Social media has become a mainstay in many people's lives with its capabilities for communication and engaging with content. It’s a source for getting news, expanding your circle of knowledge, and watching fun content, and one of the main ways these sites do this is with algorithms. Each site differs in its algorithm and how it suggests content it thinks you'll enjoy, and here I want to look at ten of the best or most prominent algorithms in the social media apps we use today, in order of my particular preferences:
TikTok
Instagram
Threads
YouTube
Facebook
X (Twitter)
Tumblr
Reddit
Snapchat
LinkedIn
TikTok
TikTok has become one of the most popular social media platforms in the last five years, really taking off in 2020 during the pandemic. The New York Times dives into this algorithm, stating the main goals in the algorithm are translated to “user value, long-term user value, creator value, and platform value.” The app makes it easy to create or just to consume, making it one of the more intuitive algorithms in social media.
More focused on being a social platform rather than an entertainment one, Instagram’s algorithm is described as more vaguely by the official website: “We use a variety of algorithms, classifiers, and processes, each with its own purpose.” The algorithm can be beneficial to creators and consumers, but also limiting in discovering new content or keeping relevancy.
Threads
An interesting new contender from Instagram, Threads first appeared in a hurry to capitalize on the apparent downfall of Twitter. Inc.com discusses Thread’s overwhelming launch success, and how the algorithm they implemented contributed to this: “Instead of a reverse chronological feed of content from the people you follow, Threads shows you a mix of their content as well as other posts it thinks you’ll like.” A bit controversial, Threads is definitely on the incline of popularity, with new site changes to come.
YouTube
Another social media pioneer focused on sharing video content, this algorithm has fluctuated with time, changing their algorithm based on valued concepts like subscribers, watch time, or views. WordStream dives into the algorithm and how it works: “rank[ing] content based on the likelihood that a viewer will watch it using signals like relevance, quality, and user behavior.” Interestingly, the algorithm is responsible for 70% of all the views on YouTube. This one is beneficial to recommending similarly liked content, but has the tendency to become repetitive or show not as wanted content based on something you’ve seen one time.
Facebook was a pioneer of social media and continues to be a popular app for people and businesses alike. Sprout Social looks into how the algorithm works for the app in recent updates: “Essentially, it decides which content is most relevant to show to each user based on several factors…. One of the most recent updates focused on assessing the credibility of news articles.” Facebook has had its history of isolating groups with only similar opinions, and within that spreading misinformation, so this new update is especially important.
A popular site to find your own niche group or interests, Reddit’s algorithm is a bit different. Medium.com explains how it works, with one interesting comment: “Reddit takes a story algorithm. Therefore, posting time has a big impact on the ranking. And the algorithm always ranks the new one first.” The app is more focused on how it works on single subreddits, but it definitely has it’s methods nonetheless.
X (Twitter)
Formerly known (and still known by many) only as “Twitter,” X has undergone some major changes since being acquired by billionaire Elon Musk, and his handling of the platform has caused a lot of creators to worry. It seems that there will be new implementations, according to TechCrunch: “While today the app’s For You feed surfaces popular and trending posts from its broader network alongside highlights from those you follow, the new algorithm will surface posts from smaller accounts, Musk said.” The new update to the algorithm should benefit smaller creators instead of only the people who pay for Twitter Blue, but only time will tell how that goes.
Tumblr
Tumblr is a popular website among millennials and Gen Z, and it has undergone many cultural shifts throughout the years. It seems that there are multiple algorithms that control Tumblr’s feed, and it has never specifically been made public. However, Eli Seekins writes how to get traffic through your own Tumblr blog, and it makes interesting implications about how the algorithm works: “Blogs that have specific topics tend to do better and attract more attention.” It seems that blogs with specific niches do better, but it’s too vague to know for sure.
Snapchat
Snapchat is a social media platform more like a messaging app, but there is still an algorithm, and it is implemented in the Discover page, full of news, stories, and videos similar to TikToks. The official website explains: “We use different algorithms that talk to each other, which improve the more you use our services… We think diversity of content is important to avoid echo chambers.” The app is not really known for it’s discover content, but it makes for some interesting tabs to be discovered.
This social media website focuses more on the professional profile of its users. Hootsuite makes an interesting observation to show just how the website differs from the rest: “…the LinkedIn algorithm is specifically designed to prevent content form going viral.” The app instead focuses on the importance of connections and networking, making it unique and important to make friends and really sell your brand.
Closing Thoughts
Social media algorithms have the potential for much good and evil, so to speak. I really enjoyed the TikTok algorithm, but it kept me scrolling for much longer than I wanted to usually. The YouTube algorithm is great at recommending videos to me when I watch it on my TV, but not as good on my phone. Algorithms are not perfect and can let things slip through the cracks sometimes, but I think they’re helpful in showing me things I like and even introducing me to new content or creators I’ll enjoy for years to come.
I spend too much time on social media and unfortunately, a lot of that time is on Instagram. that said, it is interesting to see how the work is based on algorithmic function. While algorithms are often up for debate it is not often that we see social media defined by their algorithms in the modern day versus what social function they create.
I commented about LinkedIn on Kae's post and apparently I spoke too soon. An algorithm working against virality is an interesting angle for a feature that's so pervasive!
I probably use youtube the most out of all of these. Generally, I try to limit my exposure to social media where I can, but it’s so ubiquitous that it’s become very difficult to be involved in current events without it. I miss the days when social media was still new, and most of what it focused on was self expression and personalization (I was on MySpace in the late 00’s). At any rate, good work on the article! I wouldn’t have heard about some of these otherwise.