Multiple entity merge for ranking objects in a social network

A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium storing instructions which, when executed, cause a processing device to perform operations comprising:

• receiving, by the processing device, an object for display in an activity feed of a first user of a social network;
• and
• ranking the object for displaying the object to the first user on the social network, wherein the ranking comprises:
• identifying two or more entities associated with the object, wherein the two or more entities comprise at least a second user that publishes the object and a third user that shares the object, and wherein at least one of the identified two or more entities is associated with another social network that is external to the social network and is a representation of the first user on the another social network;
• for the two or more entities, determining respective user affinity scores between the first user and a corresponding entity, wherein the respective user affinity scores indicate a level of connection between the first user and the corresponding entity and are based on communications made between the first user and the corresponding entity via first communication channels that are internal to the social network and via second communication channels that are external to the social network;
• generating an object affinity score for the object by combining, via a function, the user affinity scores between the first user and each of the identified two or more entities;
• and
• utilizing the object affinity score to rank the object for display of the object to the first user.

A system comprising:

• a processing device;
• a memory coupled to the processing device, the memory to store a plurality of content items;
• and
• a ranking engine executable by the processing device from the memory, the ranking engine to:
• identify an object of a social network;
• and
• rank the object for displaying the object to a first user on the social network, wherein the ranking comprises:
• identify two or more entities associated with the object, wherein the two or more entities comprise at least a second user that publishes the object and a third user that shares the object, and wherein at least one of the identified two or more entities is associated with another social network that is external to the social network and is a representation of the first user on the another social network;
• for the two or more entities, determine respective user affinity scores between the first user and a corresponding entity, wherein the respective user affinity scores indicate a level of connection between the first user and the corresponding entity and are based on communications made between the first user and the corresponding entity via first communication channels that are internal to the social network and via second communication channels that are external to the social network;
• generate an object affinity score for the object by combining, via a function, the affinity scores between the first user and each of the identified two or more entities;
• and
• utilize the object affinity score to rank the object for display of the object to the first user.