For years, the only way to influence what Facebook showed you was indirect: like more of one thing, scroll faster past another and hope the system noticed. Meta now wants to make that relationship more explicit, bringing its Your Algorithm controls to Facebook so users can tell the feed what they actually want.
The feature lets people add and manage topics directly for both the main feed and Facebook Reels. Marking a topic as interesting or uninteresting is supposed to change recommendations immediately, according to Meta. Users can reach the controls through the three-dot menu on any post, and interested or not interested buttons may also appear beneath posts themselves. In some cases, Meta says Facebook will ask follow-up questions, letting people describe in their own words what they want more or less of.
None of this is entirely new for Meta. Your Algorithm arrived on Instagram earlier this year, and Threads got its own version called Dear Algo. Bringing it to Facebook, the company’s oldest and arguably most cluttered platform, makes sense, especially as Facebook’s feed has increasingly filled with recommended posts from accounts users never chose to follow, a shift driven in large part by competition with TikTok.
The more significant change sits underneath the interface. Meta says it’s leaning more heavily on large language models in its ranking systems, pitching an algorithm users can effectively talk to, with recommendations adjusting within a single session. In theory, that means Facebook could understand that someone wants fewer political posts this week, or more cooking content tonight, without months of behavioural signals.
There are reasons for caution. Meta’s business still depends on keeping people scrolling and seeing ads, and giving users more control doesn’t necessarily mean those controls will override engagement goals. The company hasn’t said whether these preferences affect sponsored content, how long feedback persists, or how natural language descriptions of personal interests will be stored and used elsewhere in its systems. Asking people to explain their preferences in detail also hands an advertising company richer data about what they care about.
Regulation adds another layer. Europe’s Digital Services Act already requires large platforms to offer feed options that aren’t based on profiling, and tools like this give Meta a way to present its algorithm as something users steer rather than something done to them.
Whether Your Algorithm meaningfully changes Facebook will depend on a simple test: if users repeatedly say “not interested” and still keep seeing the same kind of content, the novelty will wear off quickly.
