If you’re a facbook page administrator like I am I bet you were ready to pull your hair out yet again at some of the recent changes to facebook pages.  Some of the changes I welcomed with open arms, such as being able to post as your page.  I love this as I see the increased marketing potential.  One change reaffirmed my suspicion that facebook is trying to take over the world. 

Facebook started deciding what was most relevant and important for each of us.  MIND CONTROL.


This didn’t happen with just Pages, but also Profiles.  All of a sudden I started seeing fewer posts and only posts from friends and pages with which I normally interacted.  I had to manually change my feed to show me all posts.  While I may not always comment or interact with a friend or a person I am always interested in what they’re doing.  It’s like people watching.

Then the new changes to pages started to roll out for beta testing.  I knew facebook was going to force the change in March so I decided to change immediately so I could play and learn.  My blood pressure rose as I realized that chronological order to pages had disappeared.  The pages own posts stayed in order, but post from everyone else were all over the page.  I saw red.

As an administrator I could switch to a most recent view so I could see chronological order but that just added one more step to my already very busy day where I only have seconds to glance at the page to see what’s happening.  Then I realized the way I viewed the page was completely different than how others would view the page because facebook was deciding what was most important to me for me.  I felt my free will being taken away from me.  I don’t want anyone or thing deciding what is most relevant to me. 

Here is where I will admit the algorithm, EdgeRank, facebook developed is pretty awesome (and I so totally don’t get equations at all).  I understand facebook is trying to make its platform a fuller experience for users with quality and content by eliminating spam.  Yet I come back to that I am the owner of my account and will take care of anything I deem as spam or pages or friends that I decide are no longer worth my time.  Also as page admin it is my responsibility to create quality content, not facebook's. 

As a page administrator though I viewed this only as facebook hurting the community that had been formed.  The CBS4 Denver page is very active.  People will post thoughts and comments on the page.  Sometimes they post about stories we’re covering.  Other times they post news tips or concerns they have about a situation that affects them personally.  Often these posts lead to other community members commenting and a dialogue would ensue.  This is the sign of a healthy active community.  Sometimes the newsroom benefits as well with the news tips or finding news resources.  Other times it is all about the community doing they’re own thing.

All of a sudden I saw post after post from community members that were buried at the bottom of the stream and no one else was commenting on it.  It was like the community member was speaking but no one was listening.  How sad for the community.  In my opinion this is a facebook disservice and tragedy as the flow of dialogue is interrupted, even halted as it's now lost to other community members.  Our news page is not about us, but about our community.  The community has been hurt by facebook.

Facebook heard the cry of page administrators and has now made it possible for community members to view “Top Posts”, which are the posts that facebook decides are most important to you, or to view “Most Recent, which puts the page back in chronological order.  Unfortunately, “Top Posts” is the default.  You have to do the switch, just like you had to do the switch in your profile to see all posts.


You have to personally take mind control away from facebook and make it yours again.  My fear is that not many people truly understand all of this.  They just get frustrated by the changes but eventually accept them without realizing they can take control back. 

Here is where you say, “well it’s not my fault that person can’t figure it out.”  Here’s where I say, “it’s up to us page administrators to keep our posts relevant with quality content and conversation.”  It’s our responsibility to keep our communities healthy and active despite facebook’s global domination tactics.