Facebook Pages Feed:BFD

Have you noticed it? No, I didn’t think so.

Facebook rolled out the “Pages Feed” on November 14, maybe explaining why the social network was so buggy this week.

The “Pages Feed” is a little menu item on the left hand side of your screen (desktop version) that you can choose to look at all the posts of pages you are connected to.

It’s a bone they are throwing out to the likes of Mark Cuban and others who have cried foul (ha!) over the way Facebook displays page posts in users News Feed.

Now users can choose to look at all the page posts, or just see the ones that show up in their feed. Hmm.

Will it appease the pages out there that have complained? I don’t think so.

But here’s the thing. These pages show up in people’s feeds based on EdgeRank: an algorithm that weighs engagement and interest. If every fan page post showed up in everyone’s feed, Facebook would quickly lose the luster it still has. People want to talk to people on Facebook. And yes, they want to engage and read about what is going on with the pages they are connected to. But they are already connected to so many, that if all were displayed, the human engagement factor would plummet and Facebook will become far less effective for those pages.

So rather than whine, these pages and their admin should work on quality posts and engagement in what their audience wants. And yes, pay to promote posts when something is important to convey.

I’m not a Facebook apologist, but I do think that the EdgeRank algorithm, while not perfect or ideal will help keep people engaged with Facebook for a longer period of time. It’s still a great tool for engaging your audience, but it’s not always easy. And sometimes, as a brand, you’ve just got to pay to play.

Facebook
LinkedIn