New study shows that the ‘Zero Day’ on Facebook is closer to being a reality

Changes in the algorithm that regulates what is seen on the Facebook news feed have made ​​what at first was a theory and a fear of the brands that use the social network to reach consumers is increasingly becoming a unquestionable reality.The Zero Day on Facebook or Faceboocalypse, as have been baptized some other analysts, is increasingly at the door.Brands fear the time when updates are no longer actually visible in their publications reach less likely to feed their followers and which therefore face the feared situation to be preaching in the wilderness (unless you spend per box to position their post).

A recent study has shown that the Zero Day is closer to being a reality of staying in only a fear of brands.An analysis of NewsWhip, you just compare the data of the media in English (usually on the other hand the starring elements and most viral stories) in January and February this year, has shown that its contents were shared much less in the second month in the first: the reason for this decline is that fewer consumers have seen their links in your news feed and, therefore, they have shared (or comparative) less.

What he has discovered the study?The truth is that the decline has been widespread and therefore can not be attributed to contextual elements.As pointed out in the analysis of Newswhip, weekends volume falls shared by netizens on Facebook items, although this decrease in activity is usually temporary and marked by the calendar quickly recomposed once again begins the week.For the month of February, however, there was a fall earlier this month and never recovered.The activity graph of the top ten online media in English on Facebook was maintained throughout the month of February in discrete levels.

In fact, the situation can quickly translate into numbers.According to data NewsWhip, the 100 most shared stories in January 2015 moved 16.4 million shares in Facebook.The 100 who managed to position itself at the same level in February only succeeded, however, 10.2 million shares.

Facebook has come out of these data indicated that the situation was actually due to a bug.”We have experienced a problem with logging in Page Insights in February that affected how they had correct some organic powerful way, “they said in statements submitted to the US media, noting that although the ratio range of publications was not did affected other counts of the same (ie, the contents were far beyond those shares that have been counted). Explanations of Facebook, even giving a key to understanding what happened, not silenced, however, existing widespread fears that the pages lose their organic visibility in the near future.

In the list of affected (considering what the test measures the impact of the news media more viral in English) is very popular headers, and often taken into Facebook a great ally for dissemination, such as BuzzFeed,The New York Times orThe Huffington Post.The study points out, though, that these media continue to have high shares of engagement and have recovered some positions during the first days of March.However, the survey results are used to thinking a lot about how Facebook is affecting the communication of brands and consumers.

A warning to mariners?

The results also can be understood in two ways.The first is the interpretation that has always given this type of analysis: the marks are, to some extent, slaves to the Facebook algorithm changes that make updates more or less visible and have an impact that goes far beyond what they can control.

But on the other hand, the new situation may be a kind of notice to mariners that things have to change, or that the media have to find new levers to reach readers.Some people seek alternatives to Facebook tracks and some are using Facebook in a different way.Buzzfeed, recall from NewsWhip is publishing and content directly on Facebook (see, for example, the video of Barack Obama doing things that everybody does in everyday) life and getting high success rates.Given that Facebook is leveraging content created or published directly to the network, such as the case of video, the situation can also be an early warning of a change in trend and a new gaming environment.Do not forget that the rumor mill (solvent) notes that Facebook wants to publish content directly.

A Brief History of Zero Day

Be the situation of something marked by a failure of an accountant, it is certain that the fears of Facebook Zero Day go far beyond this measurement and have a much longer history means.The alarmist forecasts of analysts have appeared in recent years, noting that high dependence on Facebook as an element to position it to be shown could be a double-edged sword.Facebook could change the rules of the game and what he was seeing and reaching consumers stop.

That is what has been happening over 2014. Facebook has been tweaking its algorithm throughout the year and has been changing playing conditions, making it harder for brands to get positioned to form organic.There are those who already speaks the twilight of the I like and the need to invest in new ways to achieve consumer engagement.An analyst at Forrester noted even that brands should forget about Facebook as a tool to reach their customers.And a study pointed out that the marks come really only2% of his followers on the social network.

The changes have been accumulating throughout the year.First detected loss of range after Facebook said it would make advertising pages were dispenser scope, later than would prevail now and then to penalize the click-baiting.At the same time, Facebook has been promoting other content, such as videos, which are becoming the kings of the organic range.The rules have therefore changed and so have massively.

About