When Facebook changes its algorithm
These days, the social network community is in an uproar over the lack of interaction with posts on their walls. There are even accounts with extremely high follower counts but no one sees their posts. Sometimes, even though they follow and become friends with each other, when they browse the same page, they never see the news displayed. People are confused and do not understand what is wrong with Facebook. There is nothing wrong, Facebook, under pressure from some other social networks, has had to change itself to better suit the current user trends.
If Facebook was born with the mission of connecting, creating a space for meeting and sharing, now that mission is no longer Facebook's focus. In the development direction of this social network that once dominated the world, under the competitive pressure from TikTok, Facebook will now become a global content discovery - entertainment - consumption machine, operated by AI and the recommendation algorithm will be almost similar to TikTok.
Most noticeably, the way content is distributed has completely changed, no longer prioritizing friends or followers. The AI algorithm decides who sees your content, based on thousands of behavioral signals such as viewing time, rewatch, comments, topics of interest, etc. From there, the AI will allocate impressions to the post.
However, the biggest change is that Reels becomes the main axis of distribution. Any interesting video can be recommended to millions of strangers, even if they have never followed or interacted with you. In parallel, Facebook will have a mechanism to prioritize original content - penalize copied content. This is to respect copyright and protect content creators on this platform. Facebook rewards real creators, reducing reach for "repost" or uncreative posts.
But perhaps what users of this network are most interested in is that Facebook has stepped up its monetization and creative ranking mechanism. This social network is turning creativity into a “professional profession”, with rewards, badges, and real money-making opportunities. The number of followers is no longer important, but the quality of content and the time to retain viewers is “gold”.
Meaning from reading – looking now the viewing factor is the prerequisite for your account to attract users’ attention and Facebook decides on the display. So, it is clear from a “connection center”, Facebook is now a “discovery center”. But from the perspective of digital media, this is an opportunity for users, no longer limited by the friend file, when the content is good enough, you can reach millions of completely new people.
From here, social network users must also be aware of switching from "virtual" play to "real" play, which means calculating so as not to be lost, at least with their friends. When Facebook restructures the entire platform in the direction of AI-first, meaning that all factors revolve around user behavior, we must clearly understand the most highly valued signals including: Average viewing time (Watch time) - the longer viewers are kept, the more the video is promoted; Completion rate (Completion rate) - especially with short Reels; Rewatch (rewatch) - if viewers rewind, it is a signal of "high-quality content"; Real interaction: Comments have content, share, save (Save); Intent & topic: The system automatically suggests content that matches the topic users are interested in, without them needing to follow you; Originality (Originality): Prioritizing real authors, greatly reducing the reach of copied content.
The above factors show Facebook’s breakthrough in perfecting the social network that is said to have the largest user rate in the world. In this “major surgery”, Facebook is aiming for shared commerce, which means a win-win between the platform and users. Forcing users to no longer be carefree but to consider their personal page as their second home in the digital space. There, users themselves must take care of it by exploring and being more up-to-date. That is, focusing on videos or Reels – and must have a strong “hook” in the first 3 seconds. The story must have an emotional flow and an anchor point that makes viewers want to watch more.
From this change, content creators on Facebook have begun to pay attention to new tricks to maintain their views such as: Emotional storytelling; POV with twists (personal perspective, surprise ending); 3-5 episode mini-series (keep viewers engaged longer); Real behind-the-scenes - sharing real experiences; Original content, with personal touches, with emotions are prerequisites. No longer are the vulgar, humorous tricks to attract views, but the social networking platform is aiming to use users' real emotions as a measure to turn the "virtual" page into a "real" life.
From there, users can look back at their own way of playing online. Habits lead to behavior. And when Facebook changes, habits and behavior also change. Facebook itself has compiled statistics on user habits from usage behavior, from which it has provided key models for users to study and change the way they post, build content, and create videos such as: arousing curiosity in the first 3 seconds; stating clear value in 3-10 seconds; having a hanging point to maintain emotions; calling for real, in-depth comments; clear title and tags; easy-to-read thumbnails on mobile; showing personal imprints and unique styles; being able to lead news/articles/videos to pages or websites to track viewing time; and always testing creative content.
So, when Facebook changes its algorithm, we should not be afraid of that change, because this is the rebirth of good players, creating genuine content. Facebook is no longer a place to “post status for fun”, but a global stage, where every video, every story has the opportunity to spread to the community. Good content, sincere emotions, real values will find their way to the audience.
