What is Algorithm?

An algorithm, in social terms, is the ranking system a platform uses to decide which posts appear in which feeds. It weighs signals like early engagement, dwell time, account history, and topic match, then orders the feed accordingly. No platform publishes the full weighting, and every platform changes it.

The practical consequence is that reach is rented. A post that found 40,000 people last month can find 3,000 this month with no drop in quality, because the ranking changed underneath it. That is the argument for converting some of that attention into an audience you can contact directly: an email list does not re-rank overnight.