Meta is ramping up its efforts to clean Facebook of spammy content, the company said on Thursday. It is fighting accounts that try to “beat” Facebook’s algorithm with long posts and numerous hashtags.
The platform also takes action against accounts that create posts with captions that are completely unrelated to the image. Now, if Meta catches an account with such posts, the company will restrict their content to followers only, and they will no longer receive money for their posts.
In the example provided by Meta, the company shows a spam post containing a photo of a dog with the completely unrelated caption “10 best facts about airplanes.” Another example includes a long post describing how great cars are, with several hashtags such as “#VIRALCONTENT,” “#LIKEFORLIKE,” and “#BOOST” listed at the bottom.
“Spam can hinder a person’s ability to be heard, regardless of their point of view, which is why we are targeting behaviors related to the distribution and monetization of games,” Meta said. The update comes a few weeks after Facebook launched a friends-only feed that cuts out algorithmic recommendations.
The goal may also limit the reach of users who create “hundreds of accounts to share the same spammy content” and make them unsuitable for monetization. Most of these accounts create spam in an attempt to gain more followers, increase the number of views, and “gain unfair monetization advantages,” according to Meta.
In addition, Meta will reduce the visibility of comments identified as coordinated fake activity. A feature is also being tested that will allow users to notify Facebook if a comment is not helpful, and a moderation tool has been added that allows page owners to detect and automatically hide comments from users impersonating someone else.
