Bringing the “News” Back To the News-Feed.

Why Facebook Wants To Be The Modern Day News Anchor

In December of 2013, Facebook implemented new algorithms to redefine which user-generated content is seen—it’s out with the old, meme-centric posts and in with “high quality” news. And since Facebook is still the number one social platform (by a wide margin), those changes are reshaping the way 2014’s social content is being created.

It’s no secret that many of a users’ friends or fans of a brand’s page don’t see their posts. It’s also no secret that photos have a much higher engagement rate than other forms of Facebook content.

Last year, more than a few social media managers and designers put dinner on the table by creating humorous memes or piggy-back graphics that took advantage of photos’ greater Newsfeed engagement levels—a quick search of meme pages on Facebook will reveal dozens of meme-based sites with over 100,000 fans.

But now, the game has been changed.

Facebook’s new algorithms are reputedly tailored to upend the constant barrage of memes in favour of more “high quality” posts from blogs and news organisations. In theory, this means less visibility to you, Zach Galifianakis Meme and more power to you, Gawker; or perhaps even to you and your own personal blog, reader.

The changes are also designed to stop irrelevant posts from rising in your news feed; although they still have room for improvement according to a tweet from social media expert Jeffrey K. Rohrs.

Facebook’s News Feed algorithm needs help. It just elevated a friend’s celebratory post about a Bengals catch & run from yesterday.

The point is, digital content—specifically the content created for Facebook—has changed.

At least for now, Facebook appears to be catering to an ever- increasing older audience (65% of users are now over 35), and is attempting to vie with Twitter as the leading online news referral source. According to a 2013 Pew Research and Journalism report, 30% of Facebook users get some news on the site, while 52% of Twitter users, albeit from a much smaller sample size, do the same.

How do I make “news”?

The key to any great content is making it useful for your audience. Facebook just appears to be targeting written content right now.

If you’re not a writer or you don’t currently have a writer on staff, there’s good news for you. Websites like eLance and Odesk are teeming with freelancers looking to do your work. If you prefer to get to know your writer a bit, Twitter can be an excellent resource for finding and hiring an experienced freelancer.

You may even find a writer who can also design, as journalism schools are beginning to train students on basics of the Adobe design suite as well as blogging platforms like Wordpress.

What if I’m a designer? What should I do?

Don’t sweat too much. Graphic design is still one of the rising industries for young professionals.

You probably didn’t always make memes. In fact, most designers seem to hate them. This is a great opportunity to break free of the pigeon-hole and get busy with some high-quality infographics to throw into those articles. Every great story needs a picture, and many great pictures need some graphically presented info.

You might even have some more time to devote your talents to projects that require a little more brain power than social media.

What does this mean for social media managers?

If Facebook is attempting to be a news source, you better give it some news.

Now, this doesn’t mean you have to go out and become the next Anderson Cooper; but it does mean more of your content should focus on providing useful information for your target audience.

It means more writing. And it means if you are still clinging to memes for exposure, revisiting your social strategy would be a good idea right now.

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