On October 13, Facebook gave users the ability to control recommendation algorithms using text prompts in natural language. The update primarily affects content creators and public pages whose reach in the main feed and Reels directly depends on their audience's interest categories.
The auction rules for targeted advertising have not changed. However, users manually removing interests may affect the distribution of organic views.
How conversational customization works
Facebook has updated its Your Algorithm tool and integrated a language model from Meta. Now users do not need to search for hidden interest lists deep in the settings: they can simply write in the chat window, in their own words, which topics they want removed from their feed and which they want to see more often.
In addition, the system will start asking follow-up questions when users click the «Interested» or «Not interested» buttons under posts. If someone explains in text exactly what they disliked about a post, the algorithm will immediately adjust recommendations in the feed and Reels while the user continues scrolling through the app.
In other words, the platform is experimenting with collecting audience preferences through text messages from users themselves, rather than relying only on clicks and video watch time.
The problem with user habits
The main problem here is user behavior: people are usually too lazy to explore settings. Experience shows that Facebook users almost never open the settings menu, even when the platform offers the option to view posts simply in chronological order.
Industry reports confirm that the vast majority of people do not change even basic privacy settings after data leak scandals. Users prefer to complain about inconvenient recommendations in the comments but do not take steps to customize them manually.
In that case, hardly anyone will open the new settings unless the social network starts forcing surveys onto the screen.
Who the update will affect
The changes will primarily affect public pages and bloggers who attract organic traffic through short videos. If viewers start filtering out specific topics, channels with aggressive or repetitive content will lose reach in recommendations more quickly.
For media buyers and affiliate marketers, the impact will be minimal. Ad buying still takes place through standard ad accounts and pixels, while users' habit of scrolling through the feed without making manual adjustments keeps targeting algorithms operating much as before.
