EdgeRank is the Facebook algorithm that decides which stories appear in each user's newsfeed in order to give relevant and wanted content.

1. EdgeRank
How It Works

2. What Is EdgeRank?
❏ EdgeRank is the Facebook algorithm that decides which stories appear in each user's
newsfeed in order to give relevant and wanted content.
❏ Facebook calls this algorithm "EdgeRank" because it ranks the edges (Posts).
❏ That means whenever a friend posts a status update, comments on another status
update, tags a photo, joins a fan page, or RSVP's to an event it generates an "Edge,"
and a story about that Edge might show up in the user's personal newsfeed.
❏ Facebook looks at all possible stories and says "Which story has the highest
EdgeRank score? Let's show it at the top of the user's newsfeed. Which one has the
next highest score? Let's show it next."
❏ The algorithm hides boring stories, so if your story doesn't score well, no one will see it.
❏ Facebook created this algorithm to predict how interesting each story will be to each user.

3. 3 Variables That Determine EdgeRank Score

4. Affinity Score
Affinity Score: How "connected" a particular user is to
the Edge (Post/Status). For example, I'm friends
with my brother on Facebook. In addition, I write
frequently on his wall, and we have fifty mutual
friends. I have a very high affinity score with my
brother, so Facebook knows I'll probably want to
see his status updates. Facebook calculates affinity
score by looking at explicit actions that users
take, and factoring in:
1) the strength of the action (Like, Comment, or Share)
2) how close the person who took the action was to you
3) how long ago they took the action.
If I click on someone's status updates and write on their
wall regularly, that person's actions influence my
affinity score significantly more than another friend
who I tend to ignore.

5. Edge Weight Score
Edge Weight: Different types of posts carry different weights.
❏ The higher the weight, the higher the score. In order they
rank:
a.
Photos/Videos
b.
Links
c. Plain text updates
❏ Engagement from other users also factor into the post’s
weight.
a.
If a plain text update has multiple likes and shares
it will carry more weight than a video update with
no engagement.
❏ If you often engage with a certain type of post type, your
most likely to see posts of that type show up on your
newsfeed.
❏ Comments are worth more than likes: By default, you are
more likely to see a story in your newsfeed about me
commenting on a fan page than a story about me liking a
fan page.

6. Time Decay Score
Time Decay: As a story gets older, it loses points because it's "old news."
❏ When a user logs into Facebook, their newsfeed is populated with edges (Posts) that have
the highest score at that very moment in time. This way your news feed always remains
fresh with recent news.
❏ Facebook seems to be adjusting this time-decay factor based on:
1) How long since the user last logged into Facebook
2) How frequently the user logs into Facebook.
❏ It's not clear how exactly this works, but time-decay changes when you log into Facebook
more.
1) For example, if you only log in once a week, stories that are a few days old still have a
chance of appearing on your newsfeed.

7. Why Edgerank is Important
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96%Fans do not go back to a brand’s Facebook page after initial engagement.
❏ Only 16%of your fans will see your posts on average.
Your post is 40-150xmore likely to reach your fans in the newsfeed than your
page.
❏ In the United States, people spend more time on the Facebook newsfeed than these
6 major news sites:
❏ ABC, Yahoo, NBC/MSN, CNN, New York Times, Huffington Post.
❏
40% of the time spent on Facebook is in the News Feed -- and only 12% is
spent on profile and brand pages.

8. Tips to increase Facebook Edgerank
❏
Keep It Short: Posts between 100 and 250 characters get more likes, comments, and shares than posts over 250 characters.
❏ Post Images with a Text Message to Increase Weight and Affinity: Long text articles attract some Weight but people don’t
want to read them.
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DON’T POST TOO OFTEN: You rarely lose fans for not posting content, but you can lose fans (or have your posts
hidden by fans) if you're posting too often.
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Post Regularly (Especially on weekdays): The turnover of information on Facebook is extremely rapid and the time
decay part of EdgeRank is based on how long it’s been since you posted it, so posting new content on a regular basis is a
good way to ensure your new posts replace the older ones as they fall off the News Feed.
Apparently: 18-to-24-year-olds are most active on Facebook between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. in the United States
Be Visual: Posting photo albums, photos, and videos get 40% to 100% more engagement. Example: Posting a link as a photo with
the article title and URL in the caption.
Encourage Engagement: Questions, contests and fill-in-the-blank statements gain more engagement than other types of posts.
Also, don’t hesitate to ask other users to share information or click the like button on your objects.
“Be Relevant, but Not Pushy”: Posts related to, but not directly about your brand, perform well.
Focus on Quality: Focus on providing high-quality content to your fans consistently, and you’ll be more likely to receive
engagement that will push your posts into the News Feed on a regular basis.
Use Hashtags: Facebook’s recent introduction of hashtags makes content discovery much easier. This means your posts can
potentially reach a wider audience if you utilize the right hashtags and more importantly publish posts that stimulate
conversation and increase your Page’s Affinity with this wider audience.

9. Facebook Post Engagement

10. In Summary
Your Edgerank score is determined by:
1. Your relationship with your users.
2. What type of posts you feature and your fans actions in regards to
sharing, commenting, and liking.
3. How recent your post is and how often your fans are logging into facebook.
You can measure the effects of EdgeRank by seeing how many people you reached. But there is
no "general EdgeRank score" because each fan has a different affinity score.
In addition:
Facebook released an update to the News Feed algorithm called Last Actor:
This update takes note of the last 50 interactions you’ve had on Facebook and gives content from those same
users or Pages more prevalence in your feed. So if a user interacts with your Page in the morning, your
content that afternoon or the next day will be more likely to show up in their feed (assuming they haven’t
had another 50 interactions already).