If Henry Ford had asked people what they wanted, most would have said "A faster horse!"
So what if Mark Zuckerberg actually listened to criticism about the Facebook news feed?
What if we actually did see EVERYTHING our friends & favorite pages posted?
It would be a nightmare!
Luckily, Zuckerberg created an algorithm to decide which posts you see in your feed.
Yep, I'm one of the few people who actually like the Facebook news feed algorithm. I think it works great!
And though it's not perfect, here are 4 reasons why you should like the algorithm, too.
Stop HATING! The Facebook News Feed Algorithm is Pretty Damn Good
1. Timely Events
One thing the Facebook algorithm is awesome at is showing you important moments from the lives of your friends.
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In one week, I saw:
- A marriage proposal
- A birth
- A friend leave the army
- A friend get a new job
ALL on Facebook!
On Twitter, those important moments get buried under hundreds of tweets.
And you'd definitely miss the important events on Facebook if you saw every status update from your friends.
When I joined Post Planner I posted about it on Facebook. More than 210 people Liked the status update & about 127 commented on the post.
2. Content from Other Time Zones
Remember, many of us live in different time zones!
Luckily, the Facebook news feed algorithm makes it so you don't miss important posts from friends in other parts of the world.
Living in Asia, I wouldn't see the important posts from my friends in the United States if not for the Facebook algorithm.
3. More Reach
Despite a universal decline in Facebook reach, the news feed algorithm makes it so the right people see your status updates at the right time.
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Facebook rewards the posts that get the most engagement, which means the algorithm shows your important posts to friends who've engaged with your content in the past.
Without an algorithm, your posts might get just a couple Likes, since many of your friends would miss your status updates.
Reach these days on Twitter is probably atrocious.
4. Everyone's on Facebook
Chris Brogan said Facebook has become his most RESPONSIVE online platform. It's where he gets the most interaction, engagement & lead generation.
Many experts agree!
And they have the Facebook news feed algorithm to thank.
This study by Shareaholic showed just how many traffic referrals came from Facebook:
Summary
Is the Facebook news feed algorithm perfect? Of course not.
But it's pretty DAMN good!
Yes, I see both sides of the debate. People want to view more posts from their friends. Facebook users want freedom to choose what they see on their news feed.
But do you really want to miss those important moments from your close friends?
The Facebook algorithm is the only thing keeping the news feed orderly.
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