When looking at a list of friends or connections on Facebook, the order that names appear in can sometimes seem arbitrary. With hundreds or even thousands of friends, how does Facebook decide the sequence that people show up on your friends list? There are actually a few key factors that determine whose name shows up before someone else’s on Facebook.
Alphabetical Order by First Name
One of the most common ways that Facebook orders names is alphabetically by first name. If you have friends named Anne, Bob, and Carlos, they would be displayed in that order on your friends list. Facebook sorts alphabetically by first name regardless of whether you normally call the person by their first or last name. For example, if you normally refer to Bob Jones as Jones, his name would still appear in the J section on your friends list.
There are a few caveats when it comes to alphabetical order:
- Names with special characters might be sorted differently. For example, José may appear after Jordan depending on the encoding system Facebook uses.
- Facebook may take punctuation into account. For example, John-Paul may come after Johnathan due to the hyphen.
- Facebook sorts by the name on the person’s profile, not necessarily the name you have customized for them in your friends list. So if Bob Jones goes by Bobby on Facebook, his name would appear under B for Bob.
In summary, the first pass of ordering is done alphabetically by the first name shown on a person’s profile. Special characters, punctuation, and capitalization can sometimes change the order when two names are similar.
Close Friends Show Up First
After alphabetical ordering, Facebook uses your interactions with friends to influence where they appear. Friends that you interact with more frequently tend to show up towards the top of your list. There are a few ways that Facebook determines who your close friends are:
- How frequently you view, like, and comment on a friend’s posts
- How often you send messages or chat with a friend
- How many posts you are tagged in together
- Whether you marked a friend as a Close Friend on Facebook
So even if Anne comes alphabetically before Carlos, Carlos may appear first if you’ve interacted with him more on Facebook lately. This is Facebook’s way of surfacing the friends that are most relevant to you higher up on your list.
Mutual Friends Show Up First
Another factor that Facebook considers is how many mutual friends you share with someone. Friends with a greater number of mutual friends are more likely to show up above friends with fewer mutual connections. The idea is that friends who have many connections in common are more likely to be meaningful relationships to surface in your feed and profile.
For example, say you became Facebook friends with your coworker Gina. But you don’t have any mutual friends with Gina, and you don’t interact with her much on Facebook. She will likely appear lower down on your friends list than coworker Bob, who you have 12 mutual friends with and who you interact with frequently.
New Friends Show Up First Temporarily
When you first become friends with someone on Facebook, they will show up at the very top of your friends list for a short period of time. This allows you to easily find and interact with new connections on Facebook when you first connect with them. After a day or two, the new friends will go back to being ordered by the other factors mentioned.
How to Change the Order of Your Facebook Friends
If you want to override Facebook’s ordering and rearrange your friends in a specific way, there are a couple options:
- Create a custom Close Friends list – Go to your profile, click “Friends” and then “Create List”. You can add close friends to ensure they always show at the top.
- Rearrange your entire list – On your profile under “Friends”, click on the pencil icon and choose “Edit Friend List”. Here you can manually reorder your entire friends list.
Any custom ordering you do manually will override the default sorting Facebook applies. However, it’s important to note that any new friends you add later on will be inserted using Facebook’s normal algorithm unless you update your custom list.
Facebook Friend Order on Mobile vs Desktop
In general, the order of friends is consistent across mobile and desktop. However, because screen sizes are smaller on mobile, Facebook may slightly tweak the prioritization to show the most relevant friends higher up on the list when vertical space is limited. But the core ordering factors remain the same cross-device.
Summary
To recap, here are the key factors that determine the order of friends on Facebook:
- Alphabetical by first name
- Interactions and close friends are prioritized
- Mutual friends are ranked higher
- New friends appear first temporarily
- Custom ordered lists override default sorting
While it may seem random at first glance, there is a method to how Facebook orders your connections. With over a billion users, organizing friends in a relevant way is crucial to the Facebook experience. Hopefully this explanation provides some clarity into the logic behind whose name shows up where on your friends list.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does last name ever impact Facebook friend order?
No, Facebook always sorts alphabetically by first name no matter what. The last name does not factor into the ordering.
Can I pin certain friends to the top of my Facebook list?
Yes, by adding friends to your Close Friends list, they will always be pinned to the top in the order you specify.
Why do some friends appear out of alphabetical order?
Friends may appear out of alphabetical order if you interact with them more frequently or have many mutual friends. Facebook’s algorithm highlights closer friends higher up even if it changes alphabetical order.
Does friend order impact whose posts I see in my News Feed?
No, the ordering of your friends list does not impact what content shows up in your News Feed. That is determined by a separate algorithm based on engagement.
Can I reorder my Facebook friends on mobile?
Yes, you can access the same friend reordering options on mobile by going to your profile and tapping on Friends.
Conclusion
Facebook friend order is not as random as it may appear. While alphabetical by first name provides the starting order, interactions, mutual connections, and custom lists create a personalized ranking. The goal is to make Facebook more intuitive by surfacing the friends most likely to matter to you first. With over a billion users, organizing friends in this personalized way provides a better experience than a simple alphabetical list. Next time you’re scrolling through your friends list, you’ll know there’s some method behind the Facebook madness.