Facebook has recently shared a new explainer video of how its News Feed algorithm works, giving a general overview of Facebook’s content ranking process.
The video gives a general outline of the process of feed ranking, which includes four elements that Facebook takes into account when going about the selection process of which content to show to each user.
Let’s dissect the key elements that Facebook uses in its Feed Algorithm to help determine what content to show users.
Key Elements Used in Facebook Feed Ranking Process
Inventory – This is the initial point with all of the posts that you could potentially be shown each day in the initial sample set. This content is based on people and pages that you follow as well as the content they’ve shared and groups you’re a part of.
Signals – The feed algorithm makes use of various signals to determine the relevance of each post to you. This is calculated based on your connection to the page/person sharing the update, as well as your interaction history with them. The algorithm also considers the media (whether it’s a photo, video or post link), which factors into what you’ll see. If your engagement with more photo content, you’ll be shown more photo updates.
Predictions – The Feed algorithm will then make predictions based on your engagement with each new post in attempt to highlight the most relevant and appropriate content based on these factors.
Score – Last but not least, Facebook will assign scores to each post in your ‘content pool’ in order to effectively rank them. Of course, the higher the relevance score, the higher the chance of that post appearing at the top of your Feed.
These four elements give a basic overview of the News Feed algorithms inner workings. In a nutshell, the more people who find your content relevant and engage with it, the more likely your content will appear higher in each individual’s feed.
“Our goal is to make sure you see the posts that are most valuable to you at the top of your Feed every time you open the Facebook app. And because most people have more content in their News Feed than they could possibly browse in one session, we use an algorithm to determine the order of all of the posts you can see.” – Facebook.
