How Algorithms Could Change Your Social Strategy

Things are changing on social media, and it isn’t clear if it’s for better or worse.

More and more social networks are going the way of algorithm-set feeds on their home pages, taking inspiration from Facebook, which traditionally has set up its pages that way. Popular posts with the most active likes, comments, and shares get pushed up to the top of the feed for those who missed it.

Twitter has always been an up-to-the-second social source of what’s the latest in news, sports, live events, and buzzing conversation. But its new algorithm  (opens in a new tab) nixes the famed chronological order and features important tweets users have missed while offline.

Earlier this year  (opens in a new tab), the move frustrated power users, but Twitter insisted it was an opt-in feature. This week, however, the company reversed that decision, instead requiring users to opt out  (opens in a new tab).

Now Instagram is looking to join the club  (opens in a new tab). The Facebook-owned mobile photo application will stop putting the latest posts at the top. Instagram says it plans to test the personalized algorithm  (opens in a new tab) in the coming weeks.

It’s going to make social strategy a little more difficult for smaller organizations that want to get their messages across without having to throw down money. Social media strategists will have to think harder about what will gain traction online—along with the crazy and oddball things that could be pushed to the top of feeds.

Watch the Wording

https://twitter.com/ChamberDash/status/710199204879187968

Want people to subscribe to your newsletter? Your sign-up message makes a difference. In a blog post this week, Kivi Leroux Miller shares three email newsletter sign-up boxes that she says give readers good reasons to subscribe. Check them out  (opens in a new tab).

Other Links for Your Day

It’s St. Patrick’s Day. You don’t really need the luck of the Irish. Inc.‘s Bill Murphy lists 17 things  (opens in a new tab) that “lucky people” do that are actually habits and strategies smart people use to make their own luck.

Want to talk good customer service? Several companies are poring over details on how to better serve their clients. Brent Summers at CMSWire shares some of their key strategies  (opens in a new tab).

Here’s a handy job search tip. Melanie Pinola at Lifehacker shows readers how to change the location on their LinkedIn profile so they can find work in a place other than in their current ZIP code. See how it works  (opens in a new tab).

(iStock/Thinkstock)