Facebook’s 25 Or 26 Friends Hoax: Some People Think Facebook Only Shows Them Posts From 26 Friends [Debunked]
If you believe that you’re only seeing the Facebook updates from 26 of your Facebook friends, you’ve fallen for another viral Facebook hoax. As reported in a very popular Snopes article, a rumor began spreading in December of last year that claimed Facebook was severely cutting down on the number of friends’ updates they would display on a person’s Facebook feed, down to a mere 26 people.
Although it may feel like Facebook displays only the content of 26 Facebook friends some days – especially when a few particular Facebook friends update their accounts often – this is one hoax that has been debunked. A search for “Facebook 26 friends” on Facebook shows the feedback about the topic, which began when a popular Facebook post claimed that the Facebook “news feed felt so different lately” when a Facebook user discovered Facebook has another new algorithm.
The post went on to urge Facebook friends to quickly comment on the post in order to not limit the amount of friends’ updates to only 26 Facebook friends. It went viral after the original poster asked folks to copy and paste the Facebook post to their own Facebook walls. However, it is one Facebook theory that isn’t true, in spite of recent changes to Facebook’s algorithm.
No, Facebook is not limiting your news feed to 26 friends, and saying "Hi" won't change anything. @MindaZetlin https://t.co/NKsJ9MLfaP
— Inc. (@Inc) February 8, 2018
Various versions of the same “Facebook 26 friends” theory have floated around Facebook, with some theories claiming Facebook was limiting the amount of content seen down to 25 friends. Both theories claim that Facebook was choosing the specific 25 or 26 friends’ updates that a person would see.
The hoax was a variation on Facebook’s recent change that stated the social media networking site would “prioritize posts from friends and family over public content, consistent with our News Feed values.” That change was used as the impetus for the new “26 Facebook friends” hoax. Folks can rest assured that their Facebook content isn’t being limited to 26 friends alone.
However, Jim Carrey is attempting to get people to boycott Facebook altogether, as reported by the AV Club. Jim has taken issue with Facebook’s role in the spread of “fake news.” Those who choose to remain on Facebook should realize that copying and pasting the “26 Facebook friends” hoax will likely not trick the Facebook system into seeing more content than that of 26 friends.
