As one of the most prolific social media platforms in the world, Facebook boasts one of the most comprehensive user community policies on the market. Users must adhere to strict guidelines or else risk their content being blocked, their account being suspended, or even full blown account termination.
These guidelines and the way that they are followed relies on automatic content trawlers as well as Facebook moderators, and also puts some power in the hands of users through the content reporting system and process.
Of course, one of the challenges that both Facebook and its users face is the lack of a standardised definition of what is deemed inappropriate. Inappropriate content is often defined by age and status but can also differ based on lifestyle choices and other criteria.
Which is why, as a user, there are steps that you can and should take to protect yourself and your feed from content that you personally deem to be inappropriate.
How to Manage Sensitive Content
Sensitive content is defined by Facebook as graphic or violent content. This is one of the most clearly defined subsections of content and is something that users can control through their Content Preferences in their settings.
By heading to Settings then selecting ‘Content Preferences’, users can click on ‘Manage Defaults’ and ensure that the ‘Sensitive Content’ category is set to ‘Show Less’.
But this doesn’t explain why you might be seeing videos that you deem inappropriate in your feed…
The Importance of Browsing History
A great deal of feed influence comes from your browser history and from the kinds of videos and posts that you are viewing, searching for, and engaging with.
If you are seeing an increase in the number of inappropriate videos in your feed, then ask yourself what you have recently viewed that may be contributing towards this.
As a general rule, you need to watch and engage with the kind of content that you want to see more of – so as to show Facebook exactly where your interests lie.
How to Reduce the Number of Inappropriate Videos in Your Feed
As well as seeking out and engaging more proactively with the kind of content that you want to see, there are steps you can take to remove and reduce the number of inappropriate videos in your feed.
The first thing to do is to report any video that you see which you think violates or breaks Facebook community guidelines. Reported content will be examined by moderators and will be removed if it receives enough reports.
The second thing you can do is opt to ‘See Less of This Content’ within the pop up menu next to each video. This provides feedback to Facebook based on your response to different types of content and will impact the videos that Facebook seeks out for your feed in the future.
We hope this helps. Facebook is heavily weighted towards delivering a safe and enjoyable experience to all users – however, sometimes videos that users don’t like slip through the net and are filtered into their feed. The more you do to keep Facebook updated as to your content preferences and responses, the better tailored your feed will become.
