News Feeds, Facebook

Promoted Posts work well for businesses because they enable them to put that extra oomph behind posts they believe will generate the most impact and leads. Businesses can promote posts from their News Feeds, including status updates, photos, videos, and offers. Any post they promote appears higher in the News Feed and more people see it. Figure 9-4 shows an example of a Promoted Post appeeiring in my personal Facebook News Feed. It shows up in-line with my other updates. 

One of the most important types of apphcations being developed for computer networks is social networking sites. Facebook is probably the most widely used social network, although sites such as MySpace and Twitter are also very popular. Facebook was conceived by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004 while he was still a student at Harvard University. Facebook members can set up a profile that they can share with other members. The site supports a messs e service, event scheduling service, and news feed. By setting up a friend relationship with other members, one can quickly rekindle old friendships and acquaintances. 

Fig. 6.4 Map of the Facebook home page where the news feed is located...

But what does this algorithm do It helps Facebook determine what gets displayed on a user s News Feed. In simple terms, if users or their friends are interacting with your company on a frequent basis, you show up more frequently on their News Feeds. If not, you get dropped and will not appear. Thus, you want to ensure that you are part of the virtuous cycle of showing up on News Feeds with interesting topics to share. 

What do you have to keep in mind to stay relevant in Facebook s News Feed Here are some important things to think about ... 

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