A Social Media Algorithm decides which posts are shown to whom and in what order. Although the details differ and change, the principle is similar: the network first shows a post to a small sample of the audience and, depending on the reaction, expands or suppresses its reach. The signals tracked are time spent on the post, video completion, saves, shares and comments – that is, expressions of genuine interest, not likes alone. In practice, several things follow from this: the first few minutes after publishing are decisive, content needs to give a reason to stop scrolling and not just catch attention with a preview, and a format with no added value will not be saved even by posting regularly. Attempts to game the algorithm with tricks tend to be short-lived, because networks detect them and reduce their reach.
See also: Organic reach, Posting frequency, Social media metrics.
