Facebook Makes Improvements To Reduce News Feed Spam

Facebook today announced a series of improvements that aim to make News Feed experience better for the social network’s one billion-plus users. The improvements clamp down on Pages that “deliberately try and game News Feed,” one doesn’t have to venture very far to get an example, most of the Pages sharing viral content or memes on Facebook often try to increase their reach using methods that are frowned upon. The latest News Feed update targets three broad categories of this type.

Like-baiting can be widely seen on the social network. Even legitimate brands and Page owners often ask people to like their Page or interact with it to get a discount or avail an offer. Facebook doesn’t allow posts that explicitly ask for such engagement in return for something else. Today’s improvement focuses on better detection of these stories and will ensure that such posts don’t show up more prominently in News Feed. Facebook clarifies that this update will not impact Pages that genuinely try to encourage discussion between their fans.

We often see the same content appear again and again on Facebook, particularly if its a viral photo or video. Listening to feedback from users who complain about Pages that frequently post such content, Facebook has tweaked News Feed to de-emphasize pages and indulge in this activity.

Last but not the least, Facebook targets stories that use inaccurate language or tricky formatting to hoodwink people into clicking through to a website. The improvement reduces cases of spammy links. In most cases the website is full of ads or a “combination of frequently circulated content and ads.” Meme Page owners who drove traffic to their websites from Facebook can now effectively kiss it goodbye.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Web
Tags: Facebook, News Feed