3 Changes To Content Discovery on Facebook News Feed

On Tuesday, April 21st Facebook announced updates to what content is displayed in each user’s Facebook News Feed. Here’s a quick overview of the most important takeaways for your content:

Facebook May Now Show Multiple Posts From The Same Source

What Facebook said: “Previously, we had rules in place to prevent you from seeing multiple posts from the same source in a row. With this update, we are relaxing this rule. Now if you run out of content, but want to spend more time in News Feed, you’ll see more.”

What this means for you: Facebook will no longer bundle or hide posts from the same source of content. More pieces of your content have a higher chance of being seen by users, and may drive more referral clicks each time readers share your content. This means optimizing those share messages through Naytev can galvanize more referral clicks.

Facebook Is Prioritizing Posts That Users Share Organically

What Facebook said: “Content posted directly by the friends you care about, such as photos, videos, status updates or links, will be higher up in News Feed so you are less likely to miss it.”

What this means for you: Organic sharing from your website is now more critical than ever. Publishing content on your Facebook page will still drive engagement, but the visibility of your posts will likely have less and less priority over organic shares from your site and app visitors. This update is not too surprising – Facebook has systematically cut the reach of Pages over the years, leading to what some have called the “Death of Organic Reach”.

Facebook Is Deprioritizing Posts That Friends Like and Comment On But Don’t Share

What Facebook said: “Lastly, many people have told us they don’t enjoy seeing stories about their friends liking or commenting on a post. This update will make these stories appear lower down in News Feed or not at all, so you are more likely to see the stuff you care about directly from friends and the pages you have liked.”

What this means for you: As with the second update, this further solidifies organic sharing as the primary driver of visibility on social. Likes and comments are still helpful, but shares are king. The Naytev team has seen this transition first hand – read more about it in our blog post, “The Facebook Share Button vs. Like Button Showdown”.

Facebook will deprioritize posts like the one above where users like or comment on a post shared by a brand (e.g. Jasper’s Market)

Key Takeaway: All of these updates to the Facebook News Feed point to one overall shift – organic sharing is becoming more important by the day. With Naytev running for your content you will automatically capitalize on this transition.