The Facebook Metadata Change Isn't the End of the World

Since the Facebook announcement letting everyone know they are removing the ability to edit post metadata, there’s been a significant stir in the social media world. With the most recent update from the Facebook for Developers blog, we know a little bit more about what this change will mean for everyone.

We want to let you know, testing and Naytev functionality will not be affected.

Here at Naytev we’ve been discussing how this impending change will affect posting with our clients for some time now.

What the change entails:

Previously, if I were to share this post, I would be able to change the Headline, Post Text, and Thumbnail displayed despite the OG tags associated with the original content. I could have changed the NPR Article to say: “Amelia Earhart Abducted By Aliens” and updated the thumbnail accordingly.

At the other end of the spectrum, I could take a post like this:

and have it redirect to something far more nefarious, while at the same time aggregating likes, comments and spreading via social shares.

It’s important to note that this change only refers to organic posts. As long as you post the best message from your test through Naytev it will work fine, just like it works today!

Why Facebook is making this change:

It’s understandable that Facebook wants to make it harder for bad actors to exploit the News Feed. While most major media companies change messaging with users’ best interests in mind, some fringe publishers have taken advantage of the ability to alter content in a way that intentionally manipulates and misleads readers.

Since Mark Zuckerberg’s initial post about fake news to the articles connecting Facebook and the US Election, there has been an outcry for stricter policies on “alternative facts.”

How this affects publishers:

Luckily for publishers who create great original content, they’ll still be able to control how their content appears in the News Feed by changing their Open Graph tags. This change has the potential to benefit those creators, since they’ll be in total control over their messaging, regardless of who is sharing their content.

For companies that struggle or don’t want to include manual OG tag optimization into their existing workflows, Naytev has already solved the problem with our Global Optimization API. The Global Optimization API integrates directly into the testing process and takes the winning message from a test and applies it anywhere you designate, from onsite sharing to Facebook Instant Articles and Google AMP.

Once you identify the best message for your content through a Naytev test, the Naytev Global Optimization API will enable you to automatically apply that winning message anywhere you want to display it, such as your onsite headline or the metadata like Open Graph tags that controls content appearance on social networks.

If you’d like to include the Global Optimization API into your testing process, feel free to check out some additional documentation here.

Is the change a good thing?

Contrary to how it might seem at first, this change should actually improve advertising through Facebook. Because bad actors won’t be able to alter headlines attributed to mainstream publications, readers should have greater trust in the content they see on Facebook, allowing good content to have even further reach.

Ultimately….

Naytev will continue to be the easiest way to A/B test and distribute content across social networks including Facebook. Because our unique “Dark Testing” approach combines paid distribution and organic posting, we’re able to help publishers maximize engagement throughout the content lifecycle. Our Global Optimization toolset even enables publishers to dynamically control their Open Graph tags so they can fully control how their content appears in the News Feed and ensure their best message is always displayed.

We’re here to make testing (in all facets) easier for you!