Over recent years Facebook has made a lot of changes that affect what appears in a users’ newsfeed. You may have noticed that you don’t always see posts from your friends like you used to, or maybe you see a whole lot more posts from other friends than you used to?
The good news is there are some simple ways you can regain control of what you see in your newsfeed, and which of your posts are seen by your friends!
First, let’s talk about who you “Follow” on Facebook. If there are friends whose posts you want to make sure you see, then you want to be sure you are following them. On the other hand if there are friends you’d just as soon see less of—maybe that cousin who constantly posts political rants, or that former colleague who posts those memes claiming you’ll hit share if you believe in…well, in whatever they believe in—then you’ll want to be sure you’re not following them.
If you navigate to your friend’s profile page you will see a button that either says “following” or “follow” depending on whether or not you’re already following that person. If you want to see their posts, make sure it says following (if it doesn’t just click the button and it will change to the opposite status), if you want to see fewer posts make sure it says unfollow.
The second option that lets you customize your Facebook feed is by creating different lists within your overall friends lists. In this image you’ll see that I already have one labeled Close Friends, and another labeled Acquaintances. What this gives you the ability to do is:
-View these particular lists and see more of the posts from the people within those lists, but more importantly..
-It lets you customize who sees your post.
Our next way to customize your Facebook experience is related more to business pages that you may have liked on Facebook. If you’re not a business owner, or someone who has ever managed a Facebook fan page, you may not be aware that Facebook has really throttled the amount of these posts you’ll see in your feed in an effort to encourage page owners to pay for advertising to get their posts seen by you. Now, this may seem like a win for you, unless you really want to see the posts from the pizza place in your neighborhood so you know when they’re having a special, or you really want to see the posts from your favorite shoe store so that you know when there is a sale, or maybe you want to know when your favorite author has a new book about to hit the stores? There’s an easy fix for this issue as well! Simply go to the page and choose “Get Notifications.” You’ll also see that now familiar button marked “following” here, make sure that’s selected as well.
You can also use the “Get Notifications” option on individual profile pages, like your friends
and family, so if there’s someone you really want to see posts from you might want to check that option out. I haven’t found much need for that option for individuals, but it is out there so use it if that appeals to you.
The final tip I will leave you with is to make it a point to periodically review who is on your friends list and what access you have given them. Maybe you accepted that friend request on a whim and had completely forgotten that they’re on your list? Take a moment to change which sub-list you have them included on and restrict their access or unfriend them completely if that’s the best choice of action.
Those are a few quick and easy tips to customize your Facebook experience so you see what you want to see when you log on.
Angela is a social media and online community professional who has always dreamed of being a writer. Blogging combines two of her passions, social media and writing! She blogs about anything that strikes her fancy and is always thrilled (and a little surprised!) when someone lets her know they enjoy reading her work. You can find her on her blog WriterMom'sBlog, Google+, Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Be sure to pay her a visit!
