Glossary · algorithm
What is Algorithm?
The algorithm is the ranking software a platform uses to decide which post is shown to which person, and in what order. It is not one system but several: YouTube's home feed, the Shorts feed, TikTok's For You Page and Instagram's Explore each run their own ranking. All of them work by prediction rather than punishment. The software looks at what a specific user has watched, skipped, saved and searched, then guesses how likely that user is to watch your post to the end, rewatch it, or send it to a friend. Posts with the highest predicted scores go out first, to a small test group, and the audience widens only if real behaviour matches the prediction.
What does Algorithm mean for a business in Pakistan?
Creators in Pakistan talk about the algorithm like weather — 'algorithm down hai aaj kal'. Almost always the real change is on the supply side: you posted four times in Ramadan and twice in the six weeks after Eid. The system did not turn against you, it simply had less to test. Islamabad and Rawalpindi audiences are also small enough that one shift in posting time moves numbers more than any ranking update.
A worked example
A Rawalpindi car-detailing page posts a Reel. Instagram shows it to about 300 accounts first. 41 percent watch past three seconds and 9 save it, so it goes to 3,000, then 14,000. The same page posts a blurry shop photo the next day: 280 accounts see it, nobody saves it, and distribution stops there.
Terms that go with this one
These come up in the same conversations and are worth reading together.
- For You PageFYPThe For You Page is TikTok's main feed — the endless vertical stream that opens when you launch the app. It is not a feed of accounts you follow. It…
- ReachreachReach is the number of separate accounts that saw your post at least once. It counts people, not appearances — if the same person scrolls past your…
- RetentionretentionRetention is the percentage of a video still being watched at any given point. It is the shape of your audience leaving. Absolute retention starts at…
- Session timesession timeSession time is how long a person stays on the platform in one visit, across everything they watch — not just your video. It is the number the…
- ShadowbanshadowbanA shadowban is the belief that a platform has quietly stopped showing your content without telling you. Platforms deny running anything by that name,…
Algorithm — quick answers
What does Algorithm mean?
The algorithm is the ranking software a platform uses to decide which post is shown to which person, and in what order. It is not one system but several: YouTube's home feed, the Shorts feed, TikTok's For You Page and Instagram's Explore each run their own ranking.
Algorithm ko Urdu mein kya kehte hain?
الگورتھم — though in practice almost everyone in Pakistan says "algorithm". Creators in Pakistan talk about the algorithm like weather — 'algorithm down hai aaj kal'.
Why does Algorithm matter for a business in Pakistan?
Creators in Pakistan talk about the algorithm like weather — 'algorithm down hai aaj kal'. Almost always the real change is on the supply side: you posted four times in Ramadan and twice in the six weeks after Eid. The system did not turn against you, it simply had less to test. Islamabad and Rawalpindi audiences are also small enough that one shift in posting time moves numbers more than any ranking update.
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