What you’ll find in there is information from trusted sources all over the world AND trusted sources in your country and region. Every post that uses any of those trigger words will have a message displayed with it to drive people to that Info Centre - which is great. I’ve never met anyone who has actually clicked on the link but whatever...

Now think about Facebook and the role they play in the dissemination of fake news and anti-vax, anti-gov and Covid propaganda. They are right at the forefront and they are copping it every single day. Relying on algorithms to weed out the real from the fake is not an exact science. How could it be when the language and phrasing we use across social media varies so greatly from account to account. The sheer volume of posting that goes on in there means that they must rely on the algorithms, particularly because the humans that review the content are so busy working on assessing the phenomenal amount of inappropriate

This from an article way back in 2018 might give you some idea about the rates of terrible content today:

“During the first quarter of 2018, Facebook deleted 865.8 million posts, the majority of which were spam, according to the report. Facebook also removed 28.8 million posts showing everything from nudity that violated its community standards to graphic violence and terrorist propaganda, the report said. The social network also removed 583 million fake accounts during the first three months of the year, a decrease from 694 million the previous quarter. While the number of fake accounts being detected and removed has decreased, the problem is still a massive one for Facebook.” NBC News

Multiply that by the rate of growth in these platforms and those are some hard-working algorithms and probably some very traumatised people reviewing the content. Instagram has over a billion people using their channel. Facebook is heading rapidly towards 3 billion. That’s a lot of status updates to go through…

So, what’s the point I’m trying to make?

If you don’t need to mention the pandemic or the C-word, don’t. Furthermore, go back and edit or delete your posts that do mention it, because the Facebook algorithm keeps an eye on your ‘inventory’ to get a sense of what you post about. If you're in the habit of updating your audience about what you're doing in that context then maybe it's doing you more harm than good.

But many businesses, need to allay the fears of their customers. If you are in food or events or even healthcare and beauty, you can change your language to make it easier for the algorithm to understand your content and not flag it as possibly inappropriate. Here’s some ideas:

• We comply with all the latest government-advised safety regulations.
• We are proud to offer a safe and sanitary experience.
• Rest assured, we are complying with all the latest safety regulations from the health department.
• To help us comply with the most stringent health guidelines, please book ahead.

See what I did there? You don’t even need to say it anymore, we can all read between the lines on this stuff.

I hope that helps you! Please comment if you have anything to add to the discussion.

I am a marketing specialist with a focus on social media strategy and building community around regional and rural small businesses, not-for-profits and more. 

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