What the Tech: How the recent Facebook scam can affect your page
BY JAMEY TUCKER, Consumer Technology Reporter
If you’ve spent any time on Facebook lately, you may have seen a post claiming you can “reset the Facebook algorithm.”
The message usually says something like:
“Hold your finger on this post. Click copy. Paste it on your page. This will reset your algorithm so you see more friends and fewer ads.”
It sounds like a helpful tip. Many people are copying and reposting it. But there’s one big problem. That trick doesn’t work.
You Can’t Reset Facebook’s Algorithm
Facebook’s algorithm decides what shows up in your feed based on a number of signals, such as:
● Posts you interact with
● Pages you follow
● People you engage with most
● Content you watch or click
Copying and reposting a message does nothing to reset those settings. There is no hidden command that changes the algorithm when you paste text into a post.
So why do these messages spread so widely? Because they’re designed to.
The Real Goal Is To Make The Post Go Viral
Posts that ask people to copy and repost something are a classic example of engagement bait. Every time someone reposts the message, it appears in front of a whole new group of friends.
Soon, the same message starts appearing everywhere. And that’s when scammers often enter the picture.
Scammers Move Into The Comments
Once a post begins getting lots of attention, scammers sometimes start replying to comments with messages like:
● “Message this hacker, he fixed my Facebook.”
● “Contact this expert to remove ads.”
● “This person can repair your account.”
These are usually recovery scams.
The scammers claim they can fix Facebook accounts, remove ads, or repair hacked profiles.
They’ll often ask for payment through Cash App, PayPal, or cryptocurrency.
After the payment is sent, they disappear.
Sometimes The Account Posting It Is Hacked
Another reason these posts spread so quickly is that they often come from real accounts belonging to friends or family members. In some cases, those accounts have already been compromised by scammers using phishing
messages that trick people into giving away their Facebook passwords.
Once scammers take control of an account, they can post messages designed to spread quickly through that person’s friend network.
Because the post appears to come from someone you know, people are more likely to trust it.
The Real Way To See More Posts From Friends
If you want to see more posts from friends and fewer ads, Facebook actually provides tools to help:
Use the Favorites feature.
You can mark close friends so their posts appear near the top of your feed.
Adjust who you follow.
Unfollow pages or accounts that fill your feed with content you don’t want.
Choose the Friends feed.
Facebook allows you to view posts from friends without all the recommended content.
The Bottom Line
Posts claiming you can reset Facebook’s algorithm by copying and reposting a message are misleading.
They don’t change how Facebook works.
They simply help the post spread further and can sometimes attract scammers looking for new victims.
If you see one, the best move is simple.
Just keep scrolling.
