60 cards
Modern social feeds are powered by recommendation systems that decide what appears next as you scroll. The process typically begins with a candidate set, which is the shortlist of posts or videos retrieved for you before the final ranking decision. To build this shortlist, platforms use a retrieval step that quickly sc...
Ranking models balance several competing signals to keep a feed engaging over time. Diversity refers to deliberately mixing topics, creators, and formats so that your feed does not become repetitive or overly narrow. Closely related is the novelty versus relevance tradeoff: novel items feel fresh but may miss your inte...
Optimizing ranking for engagement can produce surprising side effects. Proxy gaming occurs when creators or content learn to exploit a measurable proxy, such as watch time, in ways that do not actually improve the underlying goal like satisfaction or wellbeing. A related phenomenon is the satisfaction gap: content that...
On the creator side of the equation, distribution tends to compound. The Matthew effect describes how early advantages, such as initial views and followers, become self-reinforcing because popularity itself boosts future reach through recommendations. The broader system in which this happens is often called the creator...
Each platform has multiple distribution surfaces where a piece of content can appear. On Instagram, your video may be surfaced in the Reels feed, Explore, suggested posts, hashtag pages, or the profile grid. On Facebook, the same piece may travel through the Reels feed, News Feed, Pages, Groups, Shares, or suggested co...
Keeping recommendation ecosystems healthy requires substantial policy and integrity work. Spam in creator ecosystems refers to low-value content optimized to exploit distribution through reposts, engagement bait, or scams, and these patterns are usually filtered by dedicated integrity systems. Watermarked reposts are o...
Creators must decide how to relate to trends. Trend hijacking involves using a trending topic or audio to gain discovery, often with only a loose connection to the creator's normal material. It works best when paired with genuine relevance to the creator's niche. By contrast, trend chasing can hurt creator identity: if...