You open any social media platform and then you don’t realize how much time passes while scrolling. You may have picked up the phone to see a post, but such videos keep coming one after the other on your feed that you don’t feel like keeping the phone. Have you ever wondered why this happens? How are all the videos on your feed to your liking and how does the platform know which videos you don’t like? Actually, all this is the magic of social media algorithms. In today’s explainer, we have brought answers to many of your questions. Today we are going to tell you what social media algorithm is and how it works.
What is social media algorithm?
Some rules are needed to run a system. Similarly, algorithms are needed on social media, so that users can be shown the content of their choice. It is the algorithm that understands what kind of content a user likes and what content should not be shown to him. It filters content and recommends it to the user based on location, language and interest. Talking about computer programming, algorithms direct computer actions like sorting computer elements, locating data and identifying objects. If understood in technical language, then this algorithm is a mathematical set of rules, which tells how any data will behave. Algorithms on social media help in maintaining order, search result ranking and advertising etc. For example, Facebook’s algorithm tells the platform in which order to show content.
Why is algorithm important?
More than half of the world’s population is on social media. Seen this way, there are users with different preferences on every platform. If there is no algorithm on any platform then it will be very difficult for the user to watch the content of his choice. With the help of algorithms, social media platforms are able to show the content of the user’s choice. Without this, users who like cricket will see recipe videos and people who like adventure can see meditation videos.
How does the algorithm work?
The work of algorithms is quite complex and full of data. In such a situation, it is very difficult to understand completely how it works. Still, according to some parameters, it can be found out how it works. The algorithms of all social media platforms including Facebook and Instagram monitor user behavior, interests and actions and then show relevant content on the same basis. If you have liked cricket videos then your similar videos will be seen more. This algorithm continuously learns from user behavior and interaction and keeps refining content suggestions in the same manner. This is why you can see that on the first day you were not seeing all the reels of your choice, but after a few days the platform comes to know about all your choices.
How does Instagram’s algorithm work?
Instagram’s algorithm shows the recent posts of followed accounts first. Apart from this, it also recommends content based on the user’s like, share, save or commented posts. If a post has received a large number of likes, shares or comments, then these signals are also considered and the post is shown to other users. Also, if the user interacts with an account, its content will also be shown first. Similarly, Meta’s other platform Facebook also ranks it by considering timing and content type etc.
How is content recommended on YouTube?
The algorithm measures the performance of a video based on likes, shares and comments. If more people are watching a video for a longer time, then it is considered quality content and recommended to other users also. Apart from this, videos are also suggested on the basis of user watch history and actions. Apart from this, demography and location are also taken into consideration.
LinkedIn’s algorithm sees this sign
LinkedIn’s algorithm looks at several signals for content ranking. Here the focus is on quality rather than quantity. With this, priority is given to relevance, engagement probability, personal connection, consistency, credibility and recency.
These things matter in X’s algorithm
X (formerly Twitter) is also used by billions of people around the world. Apart from location and language, X’s algorithm also takes into account user interaction, engagement level, relevance, recency and profile reputation. On this, an active account gets more reach than an account that posts occasionally.
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