Same here. There was nothing I could do to get my feed to not be full of provocatively insulting and irritating political posts. I’d unfollow, unfriend, block, say “show me less of this” and so on. But when I’d unfriend some person, very next thing on my feed would be political content I didn’t like from some totally random person on my friend list who I’d never interacted with. Meanwhile I’d notice that people I actually knew in person had life events I’d want to know about - got married, took a nice vacation, had children even, and FB had never showed me stuff like that! So I just stopped using it entirely. Then when I went back after a few years, the site demanded my driver’s license. So guess I will just never sign in again.
I think if you add not-friends to your friends list, the Algorithm(tm) perhaps justifiably recommends things from your friends list, and you get junk recommendations, the problem isn't entirely the Algorithm(tm)'s fault.
You feed the Algorithm(tm) garbage and it returns you garbage, and somehow it's all the Algorithm(tm)'s fault.
It's the algorithm's fault for not listening to my "mute this person". I had my feed muted so I didn't see any posts (which is how I wanted it), but now I see random "recommended" content, with no way I can see to opt out. That's not my fault.
FB has an entire team of very well paid people whose entire job is to tweak this algorithm. Presenting relevant content is the whole concept. I suspect where it goes wrong is chasing “engagement” at all costs despite whether it’s emotionally pleasant to the viewer. FB doesn’t care if I actually like the content they present - just whether it keeps me on the site longer. That is, I believe, a poor choice since, at least in my case, it led me to stop using their service.
