The feed, and how to get it to show you what you want
What turns up in your feed, why it is mostly newest-first, and the four things you can change to fix a feed that is showing you the wrong stuff. Plus what each kind of post is for.
What you will learn
- Where the posts in your feed come from
- Why you rarely see the same post twice
- The four ways to change what you get shown
- Which kind of post to use for what you are trying to say
Where your feed comes from#
Your feed is built from four places: people you are connected to, pages you follow, communities you have joined, and a smaller number of posts from people you have not met yet so the feed does not close in on itself. If you have just signed up and it looks quiet, that is why - it fills out as you follow and join things.
Why it is mostly newest-first#
Posts are ranked on how recent they are and how much people are engaging with them, and recency wins most arguments: a good post from yesterday does not push down an ordinary post from this morning. An hour-old post that a lot of people are replying to can still get above a minute-old post that nobody has touched.
- A post you have already been shown is pushed down, so you are not scrolling past the same thing all week
- That fades over about three days, so a post you scrolled past can come back if the conversation picks up
- Posts from people you actually talk to rank above posts from people you merely follow
Good to know
Nothing is hidden from you permanently. A post that has been pushed down is still reachable from the poster's profile, and from the community it was posted in.
Four ways to fix a feed you do not like#
If your feed is full of the wrong things, these are the levers, in the order worth trying.
- Join the communities you care about - community posts are some of the strongest signal you can give it
- Follow the hashtags for your sector, not just the people
- Hide a post you do not want more of. It stops that kind without unfollowing the person
- Unfollow a page you no longer read. You stay connected to the people; you just stop getting the page
Which kind of post to use#
| Use | When |
|---|---|
| Text update | A thought, an ask, or a short piece of news. |
| Article | Something long enough to need headings. It gets its own page and reads well when shared. |
| Image or video | A product shot, a screenshot, a clip from an event. |
| Poll | You want an answer rather than a discussion. Set how long it runs. |
| Document | A deck, a report or a one-pager people should be able to open without downloading it first. |
| Link | Something you are pointing at rather than something you wrote. |
What you can do with someone else's post#
- Like it, or reply - replies are threaded, and you can mention people in them
- Share it to your own feed, with a comment of your own if you want to add something
- Save it to read later; saved posts are in your profile under Bookmarks
- Hide it, which teaches the feed without telling the poster anything
- Report it, which sends it to moderation - in a community, to that community's moderators
Choosing who sees a post#
You choose the audience on the post itself, each time you post.
| Audience | Who can see it |
|---|---|
| Public | Anyone on the platform, and anyone who finds the post from outside it. |
| Connections only | People you are connected to. Not their connections. |
| Private | Only you. Useful for drafting something before you widen it. |
Good to know
This setting is about your own feed. Who can see a post you make inside a community depends on whether that community is public, private or hidden.
