Algo glossary #1
Simplifying the verbiage: plain English for the ranking words that actually affect your reach
Shadowbreak Glossary v1
If you’re trying to grow out of jail, you have to think like the system that ranks you. This glossary translates ranker speak into creator moves.
Denominator
What it is. The pool you’re judged against. For reach models this is usually impressions within a window, not your follower count.
Why it matters. “Low likes on 300 impressions” can be a stronger signal than “low likes on 30k followers.” The system watches what happens when you are actually shown.
Do. Track outcomes per 1k impressions. If a post opens weak on a small sample, don’t boost it. Post a new hero instead.
Engagement rate
What it is. Engagements normalized by views, often with different weights for different events. Historically, likes tend to be weighted higher than replies, and “good” clicks matter more than raw opens.
Why it matters. The ranker compares your expected outcomes to everyone else competing for the same slots.
Do. Optimize for the first 500 to 2k impressions. Use a single, clear idea that invites a like or a save. Treat replies as a slow builder, not your primary velocity.
Ranker
What it is. The model that predicts the probability your post will cause good things vs bad things for each viewer.
Why it matters. Your score is per viewer. The same post can be great for audience A and terrible for audience B.
Do. Aim each post at one cluster. If a post is for AI folks, keep it linguistically and visually in that lane so the ranker routes it correctly.
Candidate generation
What it is. The system that collects posts you could be shown. Sources include your follows, your follows’ follows, and topical neighbors.
Why it matters. You only get ranked if you enter the pool.
Do. Stay visible to your close graph with at least one clean original post during your followers’ peak. That seeds you into more pools.
In‑network vs OON
What it is. In‑network is your follows and their neighbors. OON is out‑of‑network.
Why it matters. OON is where growth lives, but it is gated by early signals and routing.
Do. Earn one or two early high quality likes within minutes from accounts adjacent to the audience you want. Then pin the hero to catch profile traffic.
RealGraph
What it is. The model of real relationships. How “close” two accounts are, based on historic behavior.
Why it matters. Close accounts have outsized power to unlock your OON.
Do. Keep a short, curated inner circle you genuinely interact with. When you pivot topics, pre‑warm with those who already bridge into the new cluster.
SimClusters
What it is. Topic neighborhoods learned from co‑engagement.
Why it matters. They determine which communities your post is eligible for.
Do. Use consistent terminology and examples inside a topic so you stay anchored to the right cluster. Occasional off‑topic posts are fine, but don’t muddle the language on your heroes.
Edges
What it is. The interactions that connect you to others. Follows, likes, replies, profile clicks, DMs, and so on.
Why it matters. Strong, recent edges raise your prior odds in each other’s feeds.
Do. Build edges intentionally. Comment like a human on three target accounts per day for a week before asking the algorithm to route you to their audience.
Bridges and bridge likes
What it is. A bridge is an account connected to both you and the target cluster. Their early like is a routing hint.
Why it matters. One well placed like can move you across communities more than ten random likes.
Do. Earn bridge likes. Write for them. Name them in context sparingly. Do not beg.
Routing
What it is. The path your post takes through the graph once it shows positive signals.
Why it matters. Good routing compounds. Bad routing wastes your freshness window.
Do. Keep the hero’s claim narrow and the visuals on brand for the destination cluster.
Mixer
What it is. The system that merges candidates from many sources into one feed. It also dedupes and enforces variety.
Why it matters. Your retweet often loses to the original. Too many posts close together cannibalize each other.
Do. Post fewer, stronger. Space your boosters. Prefer QTs with original commentary over naked RTs.
Deduping and diversity
What it is. Heuristics that prevent showing near duplicates or too many posts from one author in a refresh.
Why it matters. This is why one hero beats five mids.
Do. Give your hero breathing room on each side. Schedule support posts but avoid bunching.
Rescoring and multipliers
What it is. After model predictions, the system applies policy multipliers and quality adjustments. Historically there have been class multipliers for account types and safety. Exact values change.
Why it matters. If you post consistently and stay in good standing, the same idea travels farther.
Do. Keep your account in good health. Fix obvious quality hits before chasing clever tactics.
Budget and the daily dial
What it is. A soft cap on how much OON the system will try for a post plus a platform‑wide knob that makes For You feel “looser” or “tighter” on a given day.
Why it matters. Some days the same post gets more tries.
Do. Always keep one clean, OON‑ready hero in reserve. Release it when your followers are peaking and the platform feels loose.
Dwell and good clicks
What it is. Time spent, profile taps that lead to engagement, article reads, saves.
Why it matters. These predict satisfaction beyond vanity.
Do. Write first sentences that promise value. Pin a canon post or linktree so profile taps lead to a like, bookmark, or sub.
Negative feedback
What it is. Show less often, mute, block, report. These are modeled strongly, not just skips.
Why it matters. A handful of “show less often” events can nuke a post.
Do. Remove low signal bait. If you must be spicy, make it useful and specific.
Preview crop behavior for threads
What it is. Many timelines preview thread tweet 1 and the last tweet. Middles often get no surface.
Why it matters. You can rack up views on the opener while the body goes unseen.
Do. Put the checklist or summary as the last tweet. Put the full details as a self‑reply under tweet 1 so details are visible in the tweet view.
Anti‑gaming and declining account flags
What it is. Safeguards that reduce distribution when you look like you are manipulating metrics or rapidly declining.
Why it matters. Mass follower pruning, sudden topic whiplash, or high bot engagement can trip these.
Do. Make health changes steadily. If you must purge, do it in predictable chunks and offset with high quality heroes, not volume.
Reputation
What it is. A rolling summary of your past behavior and audience satisfaction.
Why it matters. It sets your baseline before any new post is even seen.
Do. Avoid repeated low quality patterns. Build predictable excellence in one lane, then expand.