WE ALL KNOW the grid of nine random friends that appears on the left side of your Facebook profile.
It changes all the time and you don’t choose them – so it’s not quite a Bebo-style list of your top friends, but everyone still calls it that.
Most of the time, it’s full of people you barely speak to
Some people think it’s spot on
Other times, it puts in people you really don’t want to talk to
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There are always rumours that the people who visit your page the most end up in that box
But that’s not true at all.
Motherboard investigated where the top nine friends really come from this week – and they came up with some interesting answers
Among other important questions about your Facebook layout
This is what they uncovered:
Facebook told me this is a group of relevant friends intended to be a useful prompt for the user.
In other words, these are the people the algorithm is subtly encouraging you to interact with. Or if someone else is visiting your Facebook page, it’s a sampling of people that person might want to connect with based on your mutual friends or interests.
So, just Facebook subtly encouraging you to have a chat with these people.
Apparently, it takes into account how much you “interact” with certain people as well as how often and how recently:
So the random high school acquaintance that’s been popping up in your highlighted friends could be the algorithm gently nudging you to keep in touch with someone you’ve been friends with a long time.
On the flip side, it may show you people you recently friended to jumpstart the connection, even if you haven’t interacted yet. The formula also gives extra weight to people who recently posted stories or photos.
So now. It’s all a mix to help you have the chats with friends both new and old.
We can now categorically say that the box of nine chosen friends is NOT based on how much of a stalker they are or any other rumour that might be out there.
It’s a relief for many.
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