Facebook has yet again modified its News Feed algorithm to change what people see in their feeds. The social media giant announced last week that is placing greater emphasis on time spent reading a post regardless of whether the user opened the article.
In previous update just a few months ago, Facebook touted the importance of engagement metrics in predicting what users wish to view. Now it says its research shows engagement metrics – likes, clicks, comments and shares – don’t always tell the entire story of what viewers prefer. At times, people don’t like or comment on posts they want to see, such as articles about a serious current event or sad news from a friend.
In its newest algorithm, Facebook will count only time spent reading or watching content, not loading time. “We will also be looking at the time spent within a threshold so as not to accidentally treat longer articles preferentially,” Facebook researchers stated.
Greater Diversity Among Publishers
Facebook is also decreasing how often news feeds show the same publisher in order to increase the diversity of publishers that appear in news feeds. People dislike seeing posts from the same source one after another and enjoy seeing a range of publishers, Facebook believes. Most individuals with social media accounts probably agree.
While the Facebook announcements consistently used the word “publishers” when describing changes in the algorithm, the changes may actually apply to all Facebook accounts and especially those from commercial organizations.
Facebook has recently updated its ranking algorithm to consider the number of times people clicked on an article then quickly returned to the newsfeed. People often quickly click back when the article fails to fulfill the headline’s expectations. Presumably, the algorithm will reduce ranking of unread articles.
Facebook expects that most pages will not see significant changes in traffic due to the latest algorithm tweaks. Some might see a small increase in referral traffic; some might see minor decreases, it says. Still, the alterations may help counter link-bait headlines and encourage higher quality posts designed to hold viewers’ attention at the expense of content designed purely to spark viewers’ reaction.
More Attention on Attention-based Metrics
The algorithm alterations represent triumphs for attention-based metrics touted by some publishers and web analytics experts. Those metrics, pioneered by publishers like Upworthy and the Financial Times, can help marketers improve campaigns, as audiences who spend more time with the brand’s articles are more likely to recall the product, proponents argue.
Julia Turner, editor in chief of Slate, told Digiday the changes are good for publishers that produce posts people want to see. Every time they tweak it, it reverberates the whole system,” she said. “The question is how they will technically measure what attention and engagement means. One of the concerns is: Are you privileging length over quality. Good content comes in all lengths and all sort of mediums. I think they’re aware of conflating the two.”
Many publishers are probably leery of the newest algorithm changes. They’ve experienced past changes they say caused Facebook referral traffic to drop. Some publishers say referral traffic from their Instant articles plunged 20% earlier this year, according to Digiday.
With the new Facebook algorithm, posts with substantive content that carry news-type headlines and avoid click-bait hooks are likely to achieve better news feed placements.
Bottom Line: Facebook’s new News Feed algorithm that places more importance on time on posts may signal a shift to attention-based metrics at the expense of click-throughs and engagement metrics. Cognizant of Facebook’s actions, other platforms may also consider similar attention-based metrics. Marketers will be keeping a close eye on how the algorithm impacts them – and will test different approaches to obtain more and better news feed placements.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
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