Angelina's Angle

What is a Social Media Algorithm? There’s one definition that I think sums it up, “Social media algorithms are a way of sorting posts in a users’ feed based on relevancy instead of publish time.” So, instead of organizing your social media timeline chronologically, algorithms organizes it based on your preferences or engagement on social media networks. Practically all of the social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, TikTok, Pinterest) use algorithms to show content that you interact with.

Algorithms get to essentially choose what you see based on your social media habits. Meaning, whatever you like, follow, read, or interact with, the algorithm will show content relating to that on your timeline.

The more social media apps show you posts you like, the more time you’ll spend on the app. By spending more time on the app, the algorithm gets more information on you and will show you relevant ads, thus driving up the apps revenue.

 Though, algorithms aren’t always right. For example, let’s say your friend DM’d you an astrology post on Instagram and you thought it was funny, so you liked it. Now you don’t really follow any astrology accounts but by liking that one post, your whole Explore page is filled with zodiac posts. I have nothing against zodiac signs or astrology, but I’d rather not see it on my Explore page.

Some think that social media algorithms exist just to push brands to pay a premium for social ads. They think that if brands can’t reach their audience organically, they’ll turn on ads. If this is true, social media platforms would get a lot more money. Since social media marketers know that algorithms prioritizes the paid content rather than the organic ones, this is probably accurate.

For social media marketers, here are some things to keep in mind to optimize your content using the algorithm: Create short videos, Create interactive content, Add a little bit of humor, User generated content (memes, gifs, photos, videos, screenshots from other people), Report the news, Invite followers.

I find that there’s not much wrong with algorithms, I mean sure it can get annoying, but you just need to be aware of what it is and how to go about it.