Does copying Facebook post “upgrade the system”? Fact Check

A message spreading on Facebook urges readers to copy the same message to their own timeline using copy & paste in order to “upgrade” their Facebook to reduce sales ad posts on their newsfeed.

The message claims as a result the user will see more posts from friends appearing on their newsfeed instead.

FALSE

An example of the message is below.

I am getting more sales ad posts than friend posts. Hold your finger anywhere in this post and click ′′ copy “. Go to your page where it says “What’s on your mind”. Tap your finger anywhere in the blank field. Click paste. This upgrades the system.
Hello new and old friends!

collected 2021

The message above appears to be assuming the reader will be using their mobile device and is offering copy and paste instructions for mobile users.

The message is false, and just another rehash of older hoaxes. The claim that copying and pasting an arbitrary post to your Facebook account will somehow “upgrade” (or change in any way) how your newsfeed operates is illogical. Facebook’s newsfeed operates on the simple principle that friends you interact with often on the platform will appear in your newsfeed more frequently, and the opposite happens for friends you interact with less frequently. And, of course, sponsored adverts will also appear in your newsfeed.

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Consequently, a Facebook user engaging with a higher number of friends on a regular basis is more likely to see more friends on their newsfeed that someone who interacts only with a smaller circle of friends.

Copying and pasting a message will make no difference to this process, nor would it make any sense for a message to affect that process. And, while adverts can be annoying certainly, you can’t remove or reduce them simply by posting something from your Facebook account (if you could, everyone would certainly do it!)

The message is essentially a rehash of the claim that copying a message to your profile will “bypass Facebook’s algorithm” and result in more than 25 friends appearing in your newsfeed. That claim too was bogus. This version has simply changed the wording.