Ways to Simplify Your Facebook Sharing Process

Facebook’s algorithms often seem like a big mystery. They decide what users see, but don’t really explain how. Recently, Facebook shared that users will see more posts from their family and friends and fewer from brand pages. This is good news for users but challenging for anyone using Facebook to promote a brand.

Some people might think the answer is to use their personal pages for promotion, but this can be tricky. You probably don’t want to promote your business to your great aunt or your kids’ soccer coach. Luckily, Facebook has features that let you control who sees your posts.

Your friend lists are helpful for managing who sees what. You can group friends into categories like family, in-laws, networking buddies, or coworkers.

To create these lists, open Facebook on your computer and log in. Click on your profile at the top left. Scroll to the friends section on the left and click “Friends” to see all your contacts. Each friend has a checkmark box next to their name labeled “Friends.” Click this box to add them to a different list or remove them from a current list.

Facebook also creates automatic lists based on your profile info, like where you’re from or what schools you attended, which you can edit as needed.

Facebook’s default sharing option can be customized too. This feature predicts who you might want to share new posts with.

To adjust this, go to your Facebook settings and click on Privacy. At the top, you’ll see “Who Can See Your Future Posts.” Click Edit to choose your default audience; options range from public to just you.

Personally, I often share with friends but exclude my professional contacts because I post personal things. If you’re promoting a business, you might group personal friends separately so they don’t see these posts. Tailor this based on your needs.

To change the sharing settings for a specific post, open Facebook in your browser. In the “What’s On Your Mind” box, click the blue box at the bottom left that indicates the audience for the post. From there, choose the group you want to share with. If you select “Custom,” you can specify which groups will see the post or just choose “Friends” and exclude certain groups.