Facebook Reels AI system

UPDATED JUN 19, 2026
The content you see on your Facebook Reels is selected, ranked and delivered to you by an artificial intelligence (AI) system. Within one AI system, multiple machine learning models work together to deliver your experience. These models and their input signals are dynamic and they change frequently as the system learns and improves over time.

Overview of Facebook Reels

When you view and interact with Facebook, one of the underlying AI systems delivers reels (short-form video content). This is content you may be interested in from creators you may not follow. It might also be cross-app recommended content from Instagram.
How Facebook Reels works
The AI system behind Facebook Reels automatically determines which reels are delivered to you, and in what order, by predicting what you’re most likely to be interested in. These predictions are based on a variety of factors, including what and whom you’ve followed, liked or interacted with recently. Here’s how it works:
  1. Gather inventory
    First, the system collects all potential reels you may be interested in. This content could include reels from people or accounts you follow, or reels that are similar to those you’ve recently interacted with. The system may also include reels from people or accounts that are similar to those you’ve followed or interacted with.
  2. Leverage signals
    Next, the AI system considers a variety of input signals about each reel. These signals might include the length of the reel, similarity to other reels and how much the reel matches the content you tend to interact with. A lightweight model is run to select approximately 10-100 of the most relevant reels for you. The system also applies certain integrity processes to help reduce the distribution of problematic content.
  3. Make predictions
    From there, the AI system uses models that help it make predictions about content you’ll find most relevant and valuable.
  4. Rank reels by score
    Finally, the system calculates a relevance score for each reel and puts them in order by this score. Reels that the system predicts will provide more value for you are shown higher in your Feed.
How to customize what you see
Your experience on Facebook Reels is personalized based on your activity, and you have options to control or customize what you see. Below, we describe how to do this with different in-product features. Options shown here may not be available to everyone.
Hide a reel
You can hide a single reel you don’t want to see. This action helps the system show you fewer similar reels. When the Reels section shows up in your Feed, you can also click the three-dot overflow menu to hide reels.
Save
You can save a reel to your own collection or to a collaborative collection in a chat with friends. This can help the system show you similar content.
Share
You can share a reel by adding it to your story or by sending it to someone via Messenger, text, WhatsApp or other apps. This can help the system show you similar content.
Report a reel
If you see content in a reel you believe goes against our Community Standards, you can report it.
Discover non-personalized reels
To discover Facebook reels that are not personalized specifically to you, use the search feature in the Feeds tab. By doing so, your search results will be based on the search term you enter. Learn more.
How the AI delivers content to you
We want you to see content you enjoy and find interesting. To achieve this, the AI system has models that help it make predictions about content you’ll find most relevant and valuable. These prediction models use underlying input signals to help select content you’re most likely to find interesting and valuable.
Below are some of the significant predictions — and the input signals that influence them — that this AI system uses.
How long you’re likely to watch a reel
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • How many times the reel has been watched to completion by others
  • How many times the reel has been viewed by others
  • The reels you’ve recently liked, watched, shared or commented on
  • The reels you’ve recently interacted with
  • The author of the reel
How likely you are to keep watching reels after opening one in full screen
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • The reels you’ve recently liked, watched, shared or commented on
  • The reels you’ve recently interacted with
  • How recently you’ve watched reels
  • The authors whose reels you’ve watched
  • The author of the reel
How likely you are to click a reel in your Feed to view it in full screen
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • The reels you’ve recently liked, watched, shared or commented on
  • How recently you’ve watched reels
  • How many times the reel has been viewed by others
  • The reels you’ve recently interacted with
  • The author of the reel
How likely you are to like a reel
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • The reels you’ve recently liked, watched, shared or commented on
  • The reels you’ve recently interacted with
  • How many times the video has been watched to completion in Feed
  • The author of the reel
  • How many times the reel has been watched to completion by others
How likely you are to watch a reel rather than skip past it
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • How long you’ve watched reels recently
  • The reels you’ve recently liked, watched, shared or commented on
  • The authors whose reels you’ve watched
  • The reels you’ve recently interacted with
  • How many times the reel has been viewed by others
How likely you are to watch a reel to completion
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • How many times the reel has been watched to completion by others
  • How many times the video has been watched to completion in Feed
  • How many times the reel has been viewed by others
  • The reels you’ve recently liked, watched, shared or commented on
  • How long the video has been watched in Feed overall
How likely you are to ask to see less content like this
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • The reels you’ve recently liked, watched, shared or commented on
  • How much the reel’s topic matches topics you tend to watch
  • The reels you’ve recently interacted with
  • The authors whose reels you’ve watched
  • The author of the reel
How likely you are to hide a reel
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • How much the reel’s topic matches topics you tend to watch
  • The reels you’ve recently liked, watched, shared or commented on
  • The reels you’ve recently interacted with
  • The author of the reel
  • The authors whose reels you’ve watched
How likely you are to start a viewing session after clicking a reel, rather than leaving right away
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • The reels you’ve recently liked, watched, shared or commented on
  • The reels you’ve recently interacted with
  • How much the reel’s topic matches topics you tend to click
  • How long others have typically watched the reel
  • The length of the reel
How likely you are to move on to the next reel after watching one
Signals influencing this prediction include:
  • The reels you’ve recently liked, watched, shared or commented on
  • The reels you’ve recently interacted with
  • How much the reel’s topic matches topics you tend to click
  • How long others have typically watched the reel
  • The length of the reel