If something goes well, to change it.40.653 million dollars entered in 2017.More than 2.100 million active users per month, a quarter of the world's population.But Zuckerberg is not one of those, of which they are.Want a Facebook with more social connections between people and less presence of brands and media .And what do your users want?
Nearly two-thirds of American adults consume news on social networks.More than half do so on their Facebook walls.Pew Research Center data points to a clear trend: Facebook is becoming a media platform.54% of Facebook users follow brand profiles and a quarter interact with them.EMarkerter data points to the other big trend: Facebook is the perfect platform for brands to talk with their audience.But what does it matter? Now, an altered algorithm has turned everything upside down.
The golden days of clickbait
When you run one of the largest Internet companies on the planet, it is, in a sense, as if you are leading a part of the world.Problems such as the damage of the hoaxes or the fake news have more relevance than for the rest of mortals For the past few months, an obsession has taken shape in the minds of Facebook managers: prevent users from being cheated .
Fake news is one of the faces of the problem.The other is clickbait and engagement-bait.That is, as brands and media use headlines or deceptive techniques to encourage users to click on a link or comment on a certain post .The days of this practice are numbered, although we are probably still seeing some type of publication "You will not believe what happened to Lady Gaga when..."
News will continue to arrive in the coming months, but the big change is underway .Facebook has modified its algorithm to so that our wall is filled again with posts shared by people and the posts decrease publics , shared by brands and media."Go from focusing on helping users find relevant content to help them have more meaningful social interactions." That is the order that-says-Mark Zuckerberg has given his army of engineers.
An earthquake in the News Feed
It was in 2006, more than a decade ago.Facebook opened to the world, to any Internet user.It was in September of that same year.News Feed and status updates were born.Until then, you accessed your page staff and, if you wanted to see those of others, you had to look for them manually.At that time, the News Feed was somewhat chronological, it showed the updates of our contacts as they were published.
Many changes came since 2006.The like button, filters, popular posts, videos...In 2016, Facebook already introduced a new algorithm for the News Feed, prioritizing certain content, capable of predicting the virality of some posts.One year later, starts the chronology of a change more than planned .An update behind another that has ended in a new twist to the algorithm.And those that remain to come.
- December 14, 2017 .Videos that generate more interest begin to be prioritized, taking into account repeated views and proactive searches.
- December 15, 2017 .Se introduce the option to temporarily silence, Snooze, to put order in the News Feed that, they say from Facebook, are saturated.
- December 18, 2017 .War to engagement-bait.Posts that cheat the user to interact begin to be penalized.
- December 20, 2017 .More wood against the fakes news.Context articles, criminalization of hoaxes...Facebook continues to strengthen its algorithm to ensure that its users are better informed.
- January 11, 2018 .The big change: bringing people closer.The Facebook strategy is exposed.The algorithm will give more and more importance to personal content than to those generated by companies , brands and media.If you can't fight clickbait and fake news for good, start them from the root.
- January 19, 2018 .The changes did not end there and many more will arrive in the coming months.Less news and more quality, from reliable and proven sources.
- January 29, 2018 .And from local sources.Facebook has begun to prioritize the news that affects the nearby environment and local user groups.
Mark Zuckerberg's tracks
The panic has spread in the mid-world marketing departments .No one expected this dramatic turn of events? It cannot be said that all these changes have come from nowhere.While we held hands before the diffusion of false news (and its consequences) and complained about the clickbait's hoaxes, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, He had been signaling for more than a year that something was going to change.
In two articles published in 2017, the CEO of Facebook left more than one hint of the changes that were coming, they may sound pompous, but these are the ideas that will mark the future of the largest social network on the planet.
- Build a global community ."In these times, the most important thing we can do on Facebook is to develop a social infrastructure that gives people the power to build a community global that works, "Zuckerberg explained in one of his articles.This ideal global community should be safe, contain quality information, encourage collaboration and civic engagement and be inclusive .Come on, a community where you don't there are (or not see) all the negative things that corrode the world.
- Bring the world closer, close the gap ."I used to think that if we gave people a voice and helped them connect, the world would improve on its own.But our society is still very divided. It is not enough to simply connect the world , we must work to bring the world closer, "added the founder of Facebook in the other articles.Bet on what we share and reject what divides us.
And in the future? More videos, more groups
The two ideas are very good, let's see who tells Mark Zuckerberg that he has to give up his dreams of building a better world.From Facebook, of course, they want to be a central part in this change.And it turns out that they already had the necessary tools for it , tools that, most likely, will gain importance in the coming months.
From the company of Menlo Park (formerly Palo Alto) claim to have detected that communities are stronger around audiovisual content , such as television series, and sports.In addition, the interactions are higher with the direct ones. Bingo.Mas video content (also of brands, taking into account agreements like the one that Facebook has in Spain with LaLiga and its plans with several TV channels).
The other cornerstone of communities, if they cannot be brands or public content, will be groups .Several network analysts social notes since here is the next frontier of engagement .The content that reinforces the ties of these homogeneous and more or less closed communities.
So, in summary, many changes that, it seems, media and brands can survive if they have one thing in mind: the priority is people and their social relations .And, if not You like it or think it won't be good for your business, as Campbell Brown, director of the Facebook News Partnerships Team, said, you can always leave.
And that we have not yet talked about virtual reality, artificial intelligence or the management of personal data on Facebook.
Images | Facebook, Pixabay
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