My local news page went from quiet to crazy viral in a month, and I think I know why

I follow this small town news page on Facebook for my area, just to see what's going on. For years, it was maybe one post a day about a lost dog or a road closure, getting 20 likes max. Then, about a month ago, they posted a video of a raccoon trying to get into a bakery downtown. It was funny, but not that special. That video blew up, getting shared thousands of times. Now, every single post they make is about animals doing something silly, and they're all getting huge numbers. It's like the algorithm saw that one hit and now only pushes that exact type of content from them. Their actual news posts about town meetings or local events are totally buried now. Do you think this kind of feedback loop forces pages to chase one kind of post, even if it's not what they're really for?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_charlie26d ago

That part about the algorithm only pushing one type of content now is spot on. It's basically training the page to stop being a news source and become a meme page, which ruins the whole point.

the_emma26d ago

My friend Sarah runs a community page in Austin that used to post about road closures and events. Last month she told me it only gets views now when she shares those "guess the location" photo quizzes.

rileymartinez26d ago

Wait they're ignoring actual news now? @the_charlie is right, the algorithm broke them. That's so messed up for a local page.