How do the 6 friends photos at the top of Facebook Timeline get choosen?

Speaking of the Close Friends list, the suggestions it gives me right now make me feel like those are the people who recently looked at my page or at least hovered over my activities in the right hand side-bar thingy. I'm also getting friend suggestions that match these people who are my Close Friends suggestions. A lot of them match my poke suggestions as well! Right now I'm thinking that recent viewers are hidden in plain sight if you can connect the dots between the different suggestion list! –  Athalia  Oct 1st, 2012 at 5:59 PM

My crush who was always #3 or 4 went to #13 for some time... now he is back to #3 after I know he looked at some pictures I posted because we were texting and I told him to look and he confirmed he did lol –  Clueless  Oct 2nd, 2012 at 2:42 AM

Also to add, as I stated in a previous post my crush has always been at the bottom of my friends list after he looked he went up to the middle. He is now back at the bottom. –  Clueless  Oct 2nd, 2012 at 2:46 AM

My celeb crush had moved down the keesh list with the reset, but now he is back to the top just below those marked as relatives (as they are automatically bumped up +1). I have tried not to look at his profile any more than I do my other friends.

We are also in each others top 1-10 rows of friends, whereas I never got above row 20 of his friends before (he's got 1000+ friends). So I think something also changed with friends order algorithm recently. Anyway, I am pretty sure that he is looking at my pics and shares. He has "liked" a few of them. I'm excited because when I finally get to meet him in person, I'm sure he'll know me!! –  portlandia  Oct 2nd, 2012 at 12:21 AM

FBuser, can you try to make yourself known? Will he freak out if you do? Are you sure you moved up on his list because of stalking?

I know that my celebrity crush knows I exist because I've commented/liked his posts a lot. I try not to go too overboard. At first I was afraid that he would think I was a freak, but so far he hasn't acted annoyed. He likes some of my posts too...so maybe he is flattered by my attention. We are in each other's top friends now. We are both married and stuff, but there's nothing wrong with a bit of flirting, right? :-) –  portlandia  Oct 4th, 2012 at 3:56 AM

Anybody else have a "locked" 6 box right now? For me, it's showing the same 6 people every time I refresh! It's people I view the most. I think facebook is onto us again and changed it! Because the past couple of days when I've viewed my own timeline as someone else, the people showing up in the 6 box were people who I *think* recently viewed me (based on the friends suggestions fb was giving me). –  Athalia  Oct 4th, 2012 at 10:30 AM

@Athalia - Yes, I have the "locked" 6 box. It's showing 6 guys I rarely interact with and never or super rarely view their profiles. I hardly ever like or comment on other peolpe's postings. But I have to mention that in some point in time we had chatted a lot in facebook. –  unc3ns0r3d  Oct 4th, 2012 at 8:03 PM

Does your boyfriend look at your profile? Do you look at his profile often? Do you look at other profiles often? This all matters... Do the people that show up in your 6 friends box have reason to look at your profile? All this factors into who is appearing in your 6 friends box, and other mutual interactions, such as Private Messages weigh heavily as well. It is definitely not random as to who shows up in the 6 friends box in the majority of cases... everyone might have different sorts of people showing up in their 6 friends boxes for slightly different reasons based on friendships and relationships, but there is almost always an algorithmic reason as to why they show up in the 6 friends box (as of now). –  Answers  Oct 5th, 2012 at 4:21 AM

Different issue but I don't get my crushes new tags in my newsfeed anymore, it only appears in the ticker, now I only get the news in newsfeed if he shares something. What does this mean ??
I havn't been on his profile for three months appart from twice, one of which recently which has made him reappear a bit everywhere. We have lots of friends in common, and news I get on newsfeed are about people I often don't interact with at all.
I take it for a good sign our intercation is way too low... –  marie  Oct 5th, 2012 at 7:34 AM

Just registered. Yup he does check out my profile often and so do I... we check each other's page even when we're sitting right beside each other. And those people whom i have messages with surprisingly end up low on the 100 refresh list. Plus the 2 people who appeared most often are honestly people whom I haven't contacted for a very long time...didn't even touch their messages or view their profile. unless they're stalking me unknowingly. In fact I just put a whole bunch of those rather distant friends under acquaintances and the 6 friends box are now based on 26 whom I did not put in the acquaintance list. And my bf is now ranked first on a 100 refresh list (doesn't appear everytime but still, improvement i guess).

As for the tags...My bf just got tagged in a post by his friend and I didn't even realize it existed until I saw his page. But it works perfectly fine for photos. He was tagged in some and I saw them in my newsfeed... –  pr0wl  Oct 5th, 2012 at 8:09 AM

Not really a reply to you Emmy, but I don't know how to post a new response.

Anyway, I just noticed something surprising...the day I became friends with my crush is highlighted on my timeline (ex: June 22, 2012 "Portlandia" became friends with "Crush" and big photo of him)!! This is not something I highlighted--Facebook did this! Has anyone else seen this sort of thing? At first I thought it was only me who could see him highlighted on there, but I logged in through my dummy account and saw the same thing. The only other friendship highlighted on my timeline is when I became friends with my Mother-In-Law. Is that weird or what?

Please Everyone, share your thoughts and experiences on this highlighted friendships thing. –  portlandia  Oct 6th, 2012 at 7:25 PM

I have noticed the same things, Md. However, I think the people who are constantly showing up on your 6 box on refresh are because they just happen to be online at that moment or YOU just viewed THEIR post/profile....And it could mean that they are online at that particular moment because they were notified of your post. I also think that the way someone gets into your 6 box in the first place is because they have some kind of interest in you or because you have MESSAGED them...unless FB has a way of remembering who you used to have in your close friends box.

It's sort of easy to tell who's online because of the ticker....I even see that the guy I have a crush on will start appearing over and over in my 6 box when the band he's in posts an update which shows on my ticker. –  portlandia  Oct 7th, 2012 at 4:36 PM

I just had another idea for a test to see whether someone is looking at your stuff, but I need some feedback. When you share something and put in the settings that only one person can see it, does that person know that only they can see it?

I ask because then all you need to do is post a link to youtube or somewhere where you have access to the page analytics. Then if your youtube video or whatever gets a hit from that link (and youtube tells you which hits are from facebook), then you know they saw your post and followed your link). –  portlandia  Oct 7th, 2012 at 4:41 PM

Replying to myself...yes the person can see the fact that you're only sharing a post that is viewable by them. Darn!! –  portlandia  Oct 7th, 2012 at 4:45 PM

OK people are going to think I'm insane for posting so much here...But tonight I just appeared again in the 8 box of the guy I stalk (he's a celebrity) and he's been in my 8 box for at least 2 days in a row now. I have been trying not to visit his page in case I did look like a stalker, however I do click on all of his status updates and sometimes I comment, but he also likes some of my updates. It just so happens that I sent him a private message through SoundCloud today (I've never PM'd him before tonight), and he replied pretty quickly. –  portlandia  Oct 8th, 2012 at 4:49 AM

I forgot to mention that in all my experimenting, I have avoided going to my crush's profile (haven't visited it in a couple weeks; and when I did a couple weeks ago, I made sure not to comment on or like anything). So keeping this in mind, I am very encouraged when I see my crush pop up in my 6 box shortly after I post (I think that she shows up pretty quickly after I post anything on my timeline because I believe that she has me in her "Close Friends" list, which means that she will get immediate notifications when I post, and presumably is then going to my profile to view what I posted). It is also encouraging that despite the fact that I have not visited her profile in a couple weeks, she is showing up in my box of 8 friends when I view my profile as the public would see it (although when I am viewing my profile as myself, I don't see her at all in my box of 8 friends). –  md  Oct 8th, 2012 at 1:32 PM

When you see your own profile, who is instead of your crush? –  Stranger  Oct 8th, 2012 at 1:56 PM

@ Stranger - there is a mix of other friends from my friends list (excluding my crush) when I view my own profile; when I view my own profile it varies significantly from what I see when viewing my profile as public. I only see a couple people from my friends list (one of them being my dad) both in my own profile and when viewing it as public. @ fb user - I am not seeing myself in my crush's box of 8 when I visit her profile (I broke down and went to it just a few minutes ago after abstaining for at least two weeks); but I see her in my box of 8 when I visit my profile as public. Her position varies - it jumps around and does not stay in one particular spot. But then, nobody appearing is staying in the same place - they're all moving around.

I have not really visited anybody's profile for a few weeks... maybe this is why the friends that are appearing regularly are jumping around and not staying in one particular place? –  md  Oct 8th, 2012 at 2:33 PM

In my list, she is at the top of the third column. In her list, I am the second one down in the first column –  md  Oct 8th, 2012 at 3:28 PM

Okay, I have to say that I'm pretty determined that the 6 BOX is mainly people we stalk, people I've purposly stalked showed up, a friend purposly stalked me and never showed up, and I showed up in his 6 box, and I've found that the randoms ones I'm listed with them in a small group such as college or else. I'd like to think otherwise because my crush shows up there most of the time, though I haven't been on his wall at all this summer, only once two weeks ago which is nothing compare to people I've purposly stalked.
BUT, I do stroll on a few of his news on the side clipper thing, there again just as much as for others.
My theory is fb still remembers my intense stalking three months ago..hahaa---.
Same goes for POKES SUGGESTIONS, I believe - and it makes sence - the ones who show up there are the ones where the interaction isn't mutual enough, as none of my close friends I've been stalking show up. Just after I visited my crushes profile 2 weeks ago, viewed some pics and a video, he started showing up there and still does, same goes for tagged photos. Of course I'm thinking this is lasting quite a bit, but still, can believe it's all due to my own interest that fb seems to have identified.
Sorry this is long, but about the 8 BOX, that one must be a mixt of both, but definitely some who show up there are those with some intercation from our side.
Now the FRIENDS LIST, that one is a bit of a mystery, for example I've looked a lot at the profile of a band I'm friends with, definitely sure this profile hasn't at all visited me, and I happen to be at the top of their friends list, when they are in the middle of mine. PLus a guy who I know stalks me, and who's profile I've been on ages ago and only once is also very high in my friends list, thow he's never liked or commented anything of mine, and I'm much lower in his (viewed from a dummy account).
As for the odd ones on HIGHLIGHTED FRIENDS, they often happen to be very close friends of the initial person who should be there, but some ARE odds for me. Not sure thow I can turn them out as stalkers.
In the end my crush happens to be very low in tchat bar, around 30, just after people who probably stalk me, anyway, it's enough for me to think that he doesn't view my profile.
But anyway, what to make out of it, he wouldn't really creep on me in any case. PLus, have just seen him in real, so much more of a challenge I guess, but so much less alianating and crasy than this fb crap. The density of this whole discussion shows how fb works our minds up.... sadly I'm definitely addicted to it now, enjoy refreshing my page endlessly plus visiting this discussion for more crunchy, unhealthy news......
TO PUT IT IN A NUT, there is almost NO WAY to see who is stalking us, as it's also all due to other people's amount of intercation with others, and we can't take the mesure of those.
But yes, being at the end of someone's list is a sure guess that they don't stalk us at all.
Haha dangerously going down in the second group of my crushes friends list.
And if fb is reading this, plus linking it to my account, well ENJOY, your work is crap. –  marie  Oct 8th, 2012 at 5:30 PM

Marie, is your crush someone who is in a band too? And you show up at the top of their list and believe they've never viewed your page? Maybe it's because of a recent interaction?

My highlighted friend for 2012 is the guy I have a huge crush on who is in a band, and we have no mutual friends at all. –  portlandia  Oct 8th, 2012 at 5:40 PM

I hate to say this but we'll never figure out cause facebook keeps tweaking. Notice how frustrating it is that every time we think we've sort of figured out something, it disappears or change or whatever. –  Urban  Oct 8th, 2012 at 6:07 PM

Anyone else having their 8 box updated multiple times during the day based on interaction? My crush keeps popping in and out of my 8 box. –  portlandia  Oct 8th, 2012 at 10:53 PM

I have also been following this thread quite religiously for a few months. I agree that top 6 is people we stalk, plus our top friends, or people we have a lot of interaction with (people ranking up to around ~25th on our orderedfriendslist).

I agree with fb user, because I also think that the friends list has a lot to say about that person, for their top friends (people who they have interacted with a lot) usually show up on the top of the list. The friends lists seem to be in a hierarchy of various groups. (There's a blank space that divides the people. I regard the people bracketed by 2 blanks as a group) Other than the top 2 groups, I'm not sure how FB groups the rest. My crush (that I stalk by visiting his profile, clicking on his links and so on; but I never like or comment on anything) ranks quite low (second to last group). I rank on his last. So for me, it seems that someone being on the bottom of my list doesn't mean lack of interest or stalking.

Also, regarding the "view source", there's a huge area with jumbled up code that I cannot make any sense out of. I think it is encrypted information that we potentially might be interested in. Remember there used to be something called "WhiteListedFriends"? When that disappeared few weeks ago (and also when many of us suspect that facebook switched around its algorithm), the area with the code expanded. Any thoughts on this?

and I also think fb checks this thread, too :) –  calligaris  Oct 9th, 2012 at 2:26 PM

No, I visited it once, and visited someone else's profile too, but that person didn't show up in my 8 box.

What happened was I posted a status update about 24 hours ago, then he popped in my 8 box, then he was gone by this morning, then I posted another status update, then he popped back in there again. A couple of days ago the same thing happened. And what's weird is that someone who actually responded to my status update this morning popped into my 8 box at the same time my crush did (although my crush did not respond). –  portlandia  Oct 9th, 2012 at 2:14 AM

Portlandia you know there's been mutual interaction from his own likes, and that would be enough to make him show up in the 8 box as you've interacted with him a lot. But you can't rely on that to tell you if he's cheked your recent status, some friends suddenly show up there and have confirmed they haven't recently seen anything of mine or been on my profile, sometimes haven't logged in for a couple of days. And people I've liked things of tend to show up in my 8 box for at least a week if not more. –  marie  Oct 9th, 2012 at 1:31 PM

Well it was weird because he was in and out of my 8 box for the last 3 days, rather than just staying in there the whole time. Most people in my 8 box stay in there for 3 days at a time without coming and going. I have one guy who's been there for like a whole week (he only went away for about a day, then came back). Incidentally, he's a guy who had a crush on me in college and we just became fb friends, and I commented about one photo like 2 weeks ago.

As for my celebrity crush, the other night he showed up in my 8 box right after we had a PM conversation through SoundCloud, but we hadn't communicated via facebook! –  portlandia  Oct 9th, 2012 at 2:14 PM

Recently, I've noticed pretty much the exact same things that you talked about happen as well. It seems pretty clear that the algorithm for both the 6 box and 8 box have changed fairly recently (most notably the 6 box), and are constantly getting tweaked in some fashion. –  Answers  Oct 10th, 2012 at 5:38 PM

8 box does include some people who have recent interest in you, even if it is only viewing your profile or posts, but not taking action. I know this for a fact. But to know whether someone is silently stalking, there has to be a test like the one I mentioned for sharing a link that can be tracked back to the source. I am going to test something tonight. –  portlandia  Oct 10th, 2012 at 11:20 PM

Yes, you could certainly share a link, and track certain data points from the link or page you link to (info such as: ip address, browser, date clicked and more, can all be easily tracked). You might be able to use the Facebook API to pull more info. For example, the IP Address can be used to get an approximate location of where the person is located. So while this could narrow down who clicked on the link, this wouldn't necessarily mean they are actively checking out your profile / pictures.

But with that said, if you were to then keep an out as to who's pictures are showing up in your profile in the day/ days after you post the tracking link, it could certainly clue you into who might be taking an interest in what you post. –  Answers  Oct 11th, 2012 at 12:53 AM

Maybe someone else could try out my idea, which is you share a link with your friends, but under exclusions, you exclude everyone except the person you're crushing on. The link would go to a youtube video from which you can track analytics from facebook links. I don't know whether the crush would see that you are only sharing it with them. But it would take time to go through and exclude every other friend.

I was going to try this, but then my celebrity crush started liking a few of my posts, which guarantees he knows I exist. Now we at the top of each others friends lists. –  portlandia  Oct 11th, 2012 at 2:42 AM

Do you log in with different computers? I have different keesh lists between my home and office computers. –  portlandia  Oct 11th, 2012 at 3:50 AM

same comp –  Matt901  Oct 11th, 2012 at 3:58 AM

The keesh list underwent something of a reset a couple of weeks ago. That could be it. –  portlandia  Oct 11th, 2012 at 4:00 AM

For some reason I wasn't able to make a new post. I just thought I would mention it's about 2:30am where I am and Facebook was acting up. Usually when it is acting for me it means changes, so let's see what happens! –  Clueless  Oct 11th, 2012 at 6:25 AM

My Keesh list and chat list just updated, I guess that was all lol –  Clueless  Oct 11th, 2012 at 6:27 AM

Do you think that stalking someone makes us go higher in their friend list or them go higher in ours ?? –  marie  Oct 11th, 2012 at 6:55 PM

@marie, I have that same question. I'm not sure. Certainly do think it's a good sign if you are in the top rows of the other person, while they are also in your top rows. Then I think it's most likely mutual viewing. And generally speaking if you are in someone's top 3 rows on their friends list, I'd assume you are high up in their keesh list. People in my top 3 rows are all in top 10 on my keesh list. –  Athalia  Oct 11th, 2012 at 9:03 PM

I'm now in the 16 row of my crush list. He has 202 friends. I was in the middle before. He was in the middle of mine, and now in the 20 row. I've got 174 friends. What's going on... –  Stranger  Oct 11th, 2012 at 9:16 PM

Stranger, I'm in the top 3 rows of my crush's list, and he's the same in mine. I think it's due to recent interaction, and then the longer between interactions, the lower you go. –  portlandia  Oct 11th, 2012 at 9:44 PM

I forgot to mention that my crush has over 1000 friends and he's famous, so there's almost no possible way that he looks at my profile and posts as much as I look at his. –  portlandia  Oct 11th, 2012 at 9:51 PM

Thanks Portlandia. Well, I don't know what do you mean by recent interaction, but I just look at his profile, without doing anything else. And he doesn't do anything on mine. –  Stranger  Oct 11th, 2012 at 10:04 PM

By recent interaction, I mean you commented on his status, and he liked your comment, or vice versa. But I don't think profile views alone necessarily bump anyone up in the friends list. –  portlandia  Oct 11th, 2012 at 10:08 PM

So I don't know. I unfriend him in july. We're friend again since september, but I didn't comment, like.... since. Or vice versa. –  Stranger  Oct 11th, 2012 at 10:18 PM

Today I'm in the 9th row....Very strange. –  Stranger  Oct 12th, 2012 at 12:18 PM

3 or 4 times a day. Sometimes once a week, sometimes never. –  Stranger  Oct 12th, 2012 at 3:36 PM

Something is just so weird now. My crush is going lower and lower on my list, and I went lower on his..and NOW some unknown person suddenly went up to top 3 row of my friends list. –  Urban  Oct 12th, 2012 at 5:00 PM

We used to be on each other's top 3 row. –  Urban  Oct 12th, 2012 at 5:04 PM

Ok guys, I just commented on someone's photos, one hour later she is now on my top 3 rows. –  Urban  Oct 12th, 2012 at 6:17 PM

Julie, it doesn't seem possible at all. Do you log in under two different computers so that you have two different keesh lsits? –  portlandia  Oct 13th, 2012 at 6:02 AM

I look at his profile much less than before. –  Stranger  Oct 14th, 2012 at 7:22 AM

@ Portlandia, do you get your crush in pokes suggestion ?? I have a feeling we only get people who aren't in the the top of our friends list. –  marie  Oct 13th, 2012 at 9:41 AM

@marie, my crush is #5 on my keesh list, but he still shows up in my poke suggestions.. –  Athalia  Oct 13th, 2012 at 4:21 PM

Ok but are you both in the first rows of each others friends lists ? And do you stalk him a lot ? Or have you stopped stalking him. –  marie  Oct 13th, 2012 at 5:02 PM

@Marie, I haven't seen my crush as a poke suggestion.

@sonytvturk, you can still have someone high on your keesh list even if you're not friends. Do you still look at their profile? If not, I'm sure it will go down after awhile.

Anyone have someone stuck in their 8 box every day for a week? I do (not my crush, but someone who I think might stalk me) –  portlandia  Oct 13th, 2012 at 6:49 PM

@marie, I've noticed that we both rotate within the first 10 rows of each other's friends lists. I do look at his page a few times a day and I know he looks at mine (he's told me). I'm currently in his 8 box and he's regularly in mine. –  Athalia  Oct 13th, 2012 at 6:54 PM

My crush is number 2 on my Keesh list, he's in the poke suggestions, when I look with my fake profile, I'm in his 8 box, but he's not in mine. I'm in the first 10 rows of his list(before much lower). He's in the 28th of mine. When I look at his profile with my real account, i'm not in his 8 box. I don't know what to think anymore. –  Stranger  Oct 13th, 2012 at 8:38 PM

@ stranger, does he show up in your 6 box ? how much do you stalk him and have you had mutual interaction ? –  marie  Oct 13th, 2012 at 9:56 PM

He shows up a lot in my 6 box. Like I said, before I defriended him, just to see what happened.We had a few private messages, he liked just one time on my page, and I commented just 2 times on his. At the time, I stalked him so much. He was in my 6 and 8 box, and I was in his 10 friends list on the left, with the old facebook, number one on my chat bar.Then I decided,to not looki at his profile during 2 month. He disappeared from my 8 box, go down in my keesh list after a looong time. I know he's looking at facebook, but doesn't interact much with people in genreral.
That was before.
Now, since we're friend again, we don't interact with each other profile. Not at all! And I was wondering, why am I much higher on his friends list(10throw). –  Stranger  Oct 14th, 2012 at 7:10 AM

jenna, where is he on your keesh list? I think the people high on your keesh list tend to frequently show up in all of these places. –  portlandia  Oct 15th, 2012 at 2:14 AM

Maybe you haven't interacted with him lately, but the keesh list weighs your most important friendships based on total interactions with all of your friends, plus how many times you search for his name—in relation total number of interactions with all of your friends. The Keesh list is generally the same as your “ordered friends” list when you view the HTML code for your profile. If you can determine that this person is not high on your keesh list, then it is likely this person is “stalking” you. –  portlandia  Oct 15th, 2012 at 9:41 PM

Did anyone else's 8 box and friends list just get completely nonsensical? –  portlandia  Oct 16th, 2012 at 3:10 AM

I noticed I got a different set of top 8 friends and top 5 friend rows in my friends list also (though I have one original set that hasn't changed).

For my different recently changed set, I noticed that the top 5 rows now consist of the 15 most friends you added. And the top 8 for me, consists of a random cycle of 19 or 20 people. –  nameless  Oct 16th, 2012 at 3:20 AM

Good thing for me, I know what person fb replaces my photo with in my crush's 8 box, and her photo is still showing up there. The 8 box still shows some of the people I interact with a lot, and the rest are random.

Yes, the top rows of friends are all those recently added. –  portlandia  Oct 16th, 2012 at 3:24 AM

update: just to confirm on my end, the ENTIRE FRIENDS LIST seems to be based on most recently added people. Recently added people are at the top, and it descends to the the oldest facebook friends are at the bottom.

The top 8 though.. Usually it was directly connected to the top friends in one's friends list, but now it's pretty random, other than having 20 set people. #8 spot is occasionally filled by my #2 person on my keesh list though(we've been messaging each other quite often), –  nameless  Oct 16th, 2012 at 4:42 AM

Here's what I think: Constantly over analyzing about the position of your friend on your top 8 and top friends is just a waste of time and is only going to make you more obsessed with them. It's really not worth it at all. Just live your life productively, and if you have a good relationship with the person, instead of obsessing over them on the computer screen, hang out with them more often in person--otherwise, move on, like I'm doing now. –  nameless  Oct 16th, 2012 at 4:50 AM

Portlandia,
8 box and the entire friend list is indeed nonsensical now. Also, putting someone on acquaintance does not stop them from appearing on top 8 and 6 anymore. I had to put someone on restricted list in order to make her disappear. If this doesn't work I may consider deleting her completely. –  Urban  Oct 16th, 2012 at 4:51 AM

Nameless,

You are right. It really is based on who we add most recently. –  Urban  Oct 16th, 2012 at 4:55 AM

I'm so glad I figured out my celebrity crush knows I'm alive before fb screwed up everything. Tonight I sent him a message and he answered me like 2 minutes later!

I agree, nameless, about wasting too much time obsessing about this stuff, but I don't actually know my crush in person. I haven't met him face to face yet, but I wanted to gauge his interest first. He seems interested now...I just want him to stay that way!! –  portlandia  Oct 16th, 2012 at 5:07 AM

Now that the 8 friend list is completely changed like you said, I think the 6 friends box is something to focus on. When I log in with my fake account and visit people's profiles, the 6 box shows interesting people (I can for example see my picture in my crush's 6 friend box). Based on my knowledge of my friends' interactions, I believe it now shows the top interactions/stalkers/stalkees of the person. At least when I visit my own profile with my fake account the people showing in my 6 box are not random anymore but shows also my crush and my closest friends with whom I either interact publicly a lot or by chat. Actually, the people in it are much like the ones on my keesh list. Previous set of 6 friends people was complete nonsense to me. –  confused  Oct 16th, 2012 at 6:30 AM

Darn facebook! This is so frustrating! Only thing it tells me is that we were on to something before and the 8 box and friends were actually showing us something. Oh well, it was interesting to speculate.
One new thing I've noticed as well is that my chat list order when I drag the list down is now updated. My crush went from #9 to #6. For what that's worth. –  Athalia  Oct 16th, 2012 at 7:14 AM

Yep everything change for me too. If fb changed the algorithm so often , that was because we were certainly right. When I look now with my fake account, I'm still in his 8 box, but now, he's in mine too... –  Stranger  Oct 16th, 2012 at 8:14 AM

Now my 8 box has three strangers and my 6 box doesn't make sense either. I say forget it. If someone likes us they will ask us out. Let's go out and meet friends. This facebook thing is getting on my nerves. –  Urban  Oct 16th, 2012 at 8:57 AM

Yeah, I give up.It's a game, and i'm tired. Let's back to my real life, enough to do or see with my family and friends. Bye everybody. –  Stranger  Oct 16th, 2012 at 9:32 AM

Everything is back to normal this morning!! Yay! –  portlandia  Oct 16th, 2012 at 1:52 PM

Yep, it's back to how it was. I wonder why the change in the first place? Maybe just testing. –  Athalia  Oct 16th, 2012 at 3:11 PM

Cool, I like the reactions this has come up with, yes the game has overlasted, real so much better. –  marie  Oct 16th, 2012 at 2:48 PM

I don't know, Rfb, but it seems like the algorithms in general might be stuck right now. I've had the same annoying person in my 8 box for 2 weeks straight (someone I've barely ever had any contact with). I even put this person in the Restricted list, but she still remains in my 8 box! Arggghhh!! –  portlandia  Oct 20th, 2012 at 12:15 AM

Please also not for the point number 3) i clicked on the friends link.. then viewed the mutual friends.. do not just look at the 6 mutual friends appear on the profile page. –  Tagya  Oct 20th, 2012 at 7:18 AM

I was checking out my celebrity crush's page every day this week, but I had to stop because I kept showing up in his 8 box...I would be in there for a few hours, then go away, then come back, and this was going on for about 5 days straight. I went for a day without viewing his page, and now logged in with my dummy account to see that my photo is gone for now.

He was showing up the same way in my 8 box last week, but hasn't shown up at all this week.
I am just paranoid now that he knows I stalk him because my photo is in his 8 box so much! I was looking at his page a lot longer and a lot more frequently a few months ago, but my photo NEVER showed up back then. But now I think he knows I like him (I've dropped a few hints), and we mutually interact now and then, but not even this week. –  portlandia  Oct 20th, 2012 at 4:48 PM

Tagya, the order of friends in your chat list /search box is based on your Keesh list combined with whomever is in your Close Friends list--so the person you stalk the most will naturally be at the top. Doesn't necessarily mean that person doesn't stalk you also, but the chat list order is not an indicator of who stalks you. Even if you have not viewed your crush's page in weeks, she may still be at the top of your Keesh because of earlier stalking. –  portlandia  Oct 20th, 2012 at 9:42 PM

@Tagya, the stuff you are describing is just based on your actions towards her. Even if she is stalking you on a daily basis, keesh list, search bar and chat list can't be affected by her. And what makes you certain she stalking you? Cause in my case, I thought the whole time someone I barely know is stalking me. But honestly there is no reason for that. So I guess its wishful thinking.
Or maybe these particular person thinks that two can play that game. –  julie  Oct 21st, 2012 at 4:12 PM

The same thing keeps happening to me, FB User--my crush appearing in my 8 box suddenly for several hours. Is he #1 in your keesh list? I'm was wondering if my crush appeared there because I looked at his page. Meanwhile, my annoying sister-in-law is nearly always in my 8 box. She will disappear for a few hours, then reappear again and stay for longer. I've even moved her to "Restricted" and she still seems to be there permanently. –  portlandia  Oct 24th, 2012 at 3:18 AM

@portlandia Have you listed your sister in law as family? Or do you have any other interaction with her? I am asking cause my alleged stalker is pretty high in my friendslist, while I am super low . I stopped spying a couple of weeks ago. So I guess it can't be me. Other people that are super high in the top rows are based on public interactions (picture likes, status comments, etc.) Sorry for my stupid questions, but I am super annoyed by this person. Showing up in the top 6 every fu*** refresh. –  julie  Oct 25th, 2012 at 5:04 PM

one of my friends is now stuck in the bottom right corner of my 8 box -- first person to be stuck there in MONTHS! –  tiff  Oct 23rd, 2012 at 3:38 PM

I'm replying here, because I don't know how to post a new answer.
Ok, yesterday I liked a girl's cover photo, with whom I've had no interaction whatsoever since we became friends 8 months ago. A few hours later she appeared in my 8-box and she's still there.
A couple of months ago I liked another girl's profile pic, with whom I've never had any other interaction. Ever since, she appears in my 8-box almost every day and occasionally in the 6-box.
Both girls also rised in the all-friends list after I liked their pics. (me liking their pics is the ONLY interaction we've ever had in general)

Other than that my 8-box shows people I frequently or recently interacted with, and potential stalkers. –  randomname  Oct 24th, 2012 at 4:04 AM

oh! Also today I liked a 3rd girl's photo, (very rare interactions with her). Minutes later she appeared in my 6-box and she's still there. Also in my 6-box a girl with whom I had done an experiment a couple of months ago. (The most random friend I had with whom we've had NO interaction, no photos or events together no likes no nothing. I don't even know who she is. I stalked her hardcore for only a few days and that's it. A while later she appeared in my 6-box and she's still there quite frequently fro 2 months now!)

Other than that my 6-box shows the most interactions, people I stalk and potential stalkers.

What intrigues me the most and seems very consistent is that damn 3-friend list, which rotates among 10-or-so friends in the friends finder. It's been consistent since forever! But a few weeks back it changed a bit in a very interesting way for me. Now it's back as it has been forever. I'd like to hear some opinions on what this list shows for everyone else. –  randomname  Oct 24th, 2012 at 4:14 AM

Yes I guess so, there is no way to find out who is looking on your profile.. however the searchbar comes with interesting things sometimes!!! –  JX  Oct 24th, 2012 at 2:24 PM

fb user, I hardly ever interact with her. I didn't think she was on facebook much at all until she sent me a message 2 days ago, but she had been practically glued to my 8 box for 2 weeks before that happened. I think besides that I'd liked one of her photos about a month ago...that was all of our interaction. Interestingly, her parents apparently got upset with me because of my political leanings and unfriended me a few days ago. What's weird is that when her picture leaves my 8 box, my brother (her husband) shows up there. I can't figure it out! She is high in my friends list, I'm not high in hers. But there's no reason she should be high in my friends list! –  portlandia  Oct 24th, 2012 at 9:19 PM

Yeah, it looks like by putting someone on the "Acquaintance" list or by completely Unsubscribing to all their postings from your news feed, seems to also get rid of them completely from the 8 Friends box. –  Answers  Oct 25th, 2012 at 5:41 PM

Not the case for me. I've got plenty of my Acquaintances in my 8-box. Putting them in that list only makes them disappear completely from the 6-box though. –  randomname  Oct 25th, 2012 at 6:35 PM

I know what you mean about the close friends popping up when you refresh the pokes page, but I honestly think the order is random. I don't give much weight to the close friends suggestions because when I click on the close friends page, it sometimes gives me a suggestion, right under where it says 'on this list' on the right hand side. Right now it's giving me a suggestion to add this girl who liked something on my timeline yesterday. We have no other interactions before this. And last week it suggested someone I had just accepted as a friend that same day. I think close friends is based on keesh and on new interactions (someone you just added or someone liking something on your page for the first time) –  Athalia  Oct 26th, 2012 at 4:16 PM

Something I find much more interesting is when you refresh the pokes page and it shows the mutual friends suggestions. For me, the first few people it shows are the same as the top few of my mutual friends list (when I go to the mutual friends page), but when I click the suggestions away with the little x, new suggestions pop up that are not the same as the ones on my mutual friends list. Maybe whoever those friends belong to (that sounds funny lol), is a recent viewer of my page? –  Athalia  Oct 26th, 2012 at 4:22 PM

Hi Athalia, well for the 1-3 people that are in the small list of Close friends suggestions on the right hand side of the Pokes page, they do seem to be sort of random and based on Keesh. But the 20 people in the "see all" box definitely aren't. For example, my #2 on Keesh is never there (at all). This makes sense because she was my ex years ago, but now our interactions are almost non-existent. As many here have found out, once somebody is high on the Keesh list he or she doesn't go down easily. That must have happened to her I guess. She is sometimes on the 1-3 people suggested though. But I'm sure the 20 people are based only on much more recent interaction. Also this list changes every few hours with people moving up and down, but just a little bit. Maybe it also matters that I don't have any people under Close friends or Family, that keeps this thing very "clean" if you understand what I mean. But what I hope to find is that other people here find potential stalkers high up there. That could be an important clue. –  Rfb  Oct 26th, 2012 at 4:50 PM

Is he also in your poke suggestions? –  randomname  Oct 27th, 2012 at 9:48 AM

i dnt c any poke suggestion! Also i dnt knw where ppl find poke page n poke suggestion. But if i put letters of any one of his names (first, middle, last or other names) he is always on top. He is also in d presenceprivay data of view source. He always on d whitelisted friends ( fb though deleted it now) –  belogical  Oct 27th, 2012 at 10:38 AM

also he is always 1st frnd if i c my profile as "view as" of any mutual friends. –  belogical  Oct 27th, 2012 at 10:43 AM

A new thing I noticed today (maybe fb just started it)...I see one set of people in my 8 box when I'm logged in as myself, and another set of people when I'm logged in with my dummy account. Has anyone else noticed this? –  portlandia  Oct 27th, 2012 at 6:00 PM

I've noticed that certain friends in my 6-box appear more frequently (almost in every refresh) at certain times of the day, (eg morning) while they hardly appear during other times of the day.

Has anyone else noticed? What's with that? Do you think it has to do with whether or not those friends are online during those times, even if they're not doing any kind of activity (comments/likes etc?) –  randomname  Oct 28th, 2012 at 8:21 AM

@randomname Yes, I've noticed that and I think it definitely has to do with whether or not they are online / active on facebook during that time. During the day when you know certain people are at work and are not checking in on facebook, they seem to appear much less often, when compared to at night (6pm til Midnight). –  Answers  Oct 28th, 2012 at 8:48 AM

Some Random Guy, Where are you on her list of friends and how many friends does she have? If you are high on her list, that could be a good sign she visits your page or reads your posts. I think the poke suggestions are sort of random. Chat list, Ordered Friends, Search box order are all based on the Keesh list. 6 box is what we're all trying to figure out here, as with the 8 box. –  portlandia  Oct 29th, 2012 at 3:09 AM

@portlandia, it is not right that if sm frnd shows up higher they r only viewing ur updates. I have 4 ex friends who r in middle or low in my frnd list, im also low or middle in their's. But i read and c every activity of them, we just dont interact publicly. My top friend list consists of ppl who's picture/status i liked recently or wrote on their wall most. i think 8 list is also consists of that. –  belogical  Oct 29th, 2012 at 8:26 AM

Does anyone know whether the way WE see a friend's "All friends" list is the same way he/she see their own list?

I'm think I'm convinced by now that the way we view a friend's 6 and 8 boxes is NOT the same way they see those boxes. But I have no clue about the "all friends" list. Has anyone checked with an actual friend of theirs in real life whether this is true or not? –  randomname  Oct 29th, 2012 at 9:00 AM

@portlandia: I don't think you're fully correct that the Orderedfriendlist is based on Keesh. The search box is though. I think FB also measures our more recent interactions somewhere. That's input for the Orderedfriends list, which I strongly believe has a mutual side to it. Random people I stalked excessively for testing purposes don't get very high. Also people high on Keesh don't get high on my Ordereredfriends if there hasn't been some recent mutual interaction or I suspect they visit my page. Oh and do you remember I was talking here about my Chatlist being frozen for a month? It started moving again within a day!! I wonder if it was just a coincidence or FB checking this site and changing the algorithm. –  Rfb  Oct 29th, 2012 at 9:14 AM

@Rfb What do you mean your chatlist was frozen? It showed the same people every day or you couldn't scroll up and down to see the order your friends would appear?

If you mean the former, then mine has been frozen forever. I've gotten the same 16 people in my chatlist ever since I can remember-with only very few replacements.

The 16 first people in my orderedfriendslist are the 16 people who constantly show up in my chatlist. (all of them also show up in the 6-box and some of them in the 8 box)

I agree that the orderedfriendslist and chatlist are not totally consistent with the keesh list. But it is kinda consistent.

Also I have no doubt in my mind that facebook are checking this conversation. I have plently of examples in my mind, the most recent being that of the "whitelisted" friends. –  randomname  Oct 29th, 2012 at 9:36 AM

Where do you find the Orderedfriendslist? –  Athalia  Oct 29th, 2012 at 12:10 PM

@randomname: Yes that's what I mean, especially my top-10 on the Orderedfriends & chatlist wouldn't change anymore at all. Before, the list alternated between an older and newer version and people moved positions much more often. Then I got the same list for about a month and mentioned that fact here. The very next day it started alternating between 2 lists again! But it seems like it's the same "old" list again that's extra. So actually I don't believe my interactions of the last month are properly reflected in the chatlist anymore. Until September, it would be much better updated and make sense for mutual interaction. I sometimes suspect FB has frozen this list (and a few others) to make us lose interest and let this thread die out.

I believe the reason why it's "kinda consistent" with Keesh is because FB can only allow to show us who visits our profiles if we also visit them. So you have to interact with somebody (at least by viewing their profiles) to make them visible on your lists.That's what I believe, that both Keesh and Orderdfriends have in common that they are triggered by our own behaviour. Only I can't really find a mutual aspect in Keesh. The only exception I can find is the 8-box. That's the place where someone can appear if he or she stalks you and you never visit their page. I have noticed a few times how I started appearing in the 8-boxes of my most random friends which I stalked by experiment. At the same time I remained very low in their "all friends" lists. So I definitely wasn't there because of the normal cycle. –  Rfb  Oct 29th, 2012 at 12:54 PM

i think rfb is right abt 8 box.....my 8 box consists of sm listed relatives with very interaction and sm guys i never really care abt. It doesnt reveal mutual stalkers, reveals one sided stalkers. May be still, not sure. Friend list positioning also seems creepy –  belogical  Oct 29th, 2012 at 5:52 PM

@belogical, yes but the problem is that when a stalker is high in your all friends list, it becomes very hard to find out why he or she shows up in your 8-box. My potential stalkers for example are in my first 2 groups. So whenever they show in the 8-box, I can't really figure out if they are there because of the normal cycle of friends that passes there, or because they have been stalking my profile a lot recently. Another thing is that as you all probably know, liking somebody's posts of pictures can put them in your own 8-box and make them move up your all friends list. This week for me this happened with 3 people, but strange thing is that it happened with a months delay. I liked something of them a long time ago and it first nothing happened. Strange how FB can take so long for this still to have an impact. –  Rfb  Oct 30th, 2012 at 9:19 AM

Gees...I have been in my celebrity crush's 8 box for the past 3 days! And I've been so careful not to visit his profile unless it's with my dummy account! We haven't had any interaction for about a week now, but it's like I'm glued to his 8 box....Ugh!! He hasn't been in my 8 box in days--but he has been glued there for days in a row in the past. Do you think there's something in the algorithm about not showing up in each others 8 boxes at the same time? –  portlandia  Oct 30th, 2012 at 10:00 PM

I am so confused cause of the keesh list. I havent been on fb the whole last week, just one time a day with my phone to check my messages and now the stats are so much higher than the last time. Where does that come from?? My "crush" is #3 in my keesh list. And I was avoiding her profile, just a short visit to check, whether she is on a party or not, can boost someone up from -4.xx to-6.xx? –  Ari  Oct 31st, 2012 at 5:50 AM

@portlandia: Unless FB is changing something again, I don't think there's a reason why you can't be in each other's 8-boxes at the same time. I checked this a lot and until a few days ago I was often in the 8-boxes of 1-3 people who were in mine also at the same time. Right now I haven't checked. But I do think FB prevents the same people from being in somebody's 8-box all the time. Don't you have the same experience? I've had people in my 8-box 3 days in a row (coming and going in shifts) and these were actually my potential stalkers btw.

Another strange thing about my 8-box yesterday: in the morning I visited the profile of a very random friend who happened to have her birthday. It was just out of curiosity and because I doubt if she remembers me at all, I didn't leave anything behind on her wall. And then after the next refresh a few hours later, she was in MY 8-box. This never happened before to me, I just checked her page once and browsed through around 10 pictures of her. –  Rfb  Oct 31st, 2012 at 6:18 AM

Today when I visited my profile, I realized I can no longer drag the chat friends list at the right side of the screen below the ticker. It used to show 16 friends when pulled all the way up and when pulled slowly down they would disappear 1 by 1 leaving the top friend. Now it only shows 1 friend (who was actually my 2nd top friend) wtf?

Is it a glitch, or did fb change that? –  randomname  Oct 31st, 2012 at 7:53 AM

@ Rfb, I just tried the thing you described with a random friend of mine. I'll come back later or tomorrow and tell you the result. –  randomname  Oct 31st, 2012 at 7:57 AM

@ Rfb, I came back with results sooner than I expected! Did the thing you described above with the random friend and he just appeared in my 8-friends list. (Just visited his profile and went through a few pics. Other than that I didn't even know who he was nor had he ever appeared before in any lists. Interesting)oh the mystery fb! I'm sure they're monitoring the discussion and will change this one too soon.. –  randomname  Oct 31st, 2012 at 8:57 AM

@randomname: that's amazing!! I just reported it as a funny observation, but that you can actually do it as an experiment and get results so quickly really baffles me.. I think I can congratulate you with the most succesful experiment in the history of this thread :-) I immediately did the same thing with another random friend, let's see if this thing happens again.

About dragging the chatlist: probably you can still make your browser smaller bit by bit? If I do that, the chatlist still resizes one friend at a time with it down to the #1.

@portlandia: I can confirm now that still one of the current people in my 8-box has me in theirs also.

@everyone: I didn't get many responses on my question about the Close friends suggestions I posted a few days ago. But I really believe there's something into that. But in order to test it, it may be necessary to empty your Close friends and Acquantainces lists. I can't tell what the influence of family members is, as I haven't marked any as such. But with clean lists, you should get interesting results in the big 20-people Close friends suggestion box (under "see all"), at the right side of the Pokes suggestions page. –  Rfb  Oct 31st, 2012 at 9:22 AM

my close frnd is always empty. I got cf suggestion most often 2 months ago whenever i open any notification on the right side.....i bliv they r mutual stalkers...and when i opened see all there was 15-20 frnds which i biv mix of mutual n one sided stalkers.
And chat bar is freezed with 5 frnds...it is not moving at all...not up, not down, not online, not offline.....strange! –  belogical  Oct 31st, 2012 at 9:36 AM

@randomname, another development: the girl I visited once who showed up in my 8-box, just made her appearance in my chatlist at #12! Can you check that for the guy in your 8-box also? I understand you can't make your chatlist bigger anymore, but in my case her ID# is also in the same place on the Orderedfriendlist in the source code.

@belogical, if you want the close friends suggestions to appear, delete 2 or 3 of the commercial ads on the right side of the Pokes page, and keep refreshing this page for 2-15 times. After a while I always get these suggestions then. In my box, I suspect the first row to be mutual stalkers. My 2nd and 3rd row are people I interact with mutually, but not too much (like real life friends). In the rows below that are a few people I stalked one-sidedly for testing. –  Rfb  Oct 31st, 2012 at 10:08 AM

@Suddenly were both in each other's 8-boxes tonight! I logged in with dummy account. I was out of his box for about 24 hours, now I'm back. And he's in mine (which is the version that everyone sees). There is a completely different set of friends you see in your own 8-box when you log in with your dummy account to see from everyone's else's perspective. So I don't think he even realizes that I'm in his 8 box (unless he has a dummy account too!) –  portlandia  Nov 1st, 2012 at 5:19 AM

I meant the above post for @Rfb (oops, I screwed up)

I was going to mention also, that my celebrity crush just came back these evening from a tour with his band. Maybe that's why he's back in my box? –  portlandia  Nov 1st, 2012 at 5:21 AM

@portlandia, ok I understand! :-)

It's interesting to wonder why someone is in your 8-box. But personally I find it very hard to single out the cause for someone to be there, if he or she is also in your own top rows. Because then they could be there just because of the normal loop. Maybe it only becomes clear if he shows up a lot more than others or indeed at times which make sense in a way?

About the 8-box being different to yourself than to others, can you explain more about that? Because I don't have a dummy account, I can't talk from my own experience and I'm also not really sure I understand everything you say about it. Because when I view my friends' 8-boxes, the same rules seem to apply. I see people high on their all-friends lists, people I know they have liked or commented on recently, and sometimes myself if I randomly stalked them. So do the same rules apply, but is it just filled with another group of friends from what you see yourself? Or is there a different logic behind it? –  Rfb  Nov 1st, 2012 at 10:53 AM

@Rfb - Sorry I go on and on about this. It's just that I was wrong about the two of us not showing up in each other's 8 boxes at the same time, because it happened last night. The only weird thing is, he only stayed in my box for a few hours...then I popped into his box, then he disappeared from mine shortly after. So maybe I'm half right about that.

About the 8 box being different from outside perspective...this is something facebook seems to have put into place just a few days ago. I posted above about it. If you go to the "View As" option, it will give you a similar effect as logging in with a dummy account. Some of the pic in your 8 box will be the same, but for the most part it's a different group. So you never actually know who each of your friends see in their 8 boxes when they're logged in! –  portlandia  Nov 1st, 2012 at 1:53 PM

all i know, friend list never reveals secret stalkers. I have 2 dummy, by those 2 dummy i mostly view my profile bt i dnt visit those 2 profile. 2 dummies r in bottomrows of my frnd list.
And fb is being random now for sure, they are changing everything. –  belogical  Oct 31st, 2012 at 11:29 AM

But that means @Belogical that it have to be interaction between the profiles... I think when you look at your dummy's also they became higher!! I think that comes i visit my bestfriends profile a lot but she never does that it stays the way as it was. It'is never onesided!!.. I hope so actually because that could mean that he looks back!! Anybody else an idea??? Also my chat friendslist likes to be frozen!! –  JX  Oct 31st, 2012 at 11:45 AM

I agree with JX, it has to be 2-sided for friends to move up the all friends list. It would be great if belogical could do this, visit the dummys pages and see if they move up and/or start appearing in the 8-box. FB definitely isn't random. Each of my boxes and lists are filled with people that make sense in some way, it's just very hard to guess the algorithms. –  Rfb  Oct 31st, 2012 at 11:58 AM

i didnt visited 2 dummies bcoz i was trying catch my real stalkers.....i tried nt to visit their profiles n c where they are.......2 dummies always on mutual 3 ( though i didnt logged on 1 dummy for 1.5 month!), top on search list, 6 box, 12-15 ranking on chat bar, whitelisted frnds,bt never on 8 frnds

anyway, now im starting to visit my dummies profiles ;) –  belogical  Oct 31st, 2012 at 12:44 PM

forgot to mention.......bt im top on my dummies frnd list (have around 60 frnds), and on 8 box of my dummies –  belogical  Oct 31st, 2012 at 12:53 PM

@belogical, that's great! I'm curious what's gonna happen. Do I understand correctly that your dummies stalked themselves into your regular account's 6-box, mutual 3 (=find friends?), whitelistedfriends? Search list would surprise me, since that's based on Keesh, which seems to mostly reflect your own activity..? Or is it really as you say?

Another thing: do you use your dummy account to like and comment on people or just lurk? Because I've found that when people lurk, their all-friends list is ordered by the people who's pages they view. Then it would make sense if you use your dummy to stalk yourself, that your regular account is on top and gets rotated in your dummies' 8-boxes as well. –  Rfb  Oct 31st, 2012 at 1:08 PM

Quit difficult isn't it?? Anyway what about my question?? Why on earth will i be so high on his list?? I.ve not looking [from my own profile]now for 2 weeks[hee i'm too embarassed!!] but i have checked with another friends account and i'm still in it!! Does he look also or not??? –  JX  Oct 31st, 2012 at 1:36 PM

@JX: You're high on R's list because he replies to your wall posts. If you interact with someone publicly, you move up in each others all friends list. Because your best friend probably hasn't returned anything (you say she's not a regular facebooker), you remain low. As soon as she likes or comments on anything of yours, you'll move up in her list. Just stalking her profile won't make you go up all by itself. –  Rfb  Oct 31st, 2012 at 1:50 PM

Ok I understand that but he's replying to a lot of people not only me, he has almost 3000 friends I quess there must be something else the otherones of the top of his list are mostly real relatives... That's why i.m a little bit worried normally I should.nt be there I think... Everytime I post something he will appear in the 6 box! Pff ... –  JX  Oct 31st, 2012 at 2:20 PM

i stalked myself with those dummies but shared some pages and liked some pages too. Im in d top of dummies frnd list bt they r low on mine.and yes they shows up in findfrnds 3, 6 boxs, top on search bar and 12 rank on chatlist, also was on white listed (fb deleted it nw). But my dummies r nt in 8 box of mine. –  belogical  Oct 31st, 2012 at 2:27 PM

Woah, something interesting I just noticed. I have about 2 or 3 different versions of my friends list (a couple of people keep popping in or out so I can tell it keeps going back and forth), but just now I noticed I show up in my crush's 8 box at the same time as he shows up in the first 5 rows of my friends list! As soon as his 8 box changes to one without me, my friends list also changes to one without him in the first 5 rows (he goes back down to the 6-10 row range)! Coincidence maybe, but I can't help but think there might be a link between the algorithms of people who mutually stalk each other.. –  Athalia  Oct 31st, 2012 at 2:35 PM

Athalia..Are you sure you stalks each other??? –  JX  Oct 31st, 2012 at 2:42 PM

@Athalia, that's interesting.. Although I don't really see how FB would pull this off technically (but I'm not an expert). It seems like a very complicated algorithm because basically everyone is related to everyone once you're friends. I have the impression that the 8-boxes change for everybody at the same time. So maybe you guys are just on a "rhythm" of moving out & in each other 8-box/top rows, without it being related. But keep watching this!

@JX: I also have some suspicions that apart from public interaction, there is some profile viewing involved in who stays at the top of the all friends list. For example I have some people stuck in my first 5 rows whose picture I liked months ago. While other people I liked more stuff of in the meantime have dropped lower already. Do you have reason to believe your crush might really be interested in you? Do you know him in person or catch his attention otherwise? –  Rfb  Oct 31st, 2012 at 3:12 PM

I realy don't know I've only meet him one time and he asked my little son to dance with him on stage! But I followed him on Twitter also and just 2 weeks ago he was following me back!! And he is not following everybody so Yeah I sure hope he has interest in me but then again......I dont know what I should do But for a whole year i guess i have looked alot more on his profile than i do now and before i was low in his list and suddenly at the top!! –  JX  Oct 31st, 2012 at 3:23 PM

@JX, well, cannot confirm that he does, but he has liked/commented on my page and mentioned to me in person things I had posted on my fb. And on his friends list, I'm pretty high and surrounded by friends of his that I know he looks at and interacts with a lot. For what that's worth.

@Rfb, Yeah, I don't know how fb would do that, but it's just something I noticed. I will keep watching it. –  Athalia  Oct 31st, 2012 at 3:33 PM

@Athalia & JX: So you both have had mutual interaction with your crushes. I always find it hard to conclude anything more in that situation. Because FB can pick out any mutual interaction and either put one or both of you at the top of each other's lists, or not. And also with or without a delay. But I do believe that when you also visit your crushes profile a lot, you can move up to the top of his list if there's at least some mutual interaction to enable this. I actually think the fact that he follows your Twitter or mentions things you post on FB to you in person are much better signs!! –  Rfb  Oct 31st, 2012 at 3:44 PM

@Rfb, well I live with my crush (we're housemates), so there are other ways aside from fb to gage interest, but I'm still fascinated by the algorithms. You're right though, once there has been mutual interaction, it's hard to tell if it's still on-going or if fb is keeping track of past interactions. So there actually really is no way to tell if it's recent viewing on their part that makes someone appear higher on your friends list. Oh well, still fun to wonder. –  Athalia  Oct 31st, 2012 at 4:40 PM

It's sure is... but i'm gonna stop wondering and go on because you will never find out the whole truth or you have to ask the people you suspect and hope they will answering sincerely haha
With all this answers i know for one thing that he has been looking and he knows who i am and that's enough for me....Facebook is a public book so you decide who can look or can't look. And I don't have friends that are anonimous to me so and i won't tell secrets on FB, so if they want to read about it go ahead... But thank you all for this interesting posts, I became almost a fanatic person who's gonna test everything what was written here.. And sorry for my english... –  JX  Oct 31st, 2012 at 5:31 PM

Stalking has got to have something to do with it when we're talking about showing up high on a celebrity's friends list. In my situation, he's got to interact with his real life friends way more than me. We've never even met! But I am consistently in his top 3 rows! I am often in his 8-box! We haven't had any mutual interaction in over a week. Many other fans have posted comments and things on his wall since that time, but they don't seem to have the staying power at the top of his friends list. My stalking him must have something to do with it. –  portlandia  Oct 31st, 2012 at 8:01 PM

@portlandia, yes that's exactly what I think as well. It's actually quite flattering as there are some girls in my own top rows who I guess shouldn't be there if they weren't stalking me :-) But of course it's very hard to know for sure. I'm never very low myself on these girls' lists (1stm 2nd or 3rd group). But none of them has a lot of public interaction with me. I always seem to come just after their female friends which they publicly interact with more (I see it in the ticker). –  Rfb  Oct 31st, 2012 at 9:07 PM

@Rfb Do you ever look at those girls' profiles? Or have any interaction with them? If so, what kind of interaction has it been? Were you possibly tagged in any photos together? Or did you "share" one of their posts? –  portlandia  Oct 31st, 2012 at 9:31 PM

@portlandia: with each of these girls, I have only 1 or 2 public interactions (liking a photo, folder and/or writing a wall post). All of these that back to almost 3 months ago. With some of them, I have some PM communication. But the only one who has been consistently in my top 5 rows (without ever dropping to the 2nd group) surprisingly was the one without PM communication and only 1 like I ever gave her. In the last 3 months, there a many friends I liked more, had more frequent and lenghtier PM conversations with who are much lower. But these people I'm sure wouldn't really stalk me, they're just friends.

Btw, I personally have never found real evidence that being tagged in the same pictures means anything. The only reason could be that when you're tagged in the same pictures, you end up visiting the same profiles which would count just by itself.

Oh and I do look at these girls pages indeed. 2 of these girls are actually in my top 4 on Keesh. But these 2 have dropped to the second group actually for a while now. I think for your own friends list, it matters more if they visit you, like you notice with your celebrity crush. But how this works exactly I haven't really figured out. –  Rfb  Oct 31st, 2012 at 9:49 PM

@RFB My celebrity crush and I are both in each other's top 3 rows consistently. And he is very high above everyone in my keesh list. I used to look through his photos A LOT, but haven't recently. I do find myself looking at his wall at least once a day, although I don't interact with him every day. Do you think there's any possible way he might be stalking me back? I wonder this sometimes, because last week he did respond to some of my posts on his band's page like 2 minutes after I posted them. –  portlandia  Oct 31st, 2012 at 10:02 PM

@portlandia, well I have been reading your contributions for some time now, even before I started posting here myself (while I was still doing my "research"). But from what you have posted here, I really believe that he's at least very aware of you. Also definitely not bored or so, then he wouldn't respond so quickly I think. He might actually be interested in you, or just likes the attention you give him. You being in his 8-box so much also draws his attention of course.

I think you're consistently in his top rows because he has interacted with you, and you stalked him back to reinforce your position. In my own friends list, I can basically determine the top rows myself if I just like or comment on some friends more. So if your celebrity crush is one of the 5-9 people you interact with most publicly, he would even be there if he showed almost no attention to you at all (I think). If there are many other people you interact with more than him, he would have to stalk you back to get above them in your list. Keesh finally is not very important for the friends list. My top 5 on Keesh can be found just anywhere (top, middle, bottom). –  Rfb  Oct 31st, 2012 at 10:22 PM

@Rfb Yes, I think he's very aware of me, but I always wonder how often he follows threads that I start that have nothing to do with him. He never participates in threads that I start, although he might like a status or two that I post. He will engage in conversation with me if I respond to one of his posts.I guess I will never know how interested he is until I actually meet him, which I don't have plans to do until next summer, as he lives in another city. I have recently become fb friends with another one of his top fans, who actually knows him well in real life. This other guy has offered to introduce us to each other, and mentioned it in a thread conversation on my wall. I don't know whether my crush read this conversation or would even be aware of it unless he follows me pretty closely on facebook (has me listed as a close friend or something). –  portlandia  Oct 31st, 2012 at 11:03 PM

I'm new to these threads and like the rest of you, am mesmorized! haha...One thing I would like to add...I really don't think the friend's list has anything to do with stalking at all.

First, when I look at my top 20 friend's list, there are "maybe" 3 people on that list in which I've visited their page. Even then, I did not visit their page more than 1 or 2 times in YEARS. Other than that, every single person in my top 20 are people I've had low-regular public interaction with (liked posts, comments, pics, etc...). The question could be posed, "do these people look at/stalk MY page?" I suppose it's possible, but I don't think that's true either. Namely, because there is a guy whose page I visit quite regularly (at least once a day). If it were based on stalking someone's page, I would be at the top of HIS list, yes? I'm not. Unless....I think someone brought up the possibility that the friend's list may look different to different folks? Not sure about that one...

I think the friend's list and the 8 box is primarily based on public interactions or groups you belong to with certain people. Well, at least based on my assessment. All those that circulate through my 8 box are people I have regular contact with through posts or posts in groups.

I think the 6 friends box varies slightly in that it is based on those deemed family and again, those whom you have MUTUAL interactions with. In my six box, I have family members that rarely get on FB and when they do, they NEVER comment on my posts, nor I on theirs. Most of these members have been listed under the "family" tab. Yet...they still rotate through my 6 box.

The others that rotate through the six box (those NOT listed as family), are those in which I have MUTUAL interactions that consist of commenting and liking of posts and pics. Well...all except one...that would be the guy above...the only interaction I've had with this guy (we briefly worked on a business venture together...there were "sparks", but it fizzed before it got started...we're "friends", but really don't talk much anymore) is two tags (months ago) and ONE conversation through private messaging back in August. I've never liked his posts, pics, etc...and he's never liked any of mine. I want to believe it's based on mutual viewings because it simply doesn't make sense to me how every other person that circles through (those that aren't family), I've had MUTUAL interactions with. Why would the algorithm change to be one-sided just for one person? If EVERY OTHER person that circles through the six is based on mutual interaction (and for mine it is), why would it not be the same for him? Bottom line....I think it looks for mutality any way it can - whether it's through mutual liking of posts, mutual commenting or mutual viewing. Just my two cents based on what's going with my page! :-) –  Marilyn  Jan 19th, 2013 at 7:18 AM

Hi Cupcake, this is a question I think I have the definitive answer to. I think it might also interest others as I have seen this question asked a lot earlier, but never seen answered in this way. The search bar is ordered by the Keesh list, which I assume you know about. This list also contains people we're not friends with. Many here assumed these were people that visited our own profiles. But I found out this wasn't true. Who these people really are, is the people who have posted the pictures of which your friends are tagged in (and you viewed)!! So when you go to friend A's page and click on his photo's, there's usually a bunch of folders which he has uploaded himself. Underneath is a collection of unsorted photo's in which he was tagged. Now when you click on these and go from one to the next, you assume you still have only visited the profile of friend A. But FB actually registers these as visits to pages of the people on whose profiles each of these pictures was uploaded! Especially when you have a crush and have browsed through his or her tagged photos regularly, you will notice that these friends whose photo's he's been tagged in and you viewed from his or her own page, will show up quite high on your Keesh list and when you use the search bar. Even though you might not even be aware of who these people are!! –  Rfb  Oct 31st, 2012 at 9:17 PM

@Rfb - I am certain we have no mutual friends. No tagging is involved. I only have 80 friends. This cannot be why. –  Cupcake  Nov 1st, 2012 at 1:08 PM

@Cupcake, ok you can only judge for yourself of course if there are really no mutual friends. But for me, it works every time. I never get people in the search bar who are fully random. My experience is they come from Keesh. And the only way for them to get on your Keesh is if you visited their profile. That could be via the indirect way I described above or simply by going to any stranger's profile. –  Rfb  Nov 1st, 2012 at 2:09 PM

@Rfb - thanks for replying. sorry I have no idea what keesh is. I am not educated in computers or anything either. lol. If you are NOT friends with someone on facebook, you cannot make a guess if that someone has viewed your profile? so the search bar is ONLY based on who I have viewed? –  Cupcake  Nov 1st, 2012 at 2:31 PM

I'm not into computers myself also! The Keesh list is just a simple tool to see the file that FB uses to order your friends (and other people) in a certain way. This list is used as input for the search bar. If you look through this whole thread, you can read more about it and how you can use it yourself (I'm not good at explaining the technical part). It seems to be mostly based on whose profiles you visit yourself. I really believe that you need to have visited somebody's profile at least once to make them appear on the Keesh list at all. But if their position on this list is also influenced by mutual viewing, is difficult to prove.

But to answer your question, I personally believe non-friends will not show anywhere on your page just because of them viewing it. They could be somewhere for other reasons, like a mutual friend suggestion, or you having viewed them (also unconsciously). This E-person you mentioned, can you really think of no ties between you and this person in any way? –  Rfb  Nov 1st, 2012 at 4:21 PM

@Rfb - what if I stalked you and then you stalked me? Would we start showing up in each others search bar? I admit I did visit her profile after she kept popping up. lol –  Cupcake  Nov 1st, 2012 at 5:47 PM

Yes, I do believe mutual stalking will do that!! :-) I do that too, visiting people out of curiosity ("why are they in my 8-box?" "Why is this one on top of my friends list??") –  Rfb  Nov 1st, 2012 at 6:15 PM

Even if we are not friends? Like if I started to stalk her, then I would move up on her search bar? is your FB profile set to private? –  Cupcake  Nov 1st, 2012 at 6:21 PM

Yes for the search bar it really doesn't matter if you're friends or not. FB will simply take the highest persons on this Keesh list for each initial. Also your privacy settings don't matter (it just determines what people can see). –  Rfb  Nov 1st, 2012 at 7:02 PM

Thanks for answering my questions! I have a ex that I used to be friends with on Facebook. I unfriended him a long time ago. I haven't been on his profile for a month or so. I have noticed that when I type the first letter of his first name he comes up. Sometimes he ranks higher than one of my friends. Does that mean he's looking at me? Also when I type the first 2 letters of his last name he comes up, along with his family members that share his last name. freaky! –  Cupcake  Nov 1st, 2012 at 7:08 PM

Well the Keesh list has a long memory. My ex-gf from 4 years ago is still #2 overall and still shows up on top of all lists (while we really don't interact anymore). So unfortunately it's not possible to know for sure if your ex still checks you out or not.. And if you type 2 letters, it really limits the number of people who still qualify, so it wouldn't be strange to see his family members also. –  Rfb  Nov 1st, 2012 at 7:31 PM

I guess I will just never know! lol probably should have blocked him a long time ago anyway:-) –  Cupcake  Nov 1st, 2012 at 7:36 PM

Sunainststable are you referring to my above post regarding the search box you type in? thanks –  Cupcake  Oct 31st, 2012 at 8:08 PM

No I still think it's not random, since the -say- 25% of my friends who appear in any of my lists and boxes are clearly there for a reason. And the 75% of my other friends (who I indeed barely interact with) never show up anywhere. Since your friend died, we can be certain your profile wasn't visited from his recently. My best guess would be that one of FB's algorithms has a big delay which makes him still show up there after it has shifted again (I don't know how long ago he died). For example: my ex-gf with whom I broke up 4 years ago is still #2 on Keesh. As a result of that, she's always one of the 10 people in the top-3 mutual friend finder and one of the 25 people who cycle through my 6-box. We really haven't interacted at all in these last 4 years and both of us have sunk to the very last groups of our all-friends lists. –  Rfb  Oct 31st, 2012 at 9:29 PM

Oh and to respond to your other observation of the girl who knows about everything you post: in theory, she could read all new posts from the newsfeed, without visiting your page. If she does actually visit your page, I think it's still quite unusual for her to show up in your 6-box. Theoretically it's possible (we know of some examples from dummy accounts etc). But I believe our general observation is the 6-box is mostly filled with people we interact with ourselves (one-sided or mutual). I think it's hard to show up in somebody's 6-box just by stalking (it would take a lot of it). –  Rfb  Oct 31st, 2012 at 9:35 PM