25 insights into the impact of social media algorithms

Social media algorithms can be extremely useful if used effectively to grow an online presence, audience, and reputation. We often hear marketers use the term “social media”, but it takes more than posting at prime times and adding emojis to get shown on users’ feeds.

Before discussing some interesting insights into the impact of social media algorithms, we should define what a social media algorithm actually is!

A social media algorithm is a set of rules or instructions that funnels content on a social media platform. The algorithm organises content on a user’s feed based on what they’ve previously interacted with, ultimately encouraging them to spend more time on the platform.

The social media landscape is ever-changing, and algorithms continuously evolve and become more complex. Social media marketers and content creators need to ensure they’re embracing these shifts in the algorithm by staying up to date with the latest trends across all platforms and having an optimised social media strategy.

With all that in mind, let’s examine some key statistics that will help put the impact of social media algorithms into perspective.

Facebook

1. Facebook was the first social media platform to introduce algorithms in September 2006 with the launch of its News Feed. (Source)
2. On the 20th of September, 2011, Facebook’s News Feed received an update, becoming algorithmically curated. (Source)
3. When a ranking algorithm based on users’ data was introduced 15 years ago, users would no longer see posts in chronological order, but in an order that Facebook wanted them to see. (Source)
4. When the News Feed was initially launched in 2006, it faced huge amounts of backlash. In the first 24 hours of the update, hundreds of thousands of users protested against the feature, claiming the update was too intrusive and violated their privacy. (Source)
5. Facebook’s News Feed shows users a curated selection of updates each time they visit the platform. These are just a small fraction of the average of 2,000 updates they could potentially see. (Source)
6. Over 2 billion people use Facebook monthly, making its ‘Feed’ the most influential and viewed aspect of the industry news. (Source)
7. In 2022, Facebook renamed its ‘News Feed’ to ‘Feed’ to better reflect the diverse range of content on the platform. (Source)
8. Facebook’s ‘Like’ button was added to the platform in February 2009. Facebook’s algorithm prioritises posts with high engagement, a huge new addition to the platform. (Source)

Instagram

1. In 2016, Instagram announced that users were missing an average of 70% of their feed. With Instagram becoming more popular over the years, it’s become harder for people to keep up to date with all the content users share. (Source)
2. In 2023, 66% of Instagram users found short-form videos the most engaging social content. (Source)
3. In the summer of 2024, Instagram Head Adam Mosseri announced that Instagram’s analytics would become more views-focused. Thus prompting users to optimise for views when creating content instead of likes and engagement. (Source)
4. In March 2022, Instagram introduced new feeds: Following and Favourites. This allowed users new ways to catch up on recent posts from accounts they follow and to make their feeds more personal. (Source)
5. Instagram first introduced hashtags on its platform on the 27th of  January, 2011. User Jennifer Lee was the first to use a hashtag on Instagram, commenting on the #selfie in a picture posted a few weeks prior. (Source)

TikTok

1. Brand-new TikTok users are shown 8 popular videos that feature different trends, music and topics to understand their preferences. (Source)
2. TikTok rewards virality with its Creator Fund, which pays creators between 2 to 4 cents for every 1,000 genuine views. Creators are eligible if they have at least 10,000 followers and have received 100,000 views in 30 days. (Source)
3. The average user spends 58 minutes and 24 seconds on TikTok each day. That’s approximately 6% of the average person’s waking hours. (Source)
4. A survey in 2022 found that 8% of teens in the US spend more than 5 hours on TikTok daily. (Source)
5. In 2022, TechCrunch published an article claiming that 40% of young people used TikTok and Instagram instead of Google for SEO. (Source)
6. To grow in visibility on TikTok, users should “rank” for the right searches that apply to their niche and show in the For You Feed of relevant audiences. (Source)
7. TikTok users spend the most time on the app compared to any other social media platform, with an average of 23 hours and 28 minutes per month. (Source)
8. TikTok offers various spaces for discovering content: The For You Feed, the Explore Tab, the Following feed, and Search. (Source)

X (formerly known as Twitter)

1. Hashtags were adopted by Twitter in 2009, and anything beginning with # became a hyperlink. This meant hashtags became searchable, affecting the algorithm. (Source)
2. In 2010, Twitter introduced ‘Trending Topics,’ which appeared on Twitter’s homepage and displayed hashtags that were growing in popularity. (Source)
3. In 2024, Elon Musk appeared to have tweaked X’s algorithm to promote Trump ahead of the presidential election. Researchers studied more than 56,000 Democrat and Republican-leaning accounts to provide a basis of comparison. The study found the algorithm favoured Trump’s content. (Source)
4. In 2021, X rolled out improved labels to help users spot content with misinformation after the 2020 presidential election when there was a surge in false information being spread. The new label designs increased CTR by 17%. It also decreased shares by 10% and likes by 15%, which helped limit misleading propaganda from spreading across the platform. (Source)

The key to conquering social media algorithms is understanding how they work. It’s important to adjust your content strategy to each platform, as the algorithm and audience are different. For instance, something that may go viral on TikTok may not resonate with your audience on LinkedIn. Our top tip? Make sure you have a detailed strategy that understands who your audience is, what platforms they are on and what content they want to see.

If you want to learn how you can win the social media algorithm, get in touch with our team of social media experts today.

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