This week, Meta published its Q1 2023 Widely Viewed Content Report, which is designed to offer greater transparency about the kind of content that is being viewed, shared, and engaged with across Facebook.
In recent years, Facebook seems to have fallen by the wayside in some regards, eclipsed by the incredible success of platforms like TikTok and overshadowed by Meta’s other major platform, Instagram.
For affiliate marketers and social media managers, the Widely Viewed Content Report can offer invaluable insights into current user preferences and behaviours on Facebook and can be used to inform future strategies and campaigns.
According to the report, the most viewed content on the platform so far in 2023 included posts about celebrities, food, and pets, while some of the most viewed links included stories about comets and space exploration, rule changes on Netflix, and sports.
All fairly mundane. However, it’s important to note how different this Widely Viewed Content Report is when compared to previous releases. In the past, political content dominated the Facebook feed, and posts concerning politics were far and away the most viewed and engaged with on the platform.
In the past, Facebook has come under significant pressure to get a handle on misinformation and conspiracy theories shared on the site, and for the role it plays in influencing voter opinion. What this recent Widely Viewed Content Report suggests is that Facebook is actively moving away from political content and has further tweaked its algorithm to promote fewer political posts in the feed.
The most viewed Facebook pages reflect this too, with sports and lifestyle pages like LADBible topping the charts.
One stat that will be of particular interest to content creators and social media marketers is that over 92% of the viewed posts in the US did not include an external link. This is an increase from the previous quarter’s report when the total was around 86.5%. What this suggests is that users are increasingly staying on Facebook and paying more attention to native content.
Consumer behaviour is constantly changing. As the latest Widely Viewed Content Report suggests, political content is on the wane on Facebook. However, this will be driven both by shifting user preferences and updates to the Facebook algorithm.
