So ever wondered which friends show up on your facebook profile under your friends section ? Is it the orkut algo where the most recent friends who have logged in show up or is this completely random ?
It is incredibly difficult to know what algorithm facebook has intalled in order to display your friends but I remember someone from facebook gave a small talk at the Carnegie Mellon University last year. They said that generally the list of friends is random with the additional importance/bias to the people you are actually stalking ! (Simply put the number of times you check their profile , their recent activities and the likes) .
So basically every user activity at facebook is logged and hence manipulated in a manner than it suits the best on your profile. Stalking someone ? Facebook knows !
#1 by Jonathan on Donnerstag, 12. November 2009
That explains a lot. Thanks for the comments. Does the same algorithm affect who shows up as the top three Mutual Friends? Also, does Facebook routinely exclude the logged-in viewer (i.e., you) from the Mutual Friends and Friends when you view someone’s profile?
#2 by Martin on Montag, 18. Januar 2010
How is that possible? I’ve never been to some of the profiles that keep showing up in the friends list.
#3 by Martin on Montag, 18. Januar 2010
Yeah… also I’m quite sure which ones I watch the most and they are almost never part of the list… wth?