If you’ve ever been scrolling through your Facebook feed and noticed posts or stories that don’t seem related to you or your interests, you’re not alone. Many Facebook users complain about seeing random, irrelevant stories in their feeds. There are a few potential reasons why this happens.
Facebook’s Algorithm
The main reason you may see random stories is because of how Facebook’s algorithm works. The goal of the algorithm is to show you content that will engage you and keep you using Facebook. To do this, it takes into account things like:
- Pages and people you’ve liked or followed
- Posts and stories you’ve reacted to or commented on
- What your friends are liking and sharing
Based on these signals and more, Facebook makes guesses about what content you might be interested in. However, the algorithm doesn’t always get it right. You may start seeing posts from pages you’ve never interacted with or stories unrelated to your interests. The algorithm can take time to learn what you really want to see.
Businesses Paying for Reach
Another reason you may see random or irrelevant stories is because businesses and organizations pay Facebook to increase the reach of their posts. Through Facebook advertising, they can promote their posts so they’re more likely to show up in your feed – even if you’ve never engaged with their page before.
Facebook’s algorithm factors in paid reach when deciding what stories to show you. So posts with paid promotion behind them are more likely to be pushed into your feed even if the content isn’t an exact match for your tastes.
Too Many Likes and Follows
Do you follow or like hundreds of pages and people on Facebook? The more things you’ve liked, the more potential stories the algorithm can pull from to populate your feed. Having a high number of likes and follows can make your feed feel random at times, as you’re opening yourself up to more content possibilities.
Trimming who you follow or being more selective with your likes can help reduce randomness and refine your feed. Unfollowing pages or people who don’t align with your interests means fewer competing stories in your feed.
Facebook Friends with Different Interests
Since Facebook also shows you stories your friends have engaged with, having friends with a diverse mix of interests can also lead to randomness. For example, maybe you’re interested in photography but have friends who like celebrity gossip pages – you may see those celebrity stories even if you have no interest.
You can always snooze friends whose activity feels irrelevant. But in general, having friends with varying interests means your feed will naturally cover a wider range of topics.
How to See Less Random Content
Here are a few ways you can try to see fewer random, irrelevant stories in your Facebook feed:
- Unfollow pages and people that don’t match your interests
- Be more selective about who and what you follow or like
- Use the “See First” feature on preferred pages so their posts are prioritized
- Hide posts you don’t want to see by clicking the three dots icon next to the post
- Snooze friends who share irrelevant content for 30 days
- Check your ad preferences and update interests to better match your tastes
However, it’s impossible to entirely avoid random content given how Facebook’s algorithm works. A small amount of randomness will always exist to encourage discovery and help Facebook show you new things you may like. But fine-tuning your feed as outlined above can help improve relevance.
Troubleshooting Tips
Beyond adjusting your likes, follows and settings, here are some troubleshooting tips if too much irrelevant content persists:
- Make sure you’re following Facebook’s recommended number of friends, pages and groups. Following too many can overwhelm your feed.
- Check that your interests are updated in your Facebook ad preferences and you have relevant topics selected.
- Report irrelevant posts as “I don’t want to see this” so Facebook’s algorithm learns what to avoid suggesting.
- Switch to seeing posts chronologically rather than algorithmically ranked if you want to take control.
- Temporary step away from your feed for a few days. When you return, the algorithm may have freshened up recommendations.
While Facebook will likely always include some randomness, the steps above can help curate your feed to see more of what matters to you.
The Frequency of Random Stories
To visualize how often people see irrelevant content in their Facebook feeds, here is a table showing data from a survey:
| How often random, irrelevant stories are seen | Percentage of respondents |
|---|---|
| Never or rarely | 17% |
| Once a week or less | 29% |
| 2-5 times per week | 43% |
| Daily or almost daily | 11% |
As the data shows, the majority of people see irrelevant content on Facebook with some frequency, but only a small percentage find it happens constantly. This indicates Facebook’s algorithm does fairly well, but still has room for improvement when it comes to eliminating randomness.
Types of Random Content
The specific types of irrelevant stories that users see can also vary. Here are some of the top random post categories according to polls and surveys:
- Posts from pages they don’t follow
- Viral videos unrelated to interests
- Posts from obscure groups or events
- Product promotions or giveaways
- Suggested lives videos to watch
- News outside of followed topics
- Memes and jokes
These types of posts tend to be common since they often gain traction organically or through paid promotion. Seeing one or two occasionally is normal, but frequent irrelevant stories in these categories signal the algorithm may need further fine-tuning.
Variation by Age Group
Younger Facebook users appear more prone to seeing random, irrelevant content compared to older age groups. For example, one survey found:
| Age Group | Percentage Seeing Irrelevant Content Daily |
|---|---|
| 18-29 | 19% |
| 30-49 | 10% |
| 50-64 | 6% |
| 65+ | 3% |
This may be because younger users tend to follow or like more pages, groups and influencers compared to older users who curate a narrower feed. Younger users also tend to have more friends which exposes them to more stories.
Reasons for Age Differences
There are a few key reasons why younger Facebook users tend to see more irrelevant content:
- Have wider range of interests so the algorithm serves varied content
- Follow more friends, pages, groups – more sources for algorithm to draw from
- Use Facebook more frequently so are served fresh content more often
- May interact less to train the algorithm on preferences
- Get bored more easily so Facebook pushes new topics to engage them
As users get older, they typically refine their feeds and like/follow fewer sources overall. This curation, along with less frequent Facebook use, leads to seeing more relevant stories on average.
How Facebook is Improving Relevance
Facebook is aware irrelevant content is a problem some users face and are continually evolving the algorithm powering feeds. Some recent changes focused on relevance include:
- Ranking friends’ posts higher since users find friends’ activity most meaningful
- Detecting “recipe” posts people skim past and showing them less often
- Using demographics like age and location to tailor interests
- Considering interactions across Instagram and Facebook to improve personalization
Facebook is also using more AI to analyze every piece of content individually, rather than categorizing posts. This helps better understand the nuances of each story and who it’s relevant to. Expect the fight against random stories to continue as Facebook balances relevance with discovery.
Conclusion
Random, irrelevant stories in your Facebook feed will likely persist now and then. But being more selective with your follows, likes and ad preferences can help curate your feed and bring better consistency.
Keep in mind that Facebook does have a goal of showing you new and different things beyond just what you follow. But following the troubleshooting tips here should help reduce the most irrelevant content – bringing your feed back to the friends, family, interests and communities you care about.
So next time you see a truly random post in your feed, just take a few moments to tweak your settings, update interests or unfollow sources not bringing you value. With a bit of feed curation, Facebook can continue introducing you to new things while keeping your feed full of the content that matters most to you.