How Will the Latest Facebook Algorithm Change

Facebook Algorithm Change

Algorithm changes can explain some of the decline, but a large part is also due simply to increased competition on the platform.
According to Facebook, the average user has about 1,500 stories competing to appear in their News Feed every time they log on. Facebook’s algorithms then select roughly 300 of those stories based on their ranking of how relevant each story is to that user.

On top of that, organic reach and engagement for branded content have been declining for years. Back in 2014, the organic reach rate for brand Pages was already down to 6% (and as low as 2% for brands with over 500,000 followers).

From January to June 2017, the average number of engagements with branded content on Facebook fell more than 20%.

Facebook is also diversifying its ad network, with Instagram ads and Facebook messenger ads gaining momentum. The overall trend we’re seeing is an accelerating shift in social media marketing from organic to paid social campaigns.

Here’s a list of interactions the updated News Feed algorithm would mark as meaningful:

• Multiple people replying to each other’s comments on a video they watched or an article they read in News Feed
• A page responding to a person’s comment on their post
• People commenting on or interacting with a page’s live video
• People responding to page posts shared through Messenger
• Any interactions that people have with a page post that has been reshared by a user

At first, this update actually led to an increase of posts sharing controversial topics to generate engagement and gain priority in the News Feed. A later update in November 2018 addressed the issue by improving the AI’s ability to remove content that violates Facebook’s policies and to demote content that is sensational, misleading or controversial.

So, to make sure your posts don’t lose engagement, make sure that your posts have a lot of engagement (but only the right kind of engagement!). Sounds like a catch-22, right?

But things aren’t as bad as they sound. If you can maximize the number of “meaningful interactions” with your content, your’re likely to still see some results in your organic reach.

And now here’s how the Facebook News Feed algorithm has changed in 2019.