How the Facebook Algorithm Really Works
Hats off to my friend John-Erik who provides such a clear way to view the Algorithm. Now, I know you may be thinking you don’t want a “robot” deciding what you see or don’t see, but here’s the thing. Our buddy the Algorithm (Al) has one job. His job is to make you happy. So let’s break that down a bit.
The average person on Facebook has 600 friends an their daily posts in total are about 3,000. Pause for a moment and take that in. Your 600 friends generate 3,000 posts per day, every day.
The average Facebook user scrolls their timeline. I’m sure you’ve done this and seen others do it too. When someone is scrolling away, they see approximately 50 posts. People scroll six times per day which means they see 600 posts per day.
But wait, you have friends that generate 3,000 posts! And now you only see 600, why? Our buddy Al needs to decide out of all the posts that are available at any given minute which ones YOU would be most interested in, so Al makes an educated guess based on your most recent interactions.
There is no way to see all 600 friends posts because you don’t live on Facebook. This means on average one out of ten of your friends sees your posts. And by sees, I mean when they are scrolling your post is in their feed. They may or may not react to it. But it was there and gave them an opportunity to engage or not engage. Good ole Al is taking this in and seeing if Susie Q is interested in your stuff. Does she pause, leave a Love reaction, leave a comment or scroll right on by? Based on how she engages or does not engage with your stuff determines if she is going to see more or less of it.
Facebook has cracked down over the past year on what is basically really icky behavior because it’s trying to squeeze out anything that would make people leave its platform. You may recall earlier in the year how Facebook sought to reduce engagement bait. Because let’s face it does anyone really care about which floor covering you should choose? Does that improve the quality of their life one little bit? No, of course not.
Remember the first work in social media is SOCIAL. And you my friend only have so much time in the day. There is no way you can see each and every post Aunt Millie puts out, nor do you really want to see all those cat memes, right?
So what can you do to get eyeballs on your stuff? Well, for one realize that when people scroll, on average every 5th posts people see is an ad. Go ahead and try it right now. Count the posts you see before there’s an ad on your feed. I’ll wait.
You see?!?! I was right, huh? So not think about it, do you think by gaming the system with icky posts that bait people to do things is going to take precedence over someone who is PAYING to have their stuff seen on the news feed? Ummm, hello McFly! The answer is a big fat, NO!
So what do you do if you are a solopreneur, aspiring entrepreneur, small business who is using social media to share their goods and services? Start by being human. Realize that anytime you do anything on Facebook, Al takes it in. Our buddy Al is a learning machine. So you thought you could tell people to click the link in the comments? Guess what? Al figured that out and so those kinds of posts are not seen by many. Remember, Al wants each user to be happy and to show them things that will keep their eyeballs on the platform.
Anytime you change your profile picture, change your cover photo, post in a public group, join an event Al picks up on that. Just like how Al picked up on what Susie Q does or does not do when she sees your content. Here’s a big hint, if you post more than five times a day, you start to hurt yourself with our buddy Al. Basically, less is more. The timing though can be important.
If you are seeking the magic formula for when to post and how often, think about Mom. Think about her day. Think about what does she need? It has always and will always be about the person on the other side of the screen.
What does Mom need in the morning before she goes to work? Probably something that is encouraging. You know, some goodness shared with her. What does she need during the middle of the day? A good laugh. And when you really want to have a heart to heart with her, remember it’s when the monsters in her head come out at night that she has time to actually slow down and read stuff.
Keep Mom in mind when you create posts. And remember, your Facebook is not really yours if you are building your business with social media. It’s the world’s and your responsibility is to put something out there that will make a difference in the lives of others.
Give to them. Give your best content freely. Stop trying to be all coy and beat Al. He keeps learning. And he’s squeezing out anything that is salesy, you know the whole flash sale kind of a thing. That’s not good for Facebook because it does not generate income.
The best thing you can do is be a friend who provides things to help your friends.
I hope you found these words useful and perhaps inspiring. I would love for you to follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. I am Alanda Carter on all the socials.
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- Go to Alexa Skills online or through the Alexa app.
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Massive amounts of love and tons of hugs, and remember, Change Starts Now, Alanda