How the Feed Algorithm Works
The UnderKurrent feed uses a multi-factor scoring algorithm to surface the most trustworthy and relevant content. Unlike traditional platforms that optimize solely for engagement (which often rewards outrage, clickbait, and misinformation), our algorithm prioritizes trustworthiness and community contribution.
**The Six Factors**
Every post receives a visibility score from 0 to 1 based on these weighted factors:
1. **K-Score (25%)** — A trust/truthfulness index for each user (0-100). Users with higher K-Scores have their content amplified. The K-Score is our answer to PageRank: a measure of how trustworthy the community finds you.
2. **Kurrency (20%)** — A reputation currency earned through positive contributions. You earn Kurrency by posting, reporting events, gaining followers, and receiving endorsements. It reflects your investment in the platform.
3. **Recency (20%)** — Newer content is preferred. The score decays with a half-life of 72 hours, so fresh perspectives rise naturally.
4. **Karma (15%)** — The upvote/downvote score of the individual post. High-quality posts that the community upvotes get a boost.
5. **Kontribution Score (10%)** — Measures how actively you contribute across the platform (posts, events, comments). Active contributors are rewarded.
6. **Engagement Ratio (10%)** — The ratio of upvotes to views. A post with 50 upvotes and 200 views (25% engagement) ranks higher than one with 50 upvotes and 10,000 views (0.5% engagement). This rewards resonant content.
**Serendipity Boost**
Posts with very low view counts (< 100) and few comments (< 5) that are less than 48 hours old receive a small random boost (1.0x to 1.3x). This ensures overlooked quality content still gets a chance to be seen.
**Why This Approach?**
Most social media algorithms optimize for one thing: time-on-site. This creates perverse incentives for sensationalism, misinformation, and echo chambers. UnderKurrent's algorithm is designed to reward truthfulness, expertise, and genuine community contribution.
The K-Score and Kurrency system means that building trust over time is rewarded. A new user's post won't be buried forever — the recency factor and serendipity boost give everyone a fair chance. But consistently trustworthy users naturally rise to the top.
**Transparency**
All factors and their weights are published here. We are committed to algorithmic transparency. If you have questions or suggestions, use the Contact form on this page.