The Facebook Mom Problem Is Real. My mom loves me. But she also likes mea lot. And apparently, when she does so on Facebook, its hurting my chances of becoming the next viral sensation. On his blog, engineer Chris Aldrich explains what he calls The Facebook Algorithm Mom Problem. When you post something on Facebook, and your mom is the first to like it and how can she not Facebook thinks its a family related piece of content and sets the audience accordingly. Facebooks process for determining what goes into your News Feed is frustratingly opaque. However,Read more Read. Heres Aldrichs dilemma I write my content on my own personal site. I automatically syndicate it to Facebook. My mom, who seems to be on Facebook 2. The Facebook algorithm immediately thinks that because my mom liked it, it must be a family related piece of contenteven if its obviously about theoretical math, a subject in which my mom has no interest or knowledge. My mom has about 1. Facebook 4. 5 of them overlap with mine and the vast majority of those are close family members. Watch fulllength episodes of PBS documentary series FRONTLINE for free. League of Denial The NFLs Concussion Crisis What did the NFL know, and when did they know it Mashable is a global, multiplatform media and entertainment company. The algorithm narrows the presentation of the content down to very close family. Then my moms sister sees it and clicks like moments later. Get the latest science news and technology news, read tech reviews and more at ABC News. Now Facebooks algorithm has created a self fulfilling prophesy and further narrows the audience of my post. As a result, my post gets no further exposure on Facebook other than perhaps five peoplethe circle of family that overlaps in all three of our social graphs. I, too, have a like happy mom. Watch The Lives Of Others Online Free HD on this page. Two seconds after I post a story Ive writtensay, a 3,0. She hasnt read it, and probably never will, but she likes seeing her daughters face on her computer, and really, who can protest the unconditional support But because of her eager click, Facebook lumps the content in with my photos of Babys First Avocado, and shows it only to a small group of family members. While early likes by other relatives may have a similar effect, Aldrich says the algorithm problem does seem to be mostly mom oriented. Until Facebook stops penalizing mom auto likes, Aldrich writes that you can sidestep the problem with a little extra effort. Heres how to make sure your Facebook posts reach an audience beyond Mom, Aunt Susie and Uncle Ken in Kansas. Watch Denial Online Facebook' title='Watch Denial Online Facebook' />Set the privacy settings of your post to either Friends except mom or Public except mom. I know what youre thinking. How awful How can you do that to your own mother Did you know that birthing you took 3. Millennials Wait, wait, wait, everyone. Theres a step two. At the end of the day, or as soon as it seems as though the post reached its maximum audience, change the audience settings to friends or public. Aldrich has been doing this, and has been seeing more impressions on his posts. Im happy to report that generally the intended audience which I wanted to see the post actually sees it, he writes. Mom just gets to see it a bit later. The Facebook Algorithm Mom Problem Boffo Socko.