If you are among the many Bluegrass Today readers who follow us on Facebook, the following information could have a real impact on your time spent over there.
Facebook works diligently to ensure the optimal experience for its users, reducing the dreaded fake news, and helping users see the sort of content with which they are most likely to interact. But in the course of so doing, sometimes that very content is hidden away and you end up missing it.
In the past few weeks it has come to light that Facebook has again changed how content from publishers like us is presented. We’ve been able to measure how much less frequently our stories are displayed on Facebook, even for people who had already liked our page. But there are ways to ensure that you continue to see it.
What Facebook is doing is trying to reduce the amount of content you see that you don’t engage with. So by reacting to our posts (with a like or a smiley face), adding a comment, or sharing them with your own friends, the Facebook algorithm will recognize that it matters to you, and will continue to present it on your newsfeed.
To be absolutely sure they show it to you, simply go to your Facebook News Feed Preferences, and select Bluegrass Today as a page you want to see first. It only takes a few moments, and guarantees that our posts will show up at the top of your news feed each time you log in.
Look up at the Facebook menu bar, or the right hand side of the page where you see the Home button, and the notifications are displayed. At the right hand end of those links you’ll see a downward-facing arrow. Click the arrow and a drop down menu will appear.
Highlight the menu option that reads News Feed Preferences, and select that one. That will bring up a pop-up window with five preference options.
Click the top one, Prioritize Who To See First, and another window will appear that shows all of your friends and pages you have liked, such as Bluegrass Today. To make it a bit easier, click on the small menu that says All, and change it to Pages Only. If you have already liked Bluegrass Today on Facebook, or our old page for The Bluegrass Blog, it will appear in the window. Click the icon for our page and a blue star will show up over it, indicating that our posts will show up first on your feed.
If there are other pages or friends that you want to be sure to see, you can select them here as well.
We look forward to continuing to see you all on Facebook, and as always, please understand how much we appreciate your support for Bluegrass Today.