Facebook’s news feed is the constantly updating list of stories on your home page. It includes posts from friends, pages you follow, and groups you’ve joined. With over 2 billion monthly active users, Facebook has to decide which of the millions of potential stories to show each person every time they open the app or website. So how does Facebook determine what you see in your personalized news feed?
What factors determine what’s in my news feed?
There are three main factors that determine what appears in your Facebook news feed:
- Your connections – Posts from your friends, family, groups, and pages you follow.
- Popularity – How many likes, comments, and shares posts get.
- Relevance – How interesting Facebook predicts you will find the post.
Facebook’s goal with the news feed is to show you the posts they believe will be most meaningful to you. They want the stories you find most worthwhile to appear at the top of your feed.
How are my connections prioritized?
Not all posts from your connections are treated equally in your news feed. Facebook gives higher priority to posts from certain people, pages, and groups you interact with more frequently. So posts from your best friend or favorite page are more likely to appear towards the top of your feed compared to acquaintances or pages you rarely engage with.
Some ways Facebook identifies your closest connections include:
- How often you like, comment on, or share someone’s posts
- Whether you view stories when they are posted
- How many messages you exchange back and forth
- If you are directly tagged in posts
The people and pages generating the most interest from you get preference in your feed. Facebook sees them as your inner circle.
How does post popularity affect ranking?
Beyond just who posts it, how popular a post is also impacts where it shows up in your news feed. Posts gaining a lot of attention in the form of reactions, comments, and shares are deemed interesting to the community. So they may be pushed higher up in your personal feed, even if the post is from a connection not normally prioritized.
Some ways Facebook measures a post’s popularity include:
- Number of reactions (likes, loves, etc)
- Comments
- Shares
- Clicks on post content like photos or videos
Posts going viral, sparking engagement, and building momentum tend to rank well in the news feed algorithm.
How does Facebook determine relevance?
The third key factor that determines your news feed rankings is how relevant Facebook predicts a post will be to you personally. There are several ways they gauge relevance:
- Keywords – Scans post text for topics you engage with
- Links – Analyzes sites you visit and content you read
- Trends – Notes the popularity of different topics
- Related posts – If you engage with similar content
- Your profile – Interests, age, location, and other attributes
So if you frequently like, comment on, and share posts about running, Facebook will give high relevance scores to new posts about running topics. Even if the post is from a distant connection or brand new page you don’t follow yet.
How frequently you interact with people impacts your feed
How frequently you interact with certain connections on Facebook also impacts the ranking of their posts in your news feed. Facebook distinguishes between your closest friends and acquaintances.
For example, say you have 300 Facebook friends. But there is a group of 10 friends you interact with every single day. You comment on their posts, message back and forth, react to photos, etc. The remaining 290 friends you may like or comment on posts from just once a week or less.
Facebook’s algorithm recognizes who your inner circle is based on your interaction patterns. So posts from those 10 friends you engage with daily will generally appear higher in your news feed compared to other connections you interact with less frequently.
Prioritizing your best friends
To help demonstrate this, let’s imagine an example with three fictional friends:
- Alex: Your lifelong best friend who you talk to daily
- Robin: A friend from college you stay loosely in touch with
- Casey: A new friend you met a few months ago at a conference
If Alex, Robin, and Casey all made posts within a short time frame, Facebook’s algorithm would likely rank them in this order on your news feed:
- Alex
- Casey
- Robin
The post from your best friend Alex would appear first since you interact together so frequently. The new friend Casey may edge out Robin for second since the relationship is still new and active. While you and the college friend Robin interact infrequently now that school is over.
When connections fall out of touch
Have you ever noticed posts from some friends constantly show up high on your news feed, while posts from others you may miss completely? This is Facebook’s algorithm at work detecting who you interact with most.
For example, say you become Facebook friends with Jane 5 years ago when you were both into yoga. For the first year or so, you liked and commented on each other’s posts daily. But as interests changed, your interactions slowed. Now several years have passed with little commenting or liking between you and Jane.
Even though you and Jane are still technically friends, Facebook’s algorithm has noticed the inactive relationship. Now when Jane posts, her content may get lower priority and rarely makes it to the top of your news feed.
Unless you directly visit Jane’s profile, you may never see her posts now. Your news feed is focused on connections with more active engagement.
The limits of Facebook’s algorithm
Facebook’s software engineers have put a lot of work into developing an algorithm that personalizes the news feed for each of its billions of users. But it’s important to note that the algorithm has its limitations.
Some key things to keep in mind:
- Not perfect – Relevance scores are calculated by software and can miss nuance.
- Evolving – The algorithm changes frequently and needs constant tuning.
- Gameable – People try to manipulate it for more reach.
- Too tailored – You may miss posts you’d actually find interesting.
The technology has improved greatly over the years. But expect it to never be perfect. The news feed balance that’s ideal for you personally may differ from what Facebook’s algorithm chooses to show.
How to influence what you see in your news feed
Since Facebook’s news feed algorithm may or may not show you the posts you most want to see, here are 5 ways to influence what appears:
- Like, comment, share – Proactively interact with the posts you find worthwhile. This signals Facebook to prioritize those connections.
- Snooze people – Mute someone temporarily if their posts are currently clogging your feed.
- Unfollow pages – Stay friends but remove pages that no longer interest you from your feed.
- React to ads – Click emojis on ads for products and topics you dislike.
- Update interests – Keep your profile traits like location and interests current.
The more precise data you provide about your preferences, the better job Facebook can do tailoring rankings to your tastes.
Conclusion
So in summary, the three main factors that determine your Facebook news feed rankings are:
- Connections – Who posted (prioritizing people you interact with most)
- Popularity – How many likes, shares, and comments a post gets
- Relevance – How closely the post matches your interests
Facebook’s algorithm calculates scores for each potential story based on these key factors. It then populates your personalized feed starting with the posts expected to create the most interest and engagement from you.
Keep in mind the software has limitations in capturing your true preferences. So actively interact with the posts you like best to improve your news feed experience. That participation provides Facebook with clearer signals to inform its rankings.