Meta Sheds Light on Its Algorithms

Have you ever wondered why you are seeing what you are seeing on Facebook or Instagram, or any social platform for that matter? Sometimes it can seem quite random and confusing. Meta has recently been talking about and showing users that it is anything but. The algorithms and mechanics behind what you see are quite complex, and are now starting to make use of AI.

Former Liberal Democratic Leader, and now President of Global Affairs at Meta, was recently talking about the use of AI and the need for transparency in the company’s algorithmic processes. He said:

“Our AI systems predict how valuable a piece of content might be to you, so we can show it to you sooner. For example, sharing a post is often an indicator that you found that post to be interesting, so predicting that you will share a post is one factor our systems take into account. As you might imagine, no single prediction is a perfect gauge of whether a post is valuable to you. So we use a wide variety of predictions in combination to get as close as possible to the right content, including some based on behaviour and some based on user feedback received through surveys.”

What you see on a platform like Facebook is actually fairly complicated, going through multiple stages of analysis. But what it boils down to is three major factors. Who posted the content – and how often do you engage with them. When was it posted and how did other people respond. How likely is it to be a post that you engage with based on past behaviour? 
Meta’s goal is to deliver content that is engaging and keeps users on its platforms. But it’s good to see the platform being more open about how it sets about achieving this, as you can adjust your behaviour to change what you are seeing. For more detailed look at how it all works you can head here.