Improve algorithm to list post in the different feeds

[awietz]

We need to improve the way posts are picked and listed in the different feeds: General, For you, Trending.

In order to do that, we first need to identify possible metrics, that should be used (or specifically not used) when selecting from the database.

To get a better sense of how different ways of picking posts perform, we should try to classify different types of posts by their characteristics. That way we can more easily produce test data, to verify algorithms we come up with.

Metrics

• Likes
• Views
• Direct responses
• Time since created
• Mentions of users
• Has image or not
• Follower count of post author

Which other metrics can we think of?

[steven-fox]

Another metric option:

• Count of followers (on person that made the post)

Also, having created similar algorithms in the past, I have a quick recommendation:

• Offer users the ability to select the algorithm (sort by magic [our custom composite algo], likes, views, responses [or combine these into a "engagement" algo, etc) and make the magic algo the default (unless the user sets a custom default in their settings). This is especially helpful at first because it allows you to see which algo people want to use and that provides an easy data point to optimize the 'magic' algo iteratively. Plus, some people may simply want to order by time since created and leave it at that haha.

P.S. Crazy idea, but given the open source / experimental nature of Pinkary, it would be pretty cool if we allowed users to control the weighting of each metric that goes into their version of the 'magic' algorithm so that users can fine-tune their own experience (with sane defaults). I bet such a thing would get some good feedback and would make Pinkary stand out as a twitter alternative.