After looking at your viewer’s list, you might be wondering if there’s a specific order or algorithm that Facebook uses to order the list. Well, there is…
Facebook Story Viewer Order
1. Interaction
One of the many factors that will come into play when Facebook decides how to order the way that story viewers appear for you is through interactions. All this means that the accounts you interact with most are more likely to occur sooner in the order of your story viewers.
So, you may have a mom who tags you in posts left and right and makes sure all of your friends stay updated by constantly posting about you. If she ever shares a story, there is a good chance that her story will be one of the first to show up in your story viewers because you often interact with her account.
Then, on the other hand, if you are friends with someone on Facebook that was an old elementary school friend and you have them just to stay informed with what is occurring in their lives, but never like or comment on anything they post, nor tag them in anything.
There is a good chance that if you have posted a story, it will be one of the last to appear in your story viewer’s order due to this lack of interaction. Facebook uses information, such as interactions, to try and make the best possible experience for you.
Therefore, their algorithm will conclude that you care more about the friends you have that you heavily interact with than those you never really interact with on Facebook.
So they will promote the heavy interaction accounts to appear sooner in your story viewers than those you never really interact with on Facebook.
Facebook does this to make the app as enjoyable as possible for you so you can get a better glimpse into who is viewing the stories you post.
2. How Many Mutual Friends You Have
Another factor that Facebook uses to determine what order story viewers will appear on your feed is through how many mutual friends you have with someone, meaning accounts that have more mutual friends will appear first in your story viewers. Those who you have fewer mutual friends with will appear later.
So, let’s say you have a sibling that is very close in age to you. Oddly, you have many mutual friends on Facebook because you have the same family members, grew up in the same town, have the same friends, and went to the same school.
All of these mutual friends will cause Facebook to think that you guys are close and have some sort of relationship because of all of these mutual friends. Thus, the algorithm assumes you would enjoy seeing that they have viewed your story more than others so that they will place your sibling’s story view sooner or the person with whom you share so many mutual friends.
On the flip side, maybe you added someone on Facebook because they posted something on Facebook MarketPlace, and you needed to add them to better communicate with them. Then this is your only connection to this user, so the two of you have no mutual friends.
If this person were ever to view a story you posted, they would most likely appear later in your story views order because you have no mutual friends.
Facebook’s algorithm will conclude you do not have as much of a desire to see if they viewed your story compared to people who have seen your story with whom you have multiple mutual friends when you go to see who has viewed your story.
3. Do Stalkers Appear First on Facebook Following List?
If you are wondering how Facebook decides to create the order in which you see your Following List, you might be thinking that the first accounts to appear may be stalkers. The reason they first mean they frequent your account and “stalk” it by looking at it far more than your other followers.
Facebook will not put your stalkers first in your Following List, so rest easy knowing that the first account is not for sure a stalker, but maybe it could be purely through coincidence. Your Follow List order is based on timing and not stalking.
All this means that people who have just recently followed you or you have recently followed will appear first in this list. Those you have been following for some time or have followed you for a while now will be much further down on your Following List.
If you just recently met someone and decided to follow them on Facebook, they will be one of the first accounts to appear in your Following List because of this recent follow. Being the first person does not mean that they are your stalker, so there is no need to question why they have appeared first on this Following List.
An old family friend you added ages ago will be seen later on your Follow List, but they could be stalking your account, which would not affect where they fall on this list.
This list is determined by timing and timing only, so the number of times someone decides to visit your page or you choose to visit theirs, will have no determination on where they or you appear on a Follow List.
4. People Who You Recently Became Friends With
How recently you have become friends with someone will also be a factor considered by Facebook when they decide what the order of your story views will be. Suppose you have recently become friends with your new college roommate.
In that case, there is a good chance that their story view will be one of the first ones you see when you open up Facebook and check who has viewed your story.
Then this occurs because the algorithm that Facebook uses to create story viewer orders has data that concludes that the more recently you have become friends with someone, the more likely you will want to see their story.
While this could be very true, it could also be inaccurate. If you had just added your newly met college roommate, this algorithm might be correct because you want to see if they are watching the story you are posting.
However, this order may be faulty because you have recently added a distant family member, whom you are not close to, that just got Facebook. Chances are, you do not want to see if they have seen your Facebook story when you could see your other friends’ views sooner.
All this means is anyone you have been friends with for longer story views might not appear as quickly as others, only because you have been friends for so long.
While this could be a good thing for you, as there are some older friends’ story views that you do not care for, there could also be some people you have been friends with since you created your Facebook account whose story views you would much rather watch earlier, but appear very late in your story view order. Facebook does this because they believe this is the best way for you to see who views your story.
5. Geo-location
Your location will also play a significant role in how Facebook orders your story views. Your Facebook friends near you will appear sooner in your story views order than those farther away.
Let’s say you are married. All this means your spouse will be one of the first accounts to appear in your story view order because they most likely live with you, given that you are married to them.
While this can work in your favor and be a factor that you enjoy, it can also be annoying if you want to see the story views of those who live further from you first. If you have just moved away from home, you might be missing your parents every night.
You moved hundreds of miles away from them, so their story views are not the first ones to appear in your story view order, even if you wish they did, because you want to know that they are seeing what you post about as soon as possible.
However, you could also enjoy this factor if you are just a little more closely with the friends nearest to you than those with whom you are friends that have countless miles separating you.
If you just moved away from home, maybe your new friends in this city are seeing your story about various social events near you.
In these cases, seeing their story view sooner may benefit you as they can learn about different events near you that they can attend to meet you. Through this, you can better understand who is viewing your story and if posting about local events is worth it.
6. People Who Have Lots of Friends
The number of friends that someone has is also a factor that Facebook uses to create the story view order you see when you first open up the Facebook app to look at your views.
Those you are friends with who also have many other friends will appear sooner in your story view order, which causes those with whom you are friends who do not have many other friends will appear later in your story view order.
Again, this can be good or bad, depending on who you want to see in your story order. How many friends someone has does not affect your relationship with them at all, so if you want to see your grandma’s viewing your story, you might have to scroll down before you can get to her view if she does not have too many Facebook friends.
Then, those who have hundreds, if not thousands, of Facebook friends will be the ones who viewed your story that you have to click through or scroll past to see the views you want to see.
However, you could also want to see the story views of those with many Facebook friends, so this factor could impact you depending on whose story view you want to see first.
7. Verified Accounts
If you are following a verified account or are even friends with a verified account, their story views will be the first ones to appear in your story order views. Then this is because verified accounts mean they are at least a reasonably famous person.
They need this verification to ensure future followers that this is their actual account, not someone trying to impersonate them.
Once again, you might either love that verified accounts are the first story view you see or hate that verified accounts are the first story view you see. If you are one of the people who does hate it, an easy solution to not seeing their story view first in your story view order is to unfollow them or unfriend them.
If they are verified, chances are they are a celebrity, and you are probably just following them to keep up with their lives.
Since they are confirmed, they will appear first, and unless you know them in real life and want to stay involved in their updates, just unfollow them or unfriend them so that their story view stops appearing first when you use Facebook.
On the other hand, if you love seeing what verified accounts are viewing your story, you are in luck, as their story view will be the first ones you see when you decide to open up Facebook to look at who has seen your story.
Why is the Same Person Always at the Top of My Facebook Story Views
You may notice that one person always seems to be at the very top of your Facebook story views. Facebook has an algorithm in place for where they place the people who view your story when you check story views.
Until you get over fifty views on your story, the story views that you see will be based on timing. So, the first person you see is the most recent person to have considered your story, and the last person is the first person to watch your story.
However, once you get above fifty views, you may start to notice that it is always the same person who appears first in your story views. The person is listed first because, after fifty views, Facebook organizes your story views based on accounts you have interacted with the most.
Interactions include liking each other’s posts, commenting on each other’s posts, tagging each other on Facebook posts, and using Messenger to communicate. The more you interact with someone, the more likely they appear at the top of your story views.
If your best friends are super interactive with each other on Facebook, this is why they always appear right on top of your story views or whichever account you interact with the most.
Does Facebook Show Who Viewed Your Story in Order
Facebook does show who viewed your story in order up until a certain point. This point is fifty views. So, up until your story reaches fifty views, you will be seeing the order in which people watched your story.
When you check your story views, the first account that appears is the one that has most recently watched it. Then this means that the last account when you scroll down to see all of your viewers was the first person to watch your story.
However, once you reach fifty views, Facebook no longer shows you the order in which people viewed your story. Instead, Facebook gives you a list based on interactions.
Those at the top or more interactive with your Facebook profile, and as you scroll down, the accounts become less interactive with you. After fifty views, there is no correlation with when someone viewed your story.
You see a list solely based on how much you two interact with each other on Facebook. However, if you never get over fifty views, those who viewed your story will remain in the order they watched it.
What Does the Order of Facebook Story Viewers Mean
The order of your Facebook story viewers means a couple of different things and will change based on the number of views you have. Until you have fifty or more views on your story, the order in which you see your story viewers means this is the order in which they viewed it.
The accounts that are first to appear in your story viewers have seen your story just recently, and those lower on the list saw your story earlier in the day. Then, once you get to fifty or more views, your story viewers will mean that the accounts that first appear on the list are the most interactive with your profile.
Those lower on your Facebook story views list are less interactive with your profile. Facebook decides to organize story viewers in such a way to give you better insight into who interacts with your profile and who does not.