The reels you see on Facebook are determined by a complex algorithm that aims to show you content that is relevant, engaging, and personalized to your interests. When you open Facebook and scroll through your feed, the posts, photos, videos, reels, ads, and other content that appear are not random – they have been selected and ranked specifically for you by Facebook’s machine learning systems.
In this article, we’ll look at how the Facebook algorithm works to curate your reel feed and explore the main factors that influence which reels you see. Understanding these factors can help you take more control over your Facebook experience.
How the Facebook algorithm works
The Facebook algorithm, also known as the Facebook ranking algorithm, is the automated system that selects and ranks content in your News Feed and reels feed. It was first introduced in 2006 and has gone through major iterations and changes over the years as Facebook’s capabilities have advanced. The overarching goals however remain the same – to surface content that is:
- Relevant to your interests and connections
- Timely and up-to-date
- Engaging and likely to getinteractions
To achieve these goals, there are three key elements to how the algorithm works:
1. Scoring and ranking potential posts
Every time you open Facebook, there are thousands of possible posts that could appear in your feeds. The algorithm has to evaluate and assign a score to each potential post to predict how relevant and engaging it will be for you specifically. Posts are ranked by their score, with higher scoring posts being more likely to appear towards the top of your feeds. Different types of signals factor into the score, which we’ll explore more in the next section.
2. Feedback loops
Once posts are shown in your feed, your interactions and behaviors towards them are measured as feedback signals back to the algorithm. For example, if you click, comment, share, or react to a post, the algorithm sees those as positive signals and increases the post’s score. Ignoring or hiding a post provides a weak negative signal. Over time through these feedback loops, the algorithm gets better at predicting and ranking your preferences.
3. Regular model updates
Facebook is continually tweaking and updating the ranking algorithm to improve relevance and experience. Major updates roll out every few months. The company also does large scale algorithmic revisions occasionally, like when it shifted focus in 2018 to prioritize “meaningful social interactions.” Regular model updates allow the algorithm to get better at its job over time.
Factors that influence the reels you see
Many different factors go into determining which reels show up in your Facebook feed. These include:
Your interests and profile information
Facebook maintains an interest profile for you based on your activity across its apps as well as information you’ve provided in your profile. Reels that are relevant to your demographics, locations, Pages liked, Groups joined, and more have a higher chance of appearing. If you’ve shown an interest in travel, you’ll see more travel reels. If you work in tech, tech-related reels will be prioritized.
Your connections and follows
Reels posted by your friends, family, close connections, and profiles you explicitly follow are more likely to show up high in your reels feed compared to reels from random accounts you have no connection to. You are much more likely to care about and engage with content from people close to you.
Pages and accounts you’ve interacted with
The algorithm remembers Pages and accounts that you’ve consistently clicked, liked, commented on, or otherwise engaged with. Reels from those sources get a relevance boost compared to ones you’ve never interacted with before. Frequently interacting with a Page’s posts signals an interest.
Popularity and engagement
All else being equal, reels with high view counts, shares, comments, and likes tend to be ranked higher than less popular reels. Facebook’s algorithm sees high engagement as a quality signal. Popular reels are surfaced to gauge if you’ll also find them interesting and engaging based on the crowd.
Freshness and recency
More recent reels have an advantage in ranking over older, stale reels. Facebook typically shows you reels from the past day or so, dropping off rapidly after that initial period. This helps keep your feed timely and up-to-date. However, highly engaging or evergreen reels can have a longer shelf life.
Context and history
The algorithm personalizes results based on broader context signals beyond just the individual reel. For example, if you’ve shown a pattern of viewing lots of fashion reels, you are more likely to see similar fashion reels moving forward. Your full history impacts the reels you see today.
Paid promotions
Pages and accounts can pay to boost the reach of their reels through Facebook’s advertising tools. Paid promotions follow the same targeting and optimization tools used elsewhere on Facebook. If you fall into the target audience, you may see an increase in promoted reels.
Ways to influence the reels you see
While you don’t have direct control over the ranking algorithm, there are some ways you can influence the types of reels Facebook shows you:
- Follow or connect with accounts that post content you want to see more of.
- Actively like, comment on, and share reels from accounts you want to prioritize. This signals relevance.
- Use existing Facebook controls like snooze and unfollow to hide unwanted accounts or keywords temporarily or permanently.
- Be careful about clicking or viewing low-quality reels too much, even just to scroll past. Too much interaction can signal interest to the algorithm.
- Shape your interest profile with likes, joins, clicks, and profile info that reflects your true interests.
- Provide direct feedback by using the menu on a reel to report that you want to see fewer similar posts.
- Follow topic hashtags that you want to see more reels about.
With billions of users and a near infinite number of reels to choose from, Facebook relies on its complex, ever-evolving algorithm to curate your unique feed experience. While the specific inner workings are invisible to us, hopefully this article has shed some light on why you see the reels you do on Facebook.
Conclusion
In summary, the reels that appear in your Facebook feed are determined by an algorithm attempting to balance relevance, engagement, and personalization. Key factors that influence the ranking include your interests and profile, connections, history, freshness, popularity, context, and paid promotions. While you can’t control the algorithm directly, you can influence it over time by shaping the signals you provide through your activity and choices on Facebook. Being mindful of how you interact with reels can lead to a feed experience that better represents your preferences.