Facebook Your Algorithm: What Creators Should Change

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Facebook Your algorithm is a new space in the app where a viewer can type, in plain words, the topics they want more of in Feed and Reels. Meta announced it on October 13, 2026. For anyone publishing faceless or AI-assisted video on Facebook, it is a small change with a large consequence: some of your audience is about to describe your content in words, and the ranking system will act on those words.

That is a different game from chasing engagement signals. It rewards content that is easy to name. This post covers what Meta actually said, what it did not say, and the one audit worth running on your own page this week.

Key takeaways

  • Meta announced “Your algorithm” for Facebook Feed and Reels on October 13, 2026, reached through the three-dot menu on a post.
  • Viewers add and manage topics in their own words, and Meta says recommendations update within the same session.
  • After an “Interested” or “Not interested” tap, Facebook may ask a follow-up question about why.
  • Instagram shipped its version in December 2025 and Threads followed in 2026, so this is a platform-wide pattern rather than a one-off test.
  • Meta has not said how much weight stated topics carry against behavioural signals, so treat clear topic framing as an addition to your existing habits, not a replacement.

What Facebook Your algorithm actually does

Hand with a wristwatch writing in an open paper planner beside a bright window

In its newsroom post, Meta wrote: “We’re rolling out Your algorithm, where you can directly add and manage the topics you want to see in Feed and Reels.” The space sits behind the three-dot menu on a post, and Meta says it redesigned that menu on every post to make the controls easier to reach.

Two mechanics matter for publishers:

  • Stated topics. A viewer writes what they want more or less of. Meta says large language models interpret the interests, context and intent in that natural-language input.
  • Follow-up questions. After tapping Interested or Not interested, Meta says it “may ask follow up questions” to learn what the person liked or disliked about the post.

Meta also says its existing ranking still infers interests from likes, comments and watch behaviour, “among thousands of other signals.” So stated topics join the mix rather than replacing it. The newsroom post does not say how the two are weighted, give regions, or set a completion date for the rollout.

This is a pattern across Meta’s apps, not a Facebook experiment

The Facebook launch is the latest step in a sequence. According to Net Influencer, Instagram launched its version first and Threads followed with public and private variants.

When App What shipped
December 2025 Instagram “Your Algorithm,” initially for Reels in the United States
February 2026 Threads “Dear Algo,” a public-post tool for steering recommendations
June 2026 Threads “Your Algo,” a private version of the same control
October 13, 2026 Facebook “Your algorithm” for Feed and Reels, plus follow-up feedback prompts

The same report notes that reaction to Instagram’s version has been mixed, with some users asking instead for a feed built around the accounts they already follow. It also notes Meta has not said whether Facebook will surface these controls deeper inside the core feed, as Instagram has tested. Treat the feature as real but still moving.

What changes for faceless and AI-assisted creators

Nothing in Meta’s announcement asks creators to do anything. The practical shift is indirect, and it comes down to language.

Until now, a viewer who liked your video expressed that by watching it, reacting, or sending it to someone. Those signals say “more like this” without ever naming what “this” is. A stated topic names it. If your content cannot be named in a short phrase a normal person would type, it is harder for that phrase to find you.

Faceless video has a particular weakness here. A face is a category of its own: viewers follow a person. A faceless channel is only ever its subject, format and tone. That is a strength when the subject is sharp and a problem when the channel is a loose bundle of whatever performed last month.

Three questions worth answering honestly

  • Could a viewer name your channel’s topic in five words? If your last ten posts span three unrelated subjects, probably not.
  • Do your own words appear in your content? Captions, on-screen text, spoken script and page description are where the topic is stated in language a model can read.
  • Is your format consistent enough to be recognised? Stated-topic systems favour things that look like a category, not like a one-off.

Want the free PDF guide on making videos without filming? Jump to the sign-up.

A five-step topic audit for your Facebook page

Hand holding a blue pen over a printed bar chart and line graph on a wooden desk

This takes under an hour and costs nothing. Do it once, then re-check it each quarter.

1. Write your topic phrase first

Pick the phrase you would want a viewer to type: for example, “short documentaries about abandoned places” or “AI explainers for small business owners.” Keep it to one subject and one audience. Write it somewhere you will see it.

2. Score your last ten posts against it

Mark each post as on-topic, adjacent or off. Adjacent is fine in small amounts. If more than a few are off, your page is teaching the system a vaguer category than you intend.

3. Put the phrase into the text, not just the visuals

Your caption’s first line, your page description and your on-screen text should all contain the plain words of the topic. Avoid the inside-joke phrasing that only existing followers understand. If you publish faceless video, the voiceover script matters here too, because the words are the only place the subject is stated.

4. Keep a format that is recognisable at a glance

Same aspect ratio, same opening structure, same title treatment. A consistent look makes a channel feel like a category. Our write-up on why faceless content is quietly taking over the internet covers why format discipline matters more when there is no face to anchor the brand.

5. Separate your subjects instead of blending them

If you genuinely publish two unrelated subjects, two pages will each be nameable. One page covering both will be named badly by everyone.

What not to read into this

A few cautions, because the gap between what Meta said and what creators will claim is already wide.

  • No reach guarantee either way. Meta has not published anything about how stated topics affect a given page’s distribution. Anyone offering a number for that is guessing.
  • Not a keyword-stuffing opportunity. The feature reads intent from natural language. Caption spam is the behaviour Meta’s ranking systems have spent years discounting.
  • Not a replacement for the basics. Watch behaviour is still in the mix, by Meta’s own description. A clearly named video that nobody finishes is still a weak video.
  • Not limited to Facebook. If you also publish on Instagram, that app has had this since December 2025, so the same audit applies there.

If your Facebook distribution leans on paid as well as organic, it is worth reading our note on Meta turning static images into video ads, which covers a separate change on the advertising side.

FAQ

Where is Your algorithm on Facebook?

Meta says it is reached through the three-dot menu on a post, and that the menu itself was redesigned to make the controls easier to find. The newsroom post does not list a settings path beyond that.

Does Your algorithm replace Facebook’s ranking signals?

No. Meta describes it as combining freeform text with existing engagement signals such as likes, comments and watch behaviour. It does not say how the two are weighted.

Is this available everywhere?

Meta says the features are rolling out but gives no regions or completion timeline. Instagram’s earlier version started with Reels in the United States, according to Net Influencer.

Do I have to change my captions because of this?

Nothing requires it. The argument for doing it is that stated topics are read as language, so a page whose subject is written in plain words is easier to match to what a viewer asks for.

Should I split my page into two if I cover two subjects?

That depends on how much audience you would lose by splitting. The trade-off is clarity against size: two clear pages are each easier to name, while one mixed page keeps your existing followers in one place.

The bottom line

Viewers are being handed a text box, and whatever they type about content like yours becomes a signal. The pages that benefit are the ones whose subject is obvious in five words and whose last ten posts back that up.

Being that consistent is mostly a production problem. If every video takes a full evening in an editor, you drift toward whatever is quick rather than whatever is on topic. If that is your bottleneck, see how Cinemation Elite turns a script into a finished faceless video, so holding one clear subject week after week stops being the expensive option.

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