The facebook numbers...WHAT DO THEY MEAN?! WHAT DO THEY MEAN

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It's not random, but it's also not calculated by the number of messages. The first two were pretty obvious (my girlfriend and a friend I talk to quite a lot), but the third is a good friend of mine I almost never talk to on Facebook, just in real life.
 
Likely due to your searches, your interaction/posts/likes/pokes, messages, shared photos, shared groups, and shared friends, with varying weights applied to each and what looks like a bigger emphasis on the more recent history (and maybe some prior swells of interaction too).

Who shows up on your mini-friends-box, predictive search results, and chat position of certain friends are probably tied to this as well.
 
maomaoIYP said:
It's the sequence of people that shows up on your FB chat icons, which is somehow partially related to who you chat with the most.
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Definitely this. The top five ones are the top five of who I chat with the most. Nothing to see here people.
 
I got someone that I don't have on my friends list.... Uh.... how do i do this right?

edit: also any numbers you type in after the URL seems to be only harvard grads. so facebook.com/5 is some guy

second sedit: I figured it out... IT;s a string of numbers, not the FIRST number. jeez.
 
Most of mine were old school acquaintances mixed in with my best pal in 2nd (we don't really interact on Facebook, however), an old crush near the bottom, and a girl who had a crush on me in the past.

The first one, however, is a girl who I'm madly in love with.

Very strange. I honestly don't know what to make of this. I don't think it's anything related to my searches, or who I have contact with on Facebook the most. Seriously, I don't talk to any of these people on Facebook much at all. In the case of best pal and girl I'm head over heels for, all contact is made outside of FB (phone, Skype, in-person), and in the case of the others there's no contact at all. Literally, none of these are people who I maintain any sort of contact with on Facebook.

Not sure what it means, and I won't look into it too much for fear of my sanity, but it's pretty creepy.
 
My first was my girlfriend. My third was this guy I know who's always linking my name in stuff and posting on my page. My second...whoah.

Mega hot crazy actress chick. Accent on the crazy.
 
Its to do with chat, I almost never use FB chat but last I used it was to talk to people I holidayed with a few months ago and they're the people on my list.

They certainly wouldn't be my stalkers, nor do I stalk them but I have chatted with them very briefly via the chat thing and I havent used the chat with anyone else either so that makes sense.

I've made plenty of more recent comments and wall posts but those people dont appear on that list, this seems to be purely messages/chat.
 
Replicant said:
It's like people ignore others who have said that they never use the chat or never chat online with those people who showed up as high numbered list.
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I never use the chat either, but the numbers definitely has something to do with the sorting order of the chat (and maybe other things too).
 
I would guess Facebook uses something slimier to a Linked List to store friends. They likely use something clever and obscure to make the database faster and able to support so many accounts.
 
How is everyone so sure it is for chat??

The people I chat with most on facebook were not even in my top 10

When I did this the top 4 people were friends who I have not spoken to or communicated with at all on FB for atleast a few years
 
my sidebar chat is in alphabetical order with no options to change that. what gives?

also, this seems to be about the same deal as with the friends list sort order, a combination of all sorts of interactions.
 
I just see a bunch of my guy friends and a bunch of girls that I've hooked up with in the past that I no longer talk to. I'm not sure what that means.
 
This is scary. First one is my cousin who I talk to most. The second one though is someone I've never interacted with on Facebook.

I don't approve of all the shit Facebook's been pulling lately so it looks like I'm getting rid of my account now.
 
A little surprised by my #6 being ahead of my Mother.. but she's pretty much on FB all the time. :o

May have found one secret crush/stalker lol.
 
And yeah, you can throw the idea of it being related to chat out the window. It doesn't correlate whatsoever with my top 10... especially my mysterious #6. :o
 
pestul said:
And yeah, you can throw the idea of it being related to chat out the window. It doesn't correlate whatsoever with my top 10... especially my mysterious #6. :o
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Strange. Can you try resizing the window vertically so you only have 3-4 contact visible and see what you get? Mine was an exact match.
 
I had a fling with a girl over summer before I left for school. I think she wanted to be in a relationship, but I didn't want to do that as I was leaving for almost a year and I just wasn't that interested. She's number one on this list and I feel bad.
 
My list kind of make sense, considering that I almost never talk to my gf over facebook or post things in her wall, neither does she :/
 
Pretty sure it's just based on who you interact with the most, whether it be views from their profile to yours or vice versa. They probably use it to weight whose updates you see the most, the positions of people in chat and your friends list, etc.
 
moniker said:
Strange. Can you try resizing the window vertically so you only have 3-4 contact visible and see what you get? Mine was an exact match.
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Mine just keep reordering alphabetically. My chat list actually has 2 people on it right now whom I've never chatted with. They were also not in my top 12.
 
Saw this on /r9k/ (lol) a little while back. The numbers are the same order your friends were in in the old Facebook chat. Now, they serve as a weighting for who appears in your chat. The new chat is in alphabetical order - putting people in order by first name - but prioritizing people in this list over those who aren't (ie: if Donald is higher in your list than David then Donald will appear in your chat more often than David, and David will be the first to get the boot to make new room when Cody gets on).

No idea how the order of the numbers are generated, but I assume it's frequency of contact (them viewing you, you viewing them, likes, comments, ect). This makes it both more organized (due to the alphabetical order making it easier to find your friends) and more convenient (best friends are prioritized over acquaintances). Whether or not that friend is set as a "Close Friend" is also relevant, as close friends appear higher on the list than normal friends.

This is, however, all speculation.
 
It matches my chat list person for person, so regardless of how this is calculated, it doesn't seem like anything hush hush when it's already out in the open.
 
It all makes sense, most of the list are people I interact with AND are heavy Facebook users. One or two surprises there, people I haven't talked to or looked at their profile in ages.

EDIT - it is mostly the people who show up in my chat, but there are a few exceptions.
 
TCKaos said:
Saw this on /r9k/ (lol) a little while back. The numbers are the same order your friends were in in the old Facebook chat. Now, they serve as a weighting for who appears in your chat. The new chat is in alphabetical order - putting people in order by first name - but prioritizing people in this list over those who aren't (ie: if Donald is higher in your list than David then Donald will appear in your chat more often than David, and David will be the first to get the boot to make new room when Cody gets on).

No idea how the order of the numbers are generated, but I assume it's frequency of contact (them viewing you, you viewing them, likes, comments, ect). This makes it both more organized (due to the alphabetical order making it easier to find your friends) and more convenient (best friends are prioritized over acquaintances). Whether or not that friend is set as a "Close Friend" is also relevant, as close friends appear higher on the list than normal friends.

This is, however, all speculation.
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I'm not sure how it's weighted, but I have 2 friends in a short listed chat window whom I've never chatted with or interacted at all with on FB posts (likes/comments etc). My #6 and #10 in the generated numbers list I have talked/interacted with very infrequently, much less than others further down the list (including a family member).

It's definitely weird, but I guess there is something going on here. No cause for concern, but a very interesting find this morning.
 
LUCKY DEVIL said:
I think you're probably right insofar as it's not hush hush but it's some sort of refined list and it has nothing to do with my chat history. Presuming there is nothing hush hush about it then what is it? There are several people on there that I have never chatted with.
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I recall this causing a bit of a fuzz back when Facebook changed the chat list from "people who are online" to "LOOK! We have determined who is RELEVANT for you!." As far as I know, the details of the algorithm haven't been publicly revealed (but there has been speculation on how it's calculated). What has been noticed, however, is that the algorithm isn't perfect; even though the intention is to list the people whom you are most likely to chat with, it sometimes screws up and lumps in a person who makes no sense in regards to who you personally deem is relevant.
 
my top 3, male friend, male friend, male cousin.

Even if it was bullshit I would have liked a girl in that list.
 
I don't use FB chat. Ironically the girl who popped up first is the girl I have a crush on and the girl who popped up second is the girl who has a crush on me. The 2 just happen to be good friends. Not sure what is used to determine this but I don't think it's chat considering I never use it or even have it turned on
 
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