The Algorithms, They are a Changin’

I use Facebook a lot. Not only do I use it to keep in touch with friends, I use it for fun and goofing around. However, Facebook is also one of the primary referrers to my blog. Basically, lots of people come over and read my blog because whenever I write a new post, I share it on Facebook. It has always worked well for me until now. (Except that one time a few years ago when Facebook suspended my account.)

I don’t know if you have noticed, but things are changing. My Facebook feed is different – I don’t seem to get near the variety of posts from different people that I used to get. It seems that the same few things keep coming to the top of my feed. As I dig deeper, it has become obvious that there are things and people that just don’t pop up anymore.

I know a lot of you have noticed it, too.

My understanding is that this is all part of some “Grand Design” over at Facebook. Now, in that I get the service for free, I’m not in a place to complain about it – it’s not my company and they can run it how they want – but I do need to figure out how it impacts me. (And I am not about to pay for Facebook ads to publicize a free blog.)

I have noticed over the past few months that the visibility of things I post on Facebook can swing wildly from one day to the next – we are talking about the reach being half – or double – from one post to the next. The number of friends that Facebook allows to see the posts on my wall, or on my MMM page can vary by thousands from post to post.

If you want to make sure you aren’t missing out on my posts, there are a couple things you can do:

1. Make sure you “friend,” “like” and “follow” me on Facebook – either my personal account, or the MMM page.
2. On the MMM blog itself, you can subscribe for email notifications. Whenever I post on the blog, you will get a handy-dandy email telling you about it and providing a link. (Totally circumventing Facebook.) The sign-up is in the right-hand column and looks like this: 
3. On mobile devices it is after the blog post listings.
4. Right below that, there is a link to “Bloglovin” which lets you subscribe as well.

Now, back to Facebook. If you would like to help me stay visible on your feed, and on everybody else’s feed, there are a few things you can do to help:

1. “Like” stuff. If you like what I wrote, click “like.” If you loved it, even better – click “love.”  Thankfully there are no poop emojis there. I don’t need that kind of negativity in my life.
2. Share stuff. If you think it was worthwhile, and that someone you know my enjoy or benefit from it, share it.
3. Join the conversation. If you have a comment, let me know. When you comment, or respond to someone else’s comment, it boosts the visibility of the Facebook post.

On my part, I will do my best to write stuff that is worthwhile for you. I can’t promise that every post will be a home-run, or even a triple. There will be some that are more like stumbling into first base and tripping over the bag. Nevertheless, I assure you that they are always well-intended.

(Psst: There is some stuff coming up soon on MMM that you won’t want to miss, including my April Conference observations.)

Thanks for your love and support!