Understanding the Algorithm

Written by Julia Giantomasi
Published on March 6, 2025

Plus, Tips for Optimizing Your Library’s Social Content

Creating unique content is only half the battle of social media marketing, the other half is making sure it gets to the right audience. Using tools to analyze the data and performance of social posts is always a good idea to know what’s working and what isn’t. However, in addition to analysis, it’s just as important to understand how the algorithm works on each platform. You may not be able to control a social media algorithm, but learning more about what it emphasizes can help you finetune your digital marketing strategy.

What is The Facebook Algorithm?

Facebook reigns supreme as the most popular and most used social media platform. Ever wonder what makes certain things show up in your news feed? Well, that’s the Facebook algorithm, which uses programming rules and machine learning to give you a more personalized experience when you’re scrolling. Just this year the algorithm has become more sophisticated, using an AI-driven system. The goal of this algorithm is to find posts that align with a user’s interests and values, which it pulls from both pages and groups that a user is following, in addition to outside content that is suggested for them.

How Does it Evaluate Content?

There are four factors that Facebook uses to evaluate content: inventory, signals, predictions, and relevance. First, an inventory is collected of posts shared by friends, Facebook pages followed by the user, and groups they are part of. Next, the algorithm uses ranking factors or signals to identify if content is relevant. These signals include timing of the post, the user’s level of interaction with the poster, content type, and engagement with similar posts. Using these signals, the algorithm makes personalized predictions about the content’s relevance and value to the user. For example, if it notices a user interacting with branded posts at a specific time in the morning, the algorithm will adjust to show more of those posts at that time. Finally, each piece of content gets a relevance score and the higher the score is, the more priority it gets in the feed. Once the content from people and groups the user follow is organized, the algorithm will incorporate recommended content as well.

Content Ranking on Instagram

Now onto Instagram! Instagram’s Chief Adam Mosseri created a video series that outlines how their algorithm works. The top three signals that matter most for ranking on Instagram are watch time, likes, and sends. Given that Instagram has incorporated Reels and become much more video-driven, it should come as no surprise that the number one ranking signal is watch time. The number of likes that the algorithm predicts your content will receive shows that you’re producing content that aligns with your audience. Whereas the number of sends indicates you’ve created content that pertains to a wider audience and will be shared with non-followers. Check out this infographic from Borjan Marketing to simplify the algorithm process with each post.

Tips for Optimizing Your Content

Once you understand how each platform prioritizes content, you’re probably wondering, how do I adjust my strategy? Here are some tips for working with the algorithm.

• Make sure you’re creating relevant content for your target demographic.
• Engage with your followers and encourage interaction through comments or by sharing posts from your patrons or community partners to spark discussion.
• Don’t be afraid to experiment with different types of content like text, polls, images, links, videos, or even going live.
• Post your content at peak times to increase the chance of engagement.
• Always share high-quality photos and videos, as well as fact-checked content.

Remember, if your content resonates with a user and they linger on it, watch a video all the way through, like, comment, save, or share, this positively affects your engagement and likelihood for the algorithm to prioritize future content from your page. Keep producing quality content and the algorithm will help magnify it!