FACEBOOK'S ALGORITHM CHANGE COULDN'T HAVE COME AT A BETTER TIME
So Facebook is at it again: the mystical algorithm is getting more tweaks and changing how we experience the site. For the past few years the social media giant has been desperate to get into bed with the biggest publishers on the web, encouraging them to integrate their content with its 1.65 billion active news feeds and even paying outlets such as The Times to create broadcasts for its new Live Video feature. They might be a bit annoyed now then… as the message from Facebook is - lower your expectations.
This will change the way we view content on Facebook but I think this is going to be a bigger deal to companies than it will be to us mere mortals. To be honest, it isn’t stressing me out a huge amount. The Instagram algorithm change got a load of attention and hasn’t really changed how I’ve used the platform… I still think it’s dumb but overall it hasn’t been a huge negative.
Essentially, when any of these changes come in we expect the worst; as much as it can seem silly getting our feathers all ruffled over small differences, social media is a big part of our lives and of a lot of people’s businesses. But the reality is that for us regular schmucks who are just scrolling through on the bus or when we can’t sleep, we probably won’t even notice.
The best thing about Facebook, for me, is that it's just people who I know. Rather than Twitter, which offers a broader view, Facebook is a personal snapshot of your corner of life. I'm actually okay with not seeing as many articles coming straight from news posters - I'm more interested in seeing the things that my friends have taken the time to post or share. Especially in maddening times like we're currently experiencing, seeing the news and views from friends offers an interesting social barometer.
It's a good way to keep up with the rubbish going on that's actually going to affect us. Unsurprisingly, since the Leave campaign won the referendum, there's been less news about how wonderful life is for a handful of fishermen and more about how our politicians are crumbling under the weight of their own lies while the pound diminishes in value. Although like they promised, it's great news for the "normal, decent" people of the U.K... As long as those people are gold traders. Oh well, at least there's going to be an extra £350 million per week ploughed into the NHS. HA.
In essence, I can't even help turning any conversation about news at the moment into an exasperated, fretful rant. Seeing relevant articles shared, fine, but seeing less doom and gloom passed around at the moment might not be a bad thing. If you need me I'll be hiding under my duvet. Or maybe in Canada.