How Algorithms Actually Work
Ranking signals per platform — documented, not mythology — and what that means for your content.
6 lessons · about 0.9 hours
Read it instead
The algorithm isn't a mystery. It's documented. Module 10 reads the documentation.
Every feed does the same three things: gathers, measures, ranks. The platforms have published what they measure. This module goes through it platform by platform, separates it from the myths, and turns it into a checklist you can actually use.
Lesson 1 is what an algorithm does: inventory, signals, ranking. Lesson 2 is Instagram and Facebook, the documented signals. Lesson 3 is TikTok and YouTube, the discovery engines. Lesson 4 is LinkedIn, X and Pinterest, three different machines. Lesson 5 is the myths versus the documented reality: shadowbans, magic posting times, the rest. And lesson 6 designs content for distribution, honestly.
Take Instagram's ranking signals. They're on screen now, from Meta's own documentation, with the date we last checked them. When Meta changes what it says, this lesson changes with it.
By the end, you can name the signals each platform weighs, explain why a post did or didn't reach, and design for distribution without bait.
6 lessons. About 55 minutes. Level 2, module 10. Start with What an Algorithm Actually Does.
What’s inside
- 01What an Algorithm Actually Does
The three-stage machinery behind every feed — inventory, signals, ranking — and why reach works the way it does. · 9 min
- 02Instagram and Facebook: The Documented Signals
What Meta has actually published about ranking on Instagram and Facebook — and the practical moves each signal implies. · 9 min
- 03TikTok and YouTube: The Discovery Engines
How the two interest-graph platforms rank — documented signals, what each weighs most, and the strategy each implies. · 9 min
- 04LinkedIn, X and Pinterest: Three Different Machines
The documented ranking logic of the professional feed, the conversation feed and the visual search engine. · 9 min
- 05Algorithm Myths vs Documented Reality
Shadowbanning, engagement bait, magic posting times and the rest — what the evidence and the platforms actually say. · 9 min
- 06Designing Content for Distribution — Honestly
Turning algorithm knowledge into a repeatable design checklist that earns reach without tricks, bait or burnout. · 9 min
