How Are Top Followers in Facebook Determined?
The social networking website Facebook allows registered users to make online connections with one another, an action called friending. Your Friend List is attached to your Facebook profile, accessible by clicking on the "Friends" tab on the column on the left side of your profile page. Three different types of Facebook friends, whom you could think of as followers, are posted in this area -- your significant other, your family and your friends. These top followers are determined by a variety of factors.
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Relationship
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The first individual you can select to occupy a spot on the left-hand column of your Facebook profile is your significant other, whether that be a boyfriend, girlfriend, husband or wife. Facebook calls this section your relationship. When you edit your profile, you can designate this person under the Friends and Family tab. If the individual is also a Facebook member, he'll have to confirm the relationship before it appears on your profile. If your significant other isn't a Facebook user, he won't have to confirm your relationship, but his picture won't be displayed on your profile. Instead, you'll see a generic silhouette next to his name.
Family
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The next way you can specify which individuals appear on your Facebook profile is by adding family members. You can also access this feature by clicking on the "Friends and Family" tab when editing your profile. You can add your children, your parents, siblings, aunts, uncles and anyone to whom you're related.
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Friends
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A sampling of your Facebook friends also appears on the left-hand side of your profile. By default, this sampling is aggregated based on the Facebook users with whom you interact the most. This sampling takes into account only public interactions -- such as comments left on a user's wall or mutually attended Facebook events -- and not private interactions, such as a personal message sent using Facebook. This sampling changes, so you may not see the same friend listed in that location on back to back visits to your profile page.
Featured Friends
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Facebook also allows you to add specific friends to the left-hand column of your profile. To do this, click on the "Edit Profile" button at the top right of your profile, then on the "Friends and Family" tab on the left-hand side. At the bottom of the page is a section called Featured Friends, and below this are two links. The first link reads "Create a new list," while the second reads "Add an existing list or group." By clicking on either of these links, you can add friends to either a new or existing friend list, then choose to display that friend list on your Facebook profile.
Arranging Featured Friends
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Facebook also lets you arrange the order in which your Featured Friends are displayed on your profile. While your relationship will always appear on the top of this section, unless you aren't in a relationship, or didn't specify a significant other, you can rearrange the order of your family, friends and featured friend lists. At the bottom of the Friends and Family section of your profile editing page, click on one of these groups and drag it into the position you want. Click the "Save Changes" button at the bottom of the page to save your settings.
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References
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