How the Facebook Algorithm Works in 2023

What is the Facebook algorithm?

The Facebook algorithm is a set of ranking signals powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence. It calculates which content is most likely to appeal to each user and then delivers them a personalized feed.

 

Whether you love it or hate it, the simple truth is you’ve got to work with it if you want your Facebook marketing efforts to succeed. Here, we explain everything you need to know about the algorithm Facebook uses to rank content and shape the feeds of its 2.93 billion users.

Some of the key elements that could influence the algorithm include:

Engagement: The algorithm considers the number of likes, comments, shares, and reactions a post receives. Higher engagement signals indicate that the content is valuable and interesting to users, leading to increased visibility.

Relevance: Facebook's algorithm analyzes a user's past behavior, such as their interactions with posts, pages, and friends, to gauge their preferences. It then tries to show content that aligns with the user's interests, based on their activity history.

Relationships: The algorithm considers the strength of the user's connections with other people or pages. Posts from close friends, family members, or frequently interacted-with pages are more likely to appear higher in the News Feed.

Recency: Freshness plays a role in the algorithm's decision-making. Recent posts tend to be prioritized to ensure users see up-to-date content.

Content type: The algorithm takes into account the format of the content, such as text, images, videos, or links. It aims to provide diverse content types based on user preferences.
Reported and Hidden Content: If users consistently report or hide posts from a specific source, the algorithm may reduce the visibility of such content in their News Feeds.

How does the Facebook algorithm work?

Meta has a whole team of people working on artificial intelligence and machine learning. Part of their work is to improve the algorithms that connect Facebook users with the most valuable content for them.

Over the years, algorithm ranking signals have been added, removed, and had their importance adjusted.

As of 2023, the Facebook algorithm determines which content is most relevant to a particular user based on three main ranking signals:

Each post is ranked based on these main signals to determine where it appears in your feed.
Facebook also gives users options that help them train the algorithm and customize their feed:

Who posted it: You’re more likely to see content from sources you interact with, including friends and businesses.

Type of content: If you most often interact with video, you’ll see more videos. If you engage with photos, you’ll see more photos. You get the idea.

Interactions with the post: The algorithm will prioritize posts with a lot of engagement, especially from people you interact with a lot.

Favorites: You can select up to 30 people and pages to add to your Favorites. Posts from these accounts will appear higher in the feed. To access Favorites, click your profile picture, then click Settings & Privacy, then Feed Preferences, then Favorites. You can use the other options in this section to snooze, unfollow, or reconnect with other Facebook users. You can also choose to view just content from your Favorites.

In-feed options: Click on any post and you’ll see a set of options including hiding the post, snoozing the user, or adding or removing the user from favorites. All of this provides information to the algorithm about what kind of content you want to see more (or less) of. On ads, the equivalent option is a Hide ad. Facebook will then give you a set of options to indicate why you want to hide the ad. This will help Facebook understand what kind of advertisers you want to hear from, and which you’d rather avoid.

Facebook will remove content that goes against its Community Standards. They also reduce the distribution of “content that people find objectionable,” like “misinformation, a sensationalized health claim, propaganda, or clickbait.”

Finally, there are some specific words to avoid when working with Facebook algorithms:

Threatening or violent language

Harassing language, especially those that are sexist, homophobic, racist, ableist, and so on

Words related to harmful stereotypes

Slurs

Any other language that violates the Community Standards

6 tips for working with the Facebook algorithm

Create High-Quality, Engaging Content: Focus on creating content that is valuable, relevant, and resonates with your target audience. Encourage engagement through compelling visuals, thought-provoking questions, or interactive elements to increase the likelihood of higher visibility.

Encourage Meaningful Interactions: Aim to foster meaningful interactions and discussions with your audience. Respond to comments, ask for opinions, and encourage users to share their experiences. Meaningful interactions signal to the algorithm that your content is engaging and worth showing to more users.

Tip: Whether you’re a solopreneur or you have a whole team of community managers in place, JarveePro social media automation software makes managing these conversations at scale a lot easier.

Utilize Facebook Live and Video Content: Facebook tends to prioritize video content, especially live videos. Leverage Facebook Live sessions and video content to engage your audience in real time and increase the chances of your content being seen.

Engage with Your Audience: Actively engage with your audience by responding to comments, messages, and inquiries in a timely and authentic manner. Building strong relationships and fostering a sense of community can positively impact your content's visibility.

Leverage Facebook Groups: Facebook Groups provide a dedicated space for like-minded individuals to connect and share common interests. Engaging with relevant groups and creating your own can help you reach a more targeted audience and foster meaningful interactions.

Consider Paid Advertising: While organic reach is important, consider incorporating paid advertising into your Facebook strategy. Facebook Ads allow you to reach a broader audience and target specific demographics, interests, and behaviors, increasing the visibility of your content.

It's important to note that Facebook continuously refines and updates its algorithm to improve user experience and address concerns like misinformation and harmful content.