Social media's tailored feeds

I hate it when sites give me a filtered view of their content based on what their algorithms say I'm most likely to engage in.

This is really a pain on Facebook because the site offers you the option to go back to chronological order, but then resets after a few days. I've often commented on stories my friends posted weeks earlier because I didn't notice Facebook had mucked up the timeline again. It sucks for conversation and for some reason, Facebook floods my feeds with videos my friends have shared rather than their actual updates. I don't care about that stuff, I care about my friends and family.

That's just the view from the end user's perspective, though. I also run a few Facebook pages and their tailored feeds have ruined natural user engagement. As I'm not managing pages with millions of likes, my posts often don't show up in the tailored view unless the person is a big fan. I guess this plays into Facebook's scam advertising options, since I could pay to have my posts seen by more people, but I'm not rich. I also don't want to reward Facebook for killing organic engagement.

 

I remember actually being a little fresked out when I first encountered this, but then when you think about it is really no big surprise and you see targeted ads and activities all of the time. I always get a good laugh when I buy something online and then the next day I see all sorts of ads for similar products on my webpages. They are good at knowing their target market, those marketing execs.

 

I am a Facebook user but not regularly. I only use social media to get updated to my circle especially to those who are far from me like my relatives in the US, my friends in the provinces and some other people who are temporarily away. Another purpose is to be updated with the discounted offers of my favorite online stores particularly the pet accessories shop. To me, Facebook is a waste of time if there is no particular purpose - some people I know are surfing Facebook all day long.

 

The whole thing is confusing. My aunt died a year ago and I was shocked to see that she commented on a photo upload which showed up on her friend's timeline just recently! The ads are ruining the site. It is now being used as a medium for propagating biased political views and mind conditioning stories being falsely represented as news coverage in favor of an insecure government in my country. Facebook has ceased to be a fun place for me.