Why Atheism United on Facebook has starter post submission guidelines

Why We Have Stringent Starter Post Guidelines

We've established a set of rules for starter post guidelines in our group to serve specific purposes and ensure a valuable experience for the members of Atheism United FB group. Our most popular posts often reach over 10,000 people, and we believe it's in your best interest to follow our submission guidelines to maximize the reach of your content. By doing so, you not only give people the opportunity to see your post but also help Facebook and our community recognize the value of the content we produce. If a group has too many posts that don't garner engagement, it can reduce the overall reach of a group. We work hard to ensure that all posts create some level of engagement in order to ensure that everything of importance to our community gets seen by as many people as possible.

Understanding Facebook's Algorithm

We have gained a deep understanding of the Facebook algorithm, particularly in how it prioritizes the initial engagement of a post within the first 100 views, encompassing likes and comments. The algorithm's assessment of a post's worthiness, based on this initial response, plays a pivotal role in determining its visibility to a broader audience. This knowledge significantly influences our guidelines, ensuring our content reaches more people.

The algorithm essentially decides a post's fate during this crucial early 100 view phase, determining whether it gains widespread visibility or remains obscure. In essence, whether a post flourishes or remains unseen by most hinges on this initial interaction.

It's essential to recognize that within our group, approximately 80% of members view posts based on whether Facebook decides to display them on their home feeds. Only a small portion of our group actively visits the group to skim through all the content. Consequently, it's vital for the algorithm to favor your post, as this greatly influences its reach and visibility. Posts that fail to garner sufficient engagement are subject to removal to maintain the quality of content within our group.

Creating Engagement and Optimizing Posts

Generating engagement in our group is crucial to ensuring that your content reaches a broader audience and aligns with our goal to unite atheists from diverse backgrounds. One of the most effective ways to foster engagement is by asking the audience a question. People naturally enjoy sharing their thoughts and experiences, and this approach provides an opportunity to see how various opinions within our community align or differ.

When posting in our group, it's important to consider that you likely want your content to be seen by others. We recognize that some users may not read your entire post and might choose to comment based on what captures their attention, posting a question in bold increases the likelihood of engagement, and embraces the spirit of learning about other atheists viewpoints.

Additionally, including a meme related to your content within the post can encourage more shares, even if readers don't fully engage with the text. By optimizing your posts in this manner, you enhance the chances of your content reaching a wider audience and aligning with our group's mission.

When a post fails to garner engagement, it’s not seen by more than 100 people. 80% of group members see posts in this group based on if FB sends it to your wall. Only a small portion of our group visits the group and skims all content. Our group's priority is to advance our views through the viral nature of social media. We need to make sure that posts in our group are strong and capable of generating engagement. This helps strengthen our overall algorithmic worth and ensures that our content continues to reach more people.

TIP: We find the most successful posts use the "Facebook Background Color" feature and are questions limited to 130 characters. A simple question for the group in the first post is an excellent way to start a conversation that will reach thousands of people. If you have a perspective on the topic, or a link related to the question, simply respond to your own post in the comments.

Exceptions to the Rule

While you may come across posts without a question, these are exceptions that we estimate will naturally generate enough engagement to be seen by others. Our priority is to maintain a high standard of content in our group, ensuring that posts are fact-based or presented as opinions with fairness.

Refusing to Engage in Anger Bait or Clickbait Practices

At Atheism United, we uphold a commitment to maintaining high standards in our content and interactions with our community. While we aim to enhance the visibility of our posts, we firmly refuse to resort to tactics such as anger bait or clickbait. Some viral posts exploit anger and frustration to achieve engagement, but we hold our members in high regard and refuse to employ such strategies. This principled stance is the reason we request members to ensure their initial posts are either fact-based or prefaced as personal opinions. It's also why we occasionally reframe posts to present topics from a more balanced perspective and post them from our admin account. Additionally, moderators work hard to keep up with contentious topics and help add clarity when posts lead to arguments. We try to avoid posts which are likely to create this moderation need. Learn more about our rules and moderation in the Atheism United Facebook Group FAQ.

Posts Likely to Garner No Engagement

All of these posts will likely be rejected. Please note our improvement advice.

• Educational text intended to inform without asking an audience-engaging question and lacking a meme.
• Including a link to a YouTube video (to improve, consider finding a Facebook autoplay video instead).
• Sharing content from another Facebook group without recreating it as a new and original post in our group (to improve, ask the audience a question when sharing external content).
• Posting a link to an article in your initial post (to improve, use a meme in your initial post and provide the article link in the comments after your post is approved).

Starter Post Submission Guidelines

When submitting a starter post in our group, please follow these guidelines to ensure a valuable experience for our members:

• Explain your perspective or view on the issue you're discussing, or ask the group a question related to any issue.
• Ensure that your post is fact-based and clearly distinguish matters of opinion by prefacing them as your personal views.
• Encourage engagement by asking a question that invites discussion.
• Use English with the best grammar you can muster to promote effective communication.
• Submit your post directly to the group rather than sharing it from elsewhere.
• Posts about religion should be personal, sharing your experiences or seeking help, rather than serving as arguments against religion.
• Avoid simply posting a link to an article or video. Instead, provide a summary of your viewpoint and/or ask the audience a specific question. Please note that videos that autoplay on Facebook are given priority over outbound YouTube videos in our selection process.
• We carefully select posts for approval and aim to maintain a balance between news, memes, and personal stories. Please understand that we receive numerous religion-related submissions, and we may have to decline some of them.
• Religion is a significant topic for some members, but it's important to remember that it's involved in less than 10% of the lives of 92% of atheists in our group. We encourage you to discuss other aspects of your life, following the rules outlined above.
• While we can't provide post improvement suggestions for every submission, we may decline your post with recommendations. Please watch for our feedback, make necessary alterations, and resubmit. Note that some users report not receiving our feedback due to Facebook-related issues.
• Feel free to post about topics you're curious about, your personal experiences, your perspectives on the news, or any subject of interest. However, always engage the audience by asking a question or encouraging their involvement. For instance, if you share a picture of your pet, ask others to post pictures of their pets. Merely sharing personal anecdotes is better suited for your personal wall, while engaging the largest atheist group in the world is well-suited for our group.
• Introduction posts are approved when they share your story and include a specific question or thought to inspire comments.
• If your post submission doesn't meet our guidelines, it might be reposted from the Atheism United account with the proper formatting, and you will be credited.
• By following these format concepts, your post is more likely to be approved.

Please adhere to these guidelines when making starter posts to contribute to a valuable and engaging experience for our community.