How do they decide my ‘Top Stories’ on Facebook? And what the heck is EdgeRank?

Facebook has done the impossible, they’ve mastered telepathy. They go into each and every one of your heads and then let you know what your ‘Top Stories’ are. How do they do that? Ever heard of EdgeRank? Probably not, that’s why I’m your geek to the rescue.In this article, I will explain what EdgeRank means and why the content of your ‘Top Stories’ are considered to be listed in that category.

The EdgeRank algorithm has been unveiled and is being used by marketers and advertising companies all around the world. Here is the proper explanation for Facebook’s EdgeRank:

Affinity – The affinity means the relationship between you and the profile/brand you interact with. For example, let’s say you check Coca-Cola’s Facebook fan page on a daily basis. If you log into Facebook and view your ‘Top Stories’, you will be more likely to see content from Coca-Cola due to the number of clicks and how many times you view their page. Note that Affinity is a one-way street (and not vice versa) Meaning, even an army of Acme Toilet Cleaner Facebook marketers cannot command more attention on the platform simply by clicking incessantly on fans’ items in order to gain more exposure.

Here are the priority affinity actions on Facebook:

1. Comments
2. Likes
3. Shares

Weight – The weight means how heavy is your content? Is it an image? A Video?A status update?A link? In other words, WHAT is the content provided? The answer comes along the following importance/precedence: (From higher priority to lower priority)

1. Photos/Images
2. Uploaded videos (From your machine)
3. Shared Videos (Linked)
4. Links
5. Status Updates

Photos and images have the highest weight, and that’s why the top rated fan page on Facebook (Coca-Cola) has more than 13,000 photos.

Time – Has your content decayed yet? A logical factor here speaks for itself. It’s always about when you published your content. The older the content gets the less priority it has. No one likes to read yesterday’s news, and Facebook knows it. In order to remain up-to-the-minute and relevant, Facebook wisely employs a ‘fresh’ factor to all edged content. It’s this ‘freshness’ that helps determine what and when you see it.

So now you get how they decide your ‘Top Stories’ or at least kind of do. It’s not rocket-science, it’s not cyber bugs, it’s just algebra.

Now for a pop quiz, which will appear on top stories?

1. An uploaded video, with 5 comments and 6 likes published 3 hours ago.
2. An uploaded photo with 0 comments and 2 likes published 6 hours ago.
3. A status update with 7 comments and 13 likes published 2 hours ago.