Facebook December 2013 algorithm update

Have you noticed how low your Facebook page's organic reach is lately? Maybe you've tried everything from memes to videos and high-quality content, but nothing will work and you're this close to tearing your hair out. Calm down! It's not your fault!

In 2008, Mark Zuckerberg laid out his theory about people sharing content on Facebook. "I would expect that next year, people will share twice as much information as they share this year, and [the] next year, they will be sharing twice as much as they did the year before," he said.

It has been a less profitable holiday season for many online retailers thanks to a small change Facebook made to how the site works.On December 2, Facebook published a post on its official blog announcing that it had made a small change to the algorithm that determines what users see on the News Feed - that center column of status updates, news stories, and photos you see when you go to Facebook.com or open a Facebook app.

Here we go again! "My Facebook reach is down," is making the buzz again in the social media blogosphere. The last time everyone and their sister was complaining about this was Autumn of last year.

Facebook's new algorithm has me feeling like a nobody. The last few times I posted a status update, no one Liked it. No one commented on it. I got crickets. I felt betrayed by all 986 of my closest friends. Usually I get all sorts of Likes and comments.

By Patrick Cuttica, Account Manager at SocialKaty, Inc. Facebook has long claimed that posts from Brand Pages typically reach about 16% of their fans organically. This 16% number has (begrudgingly) become a widely acknowledged metric by most Facebook Page Admins.

Earlier this month, Facebook noted that pages could see a decrease in organic reach as a result of News Feed algorithm tweaks that favor newsworthy posts. However, many marketers and Facebook page admins are reporting that they're seeing an extreme drop in organic reach - as much as 44 percent in some cases - and it has been going on for months.

"Merry Christmas, content marketers - give me your money" For those who missed it, Facebook's unrequited Christmas present to content marketers this year was a troubling announcement stating there were going to be some changes around town: Because the content in News Feed is always changing, and we're seeing more people sharing more content, Pages will likely see changes in distribution.