Facebook Will Now Demote Posts Deemed as “Engagement Bait” 

Facebook is about to roll out a new algorithm that aims to get the social media site back to it’s roots – bringing people closer together and building relationships.

Users who follow your brand’s page may not see as much of your promoted content, but rather more posts from their friends and family members. Essentially, Facebook is leaning toward a lesser focus on content from businesses, and more of a focus on things that matter – like a friend looking for a recommendation for a restaurant, or an article that promotes a productive discussion on an important topic. So how will this affect your business’s page?

In reality, the pages that will see the most difference are those that promote posts that users don’t normally engage with.

Pages with engaging posts that prompt discussions and healthy debates won’t see much of a difference, since people tend to organically engage with them. For example, live videos tend to promote conversations between people more than any other type of content, as well as breaking news stories and posts by celebrities. Facebook will prioritize this type of content after feedback from users that points to this being the way to go to make every experience on the site enjoyable. According to Facebook, “Using ‘engagement-bait’ to goad people into commenting on posts is not a meaningful interaction, and we will continue to demote these posts in News Feed.”

But don’t fear – fans can still see posts from their favorite pages and brands in just three easy steps. By leveraging Facebook’s See First feature in News Feed preferences, users can ensure that posts from specific pages or people always appear at the top of the News Feed.

Step 1: Click the  arrow in the top right corner from any page within Facebook.

Step 2: Select News Feed preferences:

Step 3: Click or touch the Priortise who to see first option:

Is your brand going to be prioritised or left behind by these changes? Let us know in the comments.

Further Reading

• News Feed FYI: Bringing People Closer Together via newsroom.facebook.com
• The exec who runs Facebook’s NewsFeed says the changes don’t spell doom for publishers via CNBC
• Facebook’s News Feed Bombshell Shouldn’t Have Caught Anyone Off Guard via AdWeek

Lauren Petermeyer

Lauren is the Marketing Communications Director for SocialChimp.