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Algorithm

The ranking system that decides which posts each person is shown, driven mostly by what that person responded to before.

Spoken about as one thing, and it is several: one per surface. A feed, a stories tray and a recommendations tab rank the same post differently and for different reasons, which is why a post can do well in one place and disappear in another.

What they share is the shape. They predict the chance you will do something with a post, weight those predictions, and sort by the result. Signals with a cost attached, like watch time, saves and shares, count for far more than a like.

Which means most “algorithm changes” are changes in what people do, not in the code. An account whose reach fell usually was not penalised. It became less interesting than the thing next to it.

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