This is commonly called an 'algorithmic timeline'.
Some of the potential advantages (not always realized) for users:
- Based on your like/share/visit/interact history, certain people's content will be prioritized, because the algorithm thinks you like it
- You see these 'what you missed' posts, which is content from a friend that attained more likes/shares than usual, and theoretically represents 'gems' your friends produce. This allows popular content to bubble to the top, producing a feel of accomplished virality for the producer, and encouraging more engagement
Some of the advantages for the site operator:
- It encourages users to interact with content they actually like, to feed the algorithm's dataset and build a better profile of what everyone likes
- It destroys the expectation that all available content will be surfaced chronologically, obfuscating the true quantity of actual content on the user's timeline, thereby allowing a higher density of ads and other sponsored content to be displayed to the user
Some of the potential advantages (not always realized) for users:
- Based on your like/share/visit/interact history, certain people's content will be prioritized, because the algorithm thinks you like it
- You see these 'what you missed' posts, which is content from a friend that attained more likes/shares than usual, and theoretically represents 'gems' your friends produce. This allows popular content to bubble to the top, producing a feel of accomplished virality for the producer, and encouraging more engagement
Some of the advantages for the site operator:
- It encourages users to interact with content they actually like, to feed the algorithm's dataset and build a better profile of what everyone likes
- It destroys the expectation that all available content will be surfaced chronologically, obfuscating the true quantity of actual content on the user's timeline, thereby allowing a higher density of ads and other sponsored content to be displayed to the user