Social feeds are a bit of a mess, and Facebook is no exception. We often log into Facebook and see stories and posts from friends that leave us scratching our heads. We ask ourselves why Facebook’s News Feed algorithm chose to show us this over something else. And, for those of us who are unaware that our News Feed content is algorithmically served, we’re wondering why we haven’t seen the recent posts from one of our good friends.

Facebook is not alone. Twitter, Instagram and all platforms that serve content in a feed are faced with one of two challenges: 1.) If there’s an algorithm, how do we serve the right content to users that keeps them coming back or 2.) If there is no algorithm, how do we help users manage the deluge of content that’s coming their way?

No solution is perfect because no way of serving up content is perfect. Algorithms have their faults and not having an algorithm can be a challenge as well, but the end goal is always to deliver the content to users that keeps them coming back, scrolling and… seeing advertising.

A Little Bit of Algorithm. A Little Bit of Human Input.

This challenge has led Facebook to introduce a new feature that allows users some control over their News Feeds. Within their Facebook settings, users can now manage their News Feeds from a simple tool. They can choose which friends they want to see and which friends they don’t want to see (or unsubscribe from) in their feeds. They can also select which friends and pages will show up at the top of their feeds.

This can be a scary prospect for brands. After all, their hope would be for consumers to select their pages as content creators they want to receive content from and, even better, always see at the top of their feeds. Being realistic, the majority of a brand’s Facebook fans are not going to put them at the top of their feeds. Sure, some will, but most won’t.

That’s okay. The majority of a brand’s Facebook fans haven’t been seeing its content organically for some time. You have to pay to get your content in front of your audience. And having some fans unsubscribe can be valuable just like when users unsubscribe from email. It creates a better data set and increases engagement rates as the people who want to see and interact with brand content do, and those who don’t, no longer see it, unless it’s paid, of course.

Facebook Not Completely Altruistic

On the surface, users should probably be saying, “Well, thanks, Facebook!” But, it’s really not that simple. This effort makes Facebook’s algorithm even smarter. It’s asking users to give it stronger data points that it can apply to its algorithm in the future. An algorithm can only do so much to guess what you’ll like, so if you supply the rest of the information, it gets even smarter.

This has made big news in the industry, but it’s impact is questionable. First, there are a lot of people who still don’t know that their News Feeds are algorithmically fed to them. For them, this feature isn’t going to be all that valuable. Second, the feature is buried within the already confusing labyrinth of Facebook settings. Some users will seek it out but most won’t. Still, Facebook’s efforts point to the larger issue of feed management, and for marketers who want to get their messages seen and spread, it’s all about the feed.