Stop panicking over every Facebook algorithm change

The Zuck is at it again; yet another change in the algorithm and the entire digital media and advertising industry seems to shake at its very core.

Last week, Facebook’s VP Product Management (News Feed) Adam Mosseri announced the change to the News Feed, prioritising posts from friends and family over celebrities, brands and media publishers. While the News Feed may not look too different for users, this announcement is catastrophic news for brands and publishers.

That sound you hear is your local social editor screaming into the abyss. No one is there to listen. https://t.co/vmyGIBCY2N

— (((Steph Haberman))) (@StephLauren) June 29, 2016

Focus on friends and family

In the announcement, Mosseri emphasised the focus of the News Feed on friends and family. Keeping extremely aligned with Facebook’s vision of helping us connect and share with the people in our lives, Facebook now places status updates and photos from your newly wedded cousin (yes, you’ll probably see more baby photos) near the top of your feed so that you won’t miss it. To get a sense of what your News Feed will look like, this pretty much sums it up.

Whiteboard Wednesday: Changes to the Facebook news feedhttps://t.co/HRP65zgTGz

— Digiday (@Digiday) June 29, 2016

Mosseri goes on to elaborate that research showed that, apart from updates from family and friends, users expect their News Feed to serve two functions – to inform and to entertain. Whether it is local news, current events or updates from our favourite celebrities, Facebook will learn to understand what we find entertaining and informative and place those posts higher up in the feed. That doesn’t sound like bad news for publishers and brands, does it?

In another press announcement, Lars Backstrom, Engineering Director of Facebook, offered a more straightforward and transparent response to concerned publishers:

Clickbaits no longer enough

Focus on users