By Georgia (AAAF Secretary)

You’ve probably heard Facebook has changed it’s algorithm again.

You might have seen a screen message from Facebook telling you they’re improving your experience. Facebook say they’re focusing on friends and family. That may be true. But the most recent change in January 2018 is going to hurt the Alopecia Community.

If you haven’t heard about the algorithm, let me provide an intro. In the most basic sense, the algorithm is a calculation which controls what you see in your Facebook feed. It’s kept extremely secret and is very convoluted. It measures things like what types of post you click on from which sources, and how many likes, comments and shares it has, and over 100,000 other factors.

Exactly what The Algorithm prefers is a secret, though the general idea is that the more thumbs up, the better.

Why It Matters

Social media has become such an ingrained part of our lives, it’s easy to forget the time before it.

When I was diagnosed in the late 90’s, my parents couldn’t just Google “alopecia” to find out more. They couldn’t connect instantly to other families going through the same thing by joining a facebook group. They couldn’t ask questions, they couldn’t seek advice from others in the comfort of our own home.

Despite my parents’ best efforts, and driving me 4 hours each way to a support group in the city, I didn’t meet anyone my own age with alopecia until I was 18. For a young kid in rural Australia, alopecia was unbelievably isolating.

That’s why I care about social media. That’s why I care about running the AAAF official Facebook, and our Alopecia Support Groups, and our Instagram. I know that online community matters, because I lived it.

And that’s why the latest updates are a big problem.

Facebook’s New Algorithm and What it Means for Us

Facebook’s new system prioritizes three things:

• Posts by your friends and family.
• Posts with lots of comments.
• Posts with lots of shares.
• It especially likes posts that have been shared and commented on by your friends and family.
  And that sucks for us.

As common as alopecia is (around 2% of the population), our community is a minority.

Let’s say that you have ten people in your friends list who have alopecia. Maybe they’re family members or people you’ve met through your local support organisation.

The average Facebook user has over 330 friends. Those other friends are probably not going to be sharing or commenting on alopecia related content. So Facebook will prioritize whatever your other friends and family are talking about, and you’ll see less content from the support organisations you care about.

These problems are compounded by the fact that many people choose to be private about their alopecia. Our community is less likely than the general Facebook user to share or comment on our public posts. So again, that means less of our content will be seen by our community.

That might not sound like a big deal, but it truly is. The number one way that people find out about our events is on social media. When we have new resources, we release them on social media. When we have competitions or programs or giveaways, you get the picture.
This new algorithm means that people will be missing out. We’re already seeing this take place. This change is already resulting in content being seen by less people. Facebook has a handy solution available though.

The Big Lie

As I said at the start, Facebook state these changes are to bring the focus back to friends and family. We’ve been generous until now assuming that’s true and that these negative effects are just a miscalculation. It could be argued that a more cynical interpretation is more likely.

Facebook’s solution for organisations who want to reach their communities? Pay. Pay to boost your post, pay for advertising space. And big companies will, because they can afford to. Small non-profits, community support groups? Not so much.

Facebook, a company making over seven billion dollars per quarter, is pushing small groups to pay to be able reach their communities. And we’re supposed to believe this is about bringing people together. Really, Zuckerberg?

So what can you do?

Make sure you follow your favourite alopecia support organisations and groups on Facebook. If you’re in a position to do so, like, share and comment on their posts. This will help content to reach more people.

If you’re based in Australia and hoping to stay up to date with AAAF’s projects, I strongly recommend registering with us. Registering puts you on our email list for all the latest in events, new programs, and what is important in alopecia. It only takes a minute and we never give your details out to anyone else.

Back on Facebook, you can also personalize your news feed to prioritize what you want to see.

On a desktop computer or laptop:

1. Go to the Facebook page of an organisation you want to stay updated about.

   May I recommend the AAAF page? Or Alopecia NZ, Alopecia UK, CANAAF,  International Alopecia Day, NAAF, or one of many dozens of other alopecia support groups, organisations or charities. There are support groups in so many countries these days and there is almost certainly one near you.

2. Click “Follow” or hover your mouse over “Following” if you already follow us. Then select “See First” to make sure our updates are always in your news feed when you log on. You can also check if you have notifications turned on.

On a mobile device:

1. Opening your Facebook app, select the three-line menu in the bottom. It’ll be in the right-hand corner on iPhone/iPad apps, and the top right-hand corner on Android.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the menu and find “News Feed Preferences”. Apple users will have to find “Settings”, and then “News Feed Preferences”.

   

3. Select “Prioritize who to see first”. Then select the Australia Alopecia Areata Foundation, and anyone else you want to ensure you see in your news feed. Your selections should get highlighted with a white star in a blue circle.

Select “Done!” and enjoy staying connected with the alopecia community.

If you are able, consider sharing this article to help more people know how to update their settings to see what they want to see on their feed.