How to Change the Facebook Feed Algorithm

Tired of your Facebook feed feeling like a random collection of old memes, heated political rants, and ads for things you looked at once three weeks ago? You're not alone. While you can't manually rewrite Facebook's code, you can take back control and heavily influence what shows up in your feed. This guide will walk you through exactly how to customize your feed as a user and how to make the algorithm work for you as a creator.

First, How Does the Facebook Algorithm Actually Work?

Before you can influence the algorithm, it helps to know what it's trying to do. Facebook's main goal is to keep you on the platform for as long as possible. To do this, its algorithm shows you content that it believes you will find most valuable and engaging.

It decides this based on thousands of signals, but the most important ones fall into four main categories:

• Who Posted It (Inventory): The algorithm prioritizes content from friends, family, pages, and groups you interact with most frequently.
• What It Is (Signals): Is it a video, a picture, a link, or a text post? How new is it? People tend to engage more with videos, so they often get a boost.
• How You Might React (Predictions): Based on your past behavior, Facebook predicts whether you’re likely to comment on, share, like, or just ignore a post. A predicted "meaningful interaction," like a comment, is worth more than a simple "like."
• How Good It Is (Score): All these factors combine to create a Relevance Score. The posts with the highest scores appear higher in your feed.

Every action you take - every like, comment, share, and even the time you spend looking at a post - is a vote that tells the algorithm, "Show me more like this." Now, let's use that knowledge to our advantage. If you feel like your feed is broken, you might need to fix your Facebook algorithm.

How to Take Control of Your Personal Facebook Feed

Feeling powerless against an endless scroll of random content? You have more control than you think. By using Facebook's own tools, you can curate a feed that's more relevant, interesting, and less stressful. Here’s exactly how to do it.

Step 1: Use the "Favorites" Feature

This is the single most powerful tool for seeing what you *actually* want to see. The Favorites feature lets you hand-pick up to 30 friends and Pages. Their posts will appear higher in your regular News Feed, and you can also view a dedicated "Favorites" feed showing *only* their content in chronological order. No algorithm, just the posts you asked for.

How to Set Up Favorites:

1. Navigate to your Facebook settings.
2. Find "News Feed Preferences" or a similar option.
3. Select "Favorites" and add the people and pages you don't want to miss.

Make this your go-to list for your closest friends, family, and the creators or pages that bring you the most value. Check it regularly and update it as your interests change.

Step 2: Snooze, Unfollow, and Hide Aggressively

Just as important as telling Facebook what you *like* is telling it what you *don’t*. Don't be afraid to curate your experience ruthlessly.

• Unfollow: Is a friend constantly posting things that annoy you, but you don't want the real-world drama of unfriending them? Simply "Unfollow" them. You'll remain friends, but their posts will disappear from your feed. You can always re-follow them later.
• Snooze: Need a temporary break from someone? Maybe a friend is live-posting their two-week vacation, or a page is overdoing it with a marketing campaign. Use the "Snooze" feature to mute them for 30 days. It's a great way to cool off without making a permanent change.
• Hide Post: See a single post you don't like? Click the three dots in the corner and select "Hide post." This tells the algorithm you're not interested in that specific type of content. It will often ask why, letting you fine-tune the signal you’re sending.

Every time you use one of these features, you're training the algorithm. Over time, it will get much better at removing the noise and showing you the good stuff.

Step 3: Interact With What You Want to See More Of

Remember that the algorithm treats your engagement as a vote. If you want to see more content from a particular friend or page, you need to interact with their posts.

• A comment is more powerful than a like.
• A share is more powerful than a comment.
• Meaningful interactions - like writing a thoughtful comment or sharing a post with a personal note - carry the most weight.

If you scroll past your favorite creator's post without engaging, you're unintentionally telling the algorithm it wasn't important to you. Make a conscious effort to like, comment on, and share the posts you truly enjoy.

For Creators &, Brands: How to Make the Algorithm Work for You

If you're on the other side of the screen trying to grow a brand or business, the algorithm can feel like an enemy. It’s not. It’s just a reality of the platform. Instead of trying to "beat" it, learn to work with it. The goal is the same: serve valuable, engaging content to the right people.

Rule #1: Create Content That Sparks Conversation

Facebook prioritizes "meaningful interactions." The days of just collecting likes are long gone. The algorithm now looks for content that gets people talking to each other. Your job is to be the conversation starter.

• Ask genuine questions: Don't just ask "What do you think?" Ask specific, open-ended questions that invite a real response. For example, instead of a picture of coffee captioned "Happy Monday," try "What's the one thing that got you through this Monday? For me, it was this coffee right here."
• Tell stories: People connect with stories. Share behind-the-scenes moments, customer successes, or personal anecdotes that resonate with your audience on an emotional level.
• Post about relevant, timely topics: Tap into conversations that are already happening, as long as they align with your brand's voice and values.

Aim to create posts that make people stop scrolling and feel compelled to add their two cents. Those comments and the replies they generate are gold for the algorithm. Learn how to make your Facebook posts more engaging.

Rule #2: Embrace Short-Form Video (Reels!)

There's no getting around it: Meta (Facebook's parent company) is all-in on short-form video. Facebook Reels are actively being promoted across the platform and often get significantly more organic reach than static photos or link posts. This is because video keeps users watching longer, helping Facebook achieve its goal, and they reward you for helping them. Find out how to create Facebook Reels.

Pro Tip: Always upload your videos directly to Facebook. Native videos perform much better than posting a link to YouTube or another platform. The algorithm favors content that keeps users on Facebook, rather than sending them elsewhere.

Rule #3: Engage Back With Your Community

Creating engaging content is only half the battle. When people take the time to comment on your posts, you need to engage back. Responding to comments on your Page shows your audience you value their input and signals to the algorithm that your post is a high-value piece of content driving social interaction.

And it's not just about what you post on your feed. A fast response time in your DMs and comments is a positive signal. Social media isn't just a broadcast channel, it's a community-building tool. Treat it that way, and the algorithm will take notice.

Rule #4: Post Consistently and Analyze What Works

Posting sporadically sends weak signals to a platform that is constantly sorting content. Maintaining a consistent posting schedule helps keep your audience engaged and tells the algorithm that you are a reliable source of content.

Use your Page's "Insights" or analytics to see what's actually working. Look for patterns:

• Which posts get the most comments?
• What time of day does your audience engage most?
• Do your Reels outperform your image posts?

Stop guessing. Use the data Facebook provides to learn what your audience loves, and give them more of it. Double down on what works and cut what doesn't. Learn how to check engagement on Facebook.

Final Thoughts

While you can't access a magic settings panel to turn the Facebook algorithm on or off, you have a huge amount of influence over it. By using favorites, snoozing what you don't like, and being intentional with your engagement, you can curate a better personal feed. As a creator, focusing on conversation-starting content - especially video - and engaging with your community is how you win.

As a brand or creator, we know that managing all of this - planning a visual calendar, building a diverse content mix, scheduling reliably, and managing all your engagement in one place - can be overwhelming. That’s why we built Postbase from the ground up for the way social media actually works today. It's designed specifically for short-form video and helps you juggle all those comments and DMs across every platform from one simple inbox so you never miss a meaningful interaction.

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