How Important is the Facebook Algorithm Really

In today's world, algorithms are everywhere and nowhere. Whether it's online searches, social media browsing, or music recommendations, algorithms are guiding and influencing our choices.

Algorithms can even learn more about our preferences and habits than we can. Every day, many of our behaviors are manipulated by algorithms.

These mathematical formulas act like invisible forces, working without us even realizing it, silently operating between us and our tasks.

While some are disturbing, overall, algorithms exist to help us. Social media algorithms are central to influencing multiple aspects of our lives.

Although algorithms sometimes misunderstand humans and make mistakes or biases, they are always learning and evolving. The way we access news and information owes a lot to algorithms.

Whether it's searching on Google or swiping the screen on Facebook, the content presented to us is determined by a mathematical formula based on two elements:

Algorithmic quality: whether the content meets certain quality standards.

History: how we have behaved and reacted to a certain content in the past.

This means that, by design or personal choice, social media algorithms allow us to create filters to see what we're interested in and exclude content we're not interested in or don't need.

In addition, it has been argued that "algorithms can lead to information polarization and bias." Therefore, it is important to understand algorithms and know when they work.

The importance of algorithms is also reflected in a Harvard Business School study that found that people are more inclined to follow algorithmic advice than human advice.

Therefore, it is necessary to take a deeper look at the algorithmic mechanism of Facebook, the world's largest social media platform, to understand how it utilizes algorithms to provide content recommendations to its users.

What is the Facebook algorithm?

Facebook algorithm is a computer program that provides users with personalized and diverse content recommendations based on their behavior and preferences.

The goal of Facebook algorithms is to get users to spend more time on the platform, increase user engagement and satisfaction, and thus increase Facebook's revenue and reach.

Facebook Algorithm affects the content users see on Facebook, including news feeds, stories, views, explores, marketplaces, groups, and events.

How does the Facebook algorithm work?

The Facebook algorithm is not a single formula, but a complex system of multiple sub-algorithms, each dealing with a different type or source of content.

The Facebook algorithm recommends content for users through the following four steps:

Inventory: Collects all content that can be shown to the user, including information from friends, public posts, groups, and ads.

Signals: Analyzes the characteristics of each piece of content, including the content itself, the content publisher, and the content recipient.

Predictions: Predict how users are likely to react to each piece of content, including clicks, likes, and comments.

Scores (Scores): Based on the predictions, each piece of content is assigned a score, sorted in order of the score, and displayed to the user.

The Facebook algorithm is constantly updated and optimized based on user behavior and feedback to improve the accuracy and effectiveness of recommendations.

What are the factors that influence the Facebook algorithm?

The Facebook algorithm evaluates the quality and relevance of each piece of content, considering the following types of signals:

The content itself: type, topic, length, quality, etc.

The content publisher: relationship with the user, frequency of interaction, reputation, etc.

Content recipients: interest, behavior, feedback, etc. related to the content.

Environmental factors: time, location, device, etc.

Facebook algorithm determines the attractiveness of the content to the user based on these signals, assigns a score to each piece of content, and displays it to the user in descending order of the score.

What are the advantages and drawbacks of the Facebook algorithm?

Advantages:

Improve user experience: provide personalized and diverse content recommendations to increase the user's time on the platform.

Increase ad revenue: display ads that match interests and needs, increase ad click rate and conversion rate.

Optimize platform operation: assess the quality and relevance of content, filter low-quality or non-compliant content, and protect the safety and rights of the platform and users.

Defects:

Reduces information plurality: recommending content that matches the user's point of view leads to less exposure to different or opposing information, creating an information cocoon or echo wall effect.

Increase information bias: subjective or unbiased assessment of content, affecting the likelihood that users will see certain information or viewpoints, triggering information manipulation or censorship.

Reduces human autonomy: through invisible or unconscious guidance and influence, it diminishes the ability of users to make decisions and choices on their own.

Overall, the Facebook algorithm is a powerful and sophisticated computer program that provides users with personalized and diverse content recommendations, but it can also have some negative effects. Therefore, when using Facebook, we should keep a clear and critical mind and not blindly trust the content provided by the algorithm, but make our own judgment and choices so as not to be controlled or misled by the algorithm.

How do foreign trade companies adapt to the Facebook algorithm?

Produce Discussive Content: Produce content that intentionally provokes discussion among Facebook users in order to adapt to the new trends of the algorithm.

The 80/20 rule: Become a reliable content producer by adopting a ratio of 80% original content and 20% content from others.

Use live video: Use live video whenever possible to increase user engagement as the algorithm prioritizes live video recommendations.

Develop a video strategy: Develop a holistic video strategy as local video still dominates in Facebook.

Share content selectively: Share content that is appropriate for the platform and audience, don't blindly share everything.

Avoid headline-grabbing and over-marketing: avoid algorithmic penalties by refraining from content that is headline-grabbing, cheat-liking and over-marketing.

Adapting to the Facebook algorithm requires flexibility and strategy to produce content that incorporates the principles of the algorithm to improve user engagement and recommendations.