Facebook’s algorithm controls what content shows up in your News Feed. It uses machine learning to personalize your feed and show you posts it thinks you’ll find most relevant and interesting. While you can’t completely reset the algorithm, there are some things you can do to influence what it shows you.
Why would you want to reset the Facebook algorithm?
There are a few reasons why someone might want to reset their Facebook algorithm:
- Your feed seems stale – You’re seeing the same posts from the same people and want more variety.
- Too many irrelevant posts – The algorithm is showing you a lot of posts you don’t care about from people you don’t interact with.
- Missing posts from close friends – Posts from your best friends don’t seem to be showing up as much in your feed anymore.
- Too many sponsored posts – You want to see less content from brands/businesses and more personal updates.
- New account – When starting a new Facebook account, the algorithm has little data to personalize your feed at first.
Resetting the algorithm can help shake up your feed and restore some of that initial variety. It forces Facebook to reevaluate the kinds of posts it shows you based on more recent activity.
How Facebook’s algorithm works
Facebook is constantly collecting data about how you use the platform. Their algorithm looks at thousands of different signals to curate your News Feed, including:
- How often you interact with certain friends
- The posts and Pages you actively engage with
- How long you spend looking at certain posts
- The content you mark as Favorite or Saved
- The ads and sponsored posts you click on
- Posts and Pages you hide or report
- Your activity in Facebook Groups
All of this data gets incorporated into the ranking algorithm. Posts that match your inferred preferences and interests will rank higher. The algorithm is aimed at showing you relevant content that keeps you engaged on Facebook.
How to reset the Facebook algorithm
There is no direct way to completely reset Facebook’s algorithm and wipe the slate clean. However, you can take certain actions that will force it to re-evaluate the type of posts to show you next.
Temporarily snooze friends
Snoozing specific friends for 30 days removes their posts from your News Feed temporarily. Once the snooze period is up, their posts will start showing again. This gives the algorithm a chance to de-prioritize them and fill your feed with other types of engaging posts in the meantime.
Unfollow friends or Pages
Unlike snoozing, unfollowing someone permanently removes their posts from your News Feed (unless you refollow them later). The more you prune your feed by unfollowing, the more room there is for new content.
Change your ad interests
Clearing or changing your ad interests forces Facebook to reassess the types of sponsored posts to show you. Their algorithm looks at ad engagement as well. Refreshing these preferences resets that aspect.
Interact with different friends and Pages
Actively engage with a more diverse set of people by liking, commenting on, and sharing posts from those you want to see more of. These interactions signal to the algorithm that you’re interested in their content.
Join new Groups
Joining and participating in new Facebook Groups exposes you to different types of content. The algorithm picks up on your Group activity and may start highlighting more posts from those communities.
Follow trending hashtags and topics
Keep an eye on the Trending section on the sidebar. Liking and engaging with those trending posts sends a signal about your current interests.
Save, Favorite, and hide strategically
Actively saving Favorite posts and hiding things you don’t want to see again helps retrain the algorithm over time as you provide direct feedback.
Other ways to influence the Facebook algorithm
In addition to the above tactics, here are some other ways you can shift your Facebook feed:
- Adjust News Feed preferences in Settings to see more or fewer posts from friends, Pages, Groups.
- Use Lists to pin favorites to the top of News Feed or group friends.
- Add Friends to your Favorites list to guarantee their posts are seen.
- Check Most Recent feed view to see posts chronologically.
- Use filters like Photos, Videos, Links to focus on specific content.
- Hide old posts that you’ve already seen by tapping on the three dots next to them.
Should you reset the Facebook algorithm?
Resetting your News Feed can have advantages if your current feed has become stale or irrelevant to you. It mixes things up and exposes you to a wider range of posts from different people. However, there are also good reasons not to reset the algorithm:
- It takes time to retrain. There will likely be a period after resetting where you see more irrelevant content before it improves again.
- You’ll miss out on some friends’ updates if you snooze or unfollow them.
- Highly personalized feeds save you time by showing relevant content higher up.
- Frequent resets disrupt Facebook’s efforts to learn your preferences.
Periodic resets every now and then can liven up your feed, especially if you feel you’re stuck in a rut. But constant resets make it hard for the algorithm to really dial in on your interests. A middle ground is selectively snoozing a few friends at a time to create some variety.
Conclusion
While there is no way to completely erase Facebook’s algorithm and start over, you can influence it and force it to relearn by:
- Snoozing and unfollowing friends for a period of time
- Changing your ad preferences
- Interacting with new people and Groups
- Saving, hiding, and reporting posts strategically
- Adjusting filters and News Feed preferences
Resetting every once in a while can liven up your feed and cause the algorithm to show you new types of engaging content. But letting the algorithm personalize your News Feed based on consistent behaviors also has advantages. Finding the right balance for your needs gives you more control over the content Facebook shows you.
| Pros of resetting Facebook algorithm | Cons of resetting Facebook algorithm |
|---|---|
| See new and different types of posts | Have to retrain algorithm from scratch |
| Force algorithm to recalibrate to your current interests | Miss posts from friends who are snoozed or unfollowed |
| Break out of stale, repetitive content | Lose a personalized feed tailored to you |
| Discover new friends, Pages, Groups to follow | Frequent resets prevent algorithm from really learning your preferences |