Ads kind of are the reason though. Algorithmic feeds are found in every social media product because they create nearly infinite ad space "inventory". If your f

Ads kind of are the reason though. Algorithmic feeds are found in every social media product because they create nearly infinite ad space "inventory". If your feed was limited to stuff people you know post you could spend an hour, read it all, and be done for a while. But if you're not "engaged" you're not viewing ads. Metrics like "eyeballs" and "engagement" are important to social media products because they're proxies for the quality and quantity of ad space inventory you can sell to advertisers.