Change meta description

Question

I am trying to post my Sway on Facebook, but I can not seem to change the meta description line. Here is a screenshot. The line I don't like is "And here is a video..." This was originally in my Sway, and was the only link in my Sway. I tried deleting it, but that didn't change anything. I am wondering how I can customize this to show what I want, not some random line from my Sway that now is no longer even there. 

Thanks all for your help. 

Answer 1

Hello Jessica,

Here's what you need to know.  When you post a link to something on a site like Facebook, they actually get the metadata for that link themselves and cache it on their site so they don't have to keep requesting it over and over.  Because of that, when you update your Sway, even though you've changed the content, they still have the old metadata cached.  Many of these sites will periodically refresh the metadata, but they may only do that once a week, or even less frequently.

So, you could either wait and hope that it automatically updates or you can delete the link and use a completely new one.  The key is that the URL you post can't be the same one as previously posted because if you just post the exact same link again, even in another post, it will reuse the cached metadata.  There are two ways to get a new URL in Sway:

1. You can change the URL by opening it while signed in, opening the Share menu, and, under More options, clicking Reset the Share settings.  This will cause only the URL to change.  Keep in mind that if you have shared the old URL with anyone, it will no longer work.
2. You can duplicate the Sway (either from the My Sways page or from the ... menu when you have it open), update the content in the new Sway, and then use the new URL in your post.  Doing it this way will allow anyone that you've shared the old URL with to still be able to open the old Sway.  The problem with this approach is that you have two of the same Sway hanging around and it can be difficult to keep them both up to date if you need to make changes.

Hope this helps!

Jason

Answer 2

Thank you Jason! THis is very helpful!