Spammy content tends to be an eye sore and now Meta is taking some strong steps to crackdown on the same and end fake Facebook profiles which are looking to manipulate its algorithm for engagement. AI is being used a lot to achieve the same and control junk content but encouraging use of AI and on the other hand restricting the same might not align with the long term goals of Facebook.
As a part of cleansing process, Facebook is looking to crackdown on overt engagement bait such as irrelevant post captions and repeated posts from coordinated networks of accounts. Firstly, it will look to prevent unrelated captions such as overuse of hashtags. You must have noticed that a number of spammy accounts are posting long and distracting captions along with a large number of hashtags whereas others use captions which are unrelated to the content. Accounts which are engaging in such tactics will only have their content shown to followers and would not be able to monetize the same.
Facebook is also looking out to comment down votes once again and looking to combat less valuable and spammy contributions. The intention behind this is to control spam but each time Facebook tried this – in 2018, 20202, 2021 and Instagram, it always led to confusion regarding what the down arrow actually meant. Some people who don’t like comments might mark them as spam and this would skew the data provided. Meta still sees value in the same and for this reason it is trying out comment down votes for spam and junk replies once again.
It is also looking at efforts for stalling impersonation and also promoting its Rights Manager tools for helping to tackle imposters. In the long term, Meta is looking at reducing the amount of spammy junk in user feeds.
Also, posts with titles which are completely unrelated to their images will also be cracked down. Actions would be taken users who have created hundreds of accounts for spreading spammy content. Disturbing Facebook experience would lead to lower audience reach and lose eligibility for monetization.
In the first quarter of 2024, Meta had removed 436 million pieces from Facebook with 98.2% was actioned upon before it got reported. It needs be seen whether Meta would be considering AI generated images as spam in violation of their policy or take this engagement as sign for feeding those users more of the same.
These steps are being taken by meta for revamping Facebook to make it more appealing to young adults. Facebook is also looking to give preference to creators who share original content and crack whip on accounts which are stealing their hard earned work but it would be a long time before Meta will be able to get Facebook increasing spam problem under control.
Since 2024, Facebook has taken down over 100 million pages where they engaged in script abuse. It is also working on improving Rights Manager of Facebook for assisting content creators in protection of their original content. It is also working on providing guidance so that creators can channelize their energy for making genuine and engaging content.
It is also testing a feature which lets users’ highlights comments which are irrelevant or are not in line with the spirit of a related conversation. It will also help to detect and auto hide comments from users which are using a fake identity. It will also report impersonators within the comment section.
It seems it will take a lot of time before Meta will be able to weed out spammy comments from its platform considering the fact that AI too has been helping spammers dump spam content into Facebook.
