Don’t Like What’s in Your Newsfeed Then Change the Algorithm…

“‘The Algorithm’ is impenetrable. It’s mysterious, it’s all-knowing, it’s omnipotent. Except that it’s not…” — Rachel Kraus

Are your social media newsfeeds filling up with cr*p, such as how much people make on various platform, the lessons learned after 30 seconds of experience, and general blah, blah blah?

Then look no further as I am about to tell you a not-so-secret, secret!

YOU, have the power to influence the algorithm that is showing you the content you don’t wish to read!

The question is how do you change this algorithm to better reflect the stuff you want to read?

What could feed the algorithm?

“The personalized ‘world’ of your News Feed is shaped heavily by your choices and actions.” — Nick Clegg

I’m no expert in algorithms, but I have worked, studied, and ‘hobbied’ in digital, web development, and robotics (AI) for several years now— well 25+ to be exact. Here’s a list of logical interactions that algorithms find tasty, nom noms!

• The number of responses or interactions on any given article — positive or negative. The more responses, likes, hearts or claps a post gets the more popular it is seen.
• How many times a post is viewed and read. People do like to read about platform-related stories, especially those on earnings. Over time these become popular and even if you haven’t clicked them directly may slip the net into your newsfeed.
• Sharing — how many times a post has been shared by others and what you have shared, liked and clapped for in the past.

Reconfiguring the algorithm by putting your newsfeed on a trash-free diet

“An algorithm is like a recipe.” ~ Muhammad Waseem

Now we know some of the ingredients that may feed algorithms, it’s time to look at how we can make them work in our favor as readers.

Don’t click on what you don’t want to read!

If you don’t want to read about how Charlie Bloggs earns ten million a month or Billy Bob’s learning of a writing platform then do NOT click on these articles, simple. Boycotting the posts about making money and lessons learned on the platform will be shown the algorithm that you’re just not interested in these types of posts.

Refresh your following

Are the tags and publications you follow still relevant? It could be worth doing an audit of who and what you are following. Instead of following for follows follow the people you want to read. Auditing your online habits is useful for other social media sites too. Groups, pages, likes all influence what you are shown in your newsfeed.

What’s your preference?

When you originally set up your account what preferences did you opt for? It could be worth every 3 months or so reviewing what your settings are and what you have opted in and out of.

Muting the cr*p

You have a range of options available to you. So, if you don’t like what someone is writing use the given moderation tools of the platform to do something about it rather than complain. For example, getting bombarded by a content creator in your newsfeed that is a ‘super sharing’, but you don't want to unfollow them? Mute them for a bit. If someone is posting content that maybe you find uncomfortable or their behavior isn’t appropriate then block them.

Sorting stories by latest

Look for something to read rather than rely on the newsfeed, especially in the early days of reconfiguring your algorithm. I would recommend sorting to ‘latest’ rather than most popular posts or stories. What’s popular may not be relevant to you and remember what initially appears is what the algorithm wants you to see.

Algorithms are not always right and sometimes trash may slip the net, but basically, if you want to increase the quality of what you see in your newsfeed then keep an eye on who you are following and try not to fall victim to ‘click bait’. After a week or so you should start to see more of what you want to see in your newsfeed.

It’s also worth noting that sometimes things may randomly appear that the platform provider wants you to see regardless of the settings you have in place.

👉 Check out my other stories on Vocal 🖤

References:

What is an algorithm? (mashable.com)

You and the Algorithm: It Takes Two to Tango | by Nick Clegg