Earlier today I shared a video about an exhibition of Japanese swords in Kikuchi. Here’s what I wrote:
“The Kikuchi clan was a powerful daimyo family based in the part of Kumamoto that is still known as Kikuchi. This video is about a exhibition of swords and other artifacts belonging to the family that is currently being held at Kikuchi Shrine. The exhibition will last until the 5th of May.”
Here’s the URL of the original post (with video):
https://www.facebook.com/Kumamotoi/posts/1866411983432225
I know that Japanese swords and other artifacts relating the Japan’s samurai culture are not everyone’s cup of tea, so to speak, but I also have found that quite a few non-Japanese are interested in topic. So, I was amazed that the Facebook algorithm chose not to show this to most Kumamoto International readers – after 7 hours, just 25 people are reported to have seen it. Normally, almost any post would have several hundred views after seven hours. (For comparison, the attached image shows, in chronological order, how many people have viewed other recent posts.)
I don’t know what happened but I’m pretty sure it has something to do with a Facebook algorithm, perhaps something intended to cut down on fake news or some other abuse. Smart algorithms can be cool, except when they’re not. :(
– Kirk
P.S. It will be interesting to see how many views this post gets. Granted, the content is slightly different but, nonetheless, I suspect that superficial differences in how I’m posting, not what I’m posting, will lead Facebook’s algorithm to treat this post quite differently.