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A comment on Almost All of Facebook’s Top Christian Pages in 2019 Run by Foreign Troll Farms. Parent comment

Re:Almost All of Facebook’s Top Christian Pages in 2019 Run ... by cmrdporcupine on Wednesday September 29, 2021 @08:35AM (#28692790)
Unfortunately I don't find that FB is in decline. I've found that groups organized on FB on any particular hobby topic are much more successful and active than on other platforms. Recently formed a group for discussion of DIY electric farm equipment. 70 members joined in 1 day.

FB feels like it should be a public utility. It is clearly filling a niche that people feel is needed. The barrier to entry to use is very low. I've encountered so many people who simply don't use other parts of the Internet much at all, and expect almost all content to be mediated through Facebook.

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Re:Almost All of Facebook’s Top Christian Pages in 2019 Run ... by SamBam on Wednesday September 29, 2021 @09:07AM (#28693048)
The thing is, because of Facebook's algorithm, even a hobby DIY group doesn't get treated as a completely-neutral public utility space.

FB will still prioritize things that generate interactions. So if little bits of controversy slip into the DIY discussions, that's still what bubbles to the top of everyone's feed.

It hasn't necessarily happened to your group, it may not necessarily happen, but the point is that this is what the algorithm was optimized to do.

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Re:Almost All of Facebook’s Top Christian Pages in 2019 Run ... by bluGill on Wednesday September 29, 2021 @09:49AM (#28693625)
That is why I left all facebook hobby groups - the algorithm makes it hard to find interesting content.
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