Let’s start with Facebook, the first social media platform to reach 3 billion global users, which happened earlier this year. Facebook’s feed features updates, photos, videos and more from people, pages and groups you follow. Beyond prioritizing posts by friends and family, the algorithm considers if the type of post — photo, video or link — is something you often interact with. It also looks at the number of comments, likes, reactions and shares a post receives from the people and pages that see it, and how recently the item was posted.

To adjust your feed, go to “Settings & privacy” and then “Feed.” You’ll see options to categorize people, pages and groups that will determine how often you’ll see them. You can star people and pages to prioritize them in your feed. You can also “snooze” people, pages and groups to temporarily stop seeing their posts, and unfollow them to stop seeing their posts altogether. You also have the option to reconnect with the sources you have unfollowed.

If you’re a frequent Facebook user, make these actions part of your regular Facebook sessions to quickly retrain the algorithm to meet your current preferences.

Likewise, you can adjust the types of ads you see in your feed. Go to “Settings & privacy,” “Settings,” “Accounts Center,” “Ad preferences” and then “Customize ads.” Click “See all” next to “Ad topics” and update the topics in this section.

Because Meta owns both Facebook and Instagram, you’ll find Instagram’s algorithm adjustment steps similar to those of Facebook’s. Like with Facebook, you can’t reset the algorithm with a click, but you can change the designation of accounts you follow. Use the three-dot menu on posts to set the person as an unfollow or to add to favorites. Click into the account of someone you see and on the following menu and you can add the person as a close friend, favorite them, mute them so you don’t see their posts or stories regularly or restrict the account, which is just one step away from blocking. The advantage of the restrict designation instead of blocking them is that the person doesn’t see the change in status.

You can adjust your ad preferences by clicking on the three-line menu, going into your settings, finding “Accounts Center” and then opening “Ad preferences.”

TikTok is the newest social media platform and now boasts 1.7 billion users. While it’s biggest demographic segment is the 18-24 age group (36% of its user base, according to Statista), it may surprise you to know that as of July 29, 8.7% of TikTok users in the United States were baby boomers (59-77 years-old), and in 2023, TikTok saw a 60% increase in users aged 55 and older. eMarketer predicts that by the end of 2024, almost 25% of U.S. boomers will be on TikTok. So, TikTok caters to all age groups through a diverse platform of content.

There are several effective ways to adjust your feed, which is based on what you’ve watched, liked and commented on. Start by editing your like history by going to your profile page, tapping the heart video to bring up a list of posts you’ve liked, and then tapping on any of them that no longer suit your taste. You are “unliking” the videos, so you will see the heart turn from red to white.

If you’re happy with your feed but suddenly get a video that doesn’t fit with what you want to see, hold your thumb down on the video until you see a pop-up menu where you can choose not interested. This seems to work quite well for the occasional video that may have appeared due to a TikTok test or because you watched a similar video and did not realize it was tied to a particular subject.

Unlike with Facebook and Instagram, TikTok gives you a way to essentially start over. To do the refresh, click on your profile icon at the bottom of the app, hit the three line menu at the top and then go through this sequence: “Settings and Privacy,” “Content Preferences,” “Refresh Your For You Feed,” “Continue.” You will be asked to confirm the refresh and be given a one-question survey asking you why you wanted to refresh your feed.

Leslie Meredith has been writing about technology for more than a decade. As a mom of four, value, usefulness and online safety take priority. Have a question? Email Leslie at asklesliemeredith@gmail.com.