What is Pulse?
Pulse is a score out of 100 that measures a photo’s popularity. It’s calculated using 500px’s proprietary algorithm, based on community engagement with your photo.The Pulse algorithm was designed to promote daily exposure of new photographs and photographers. It is not necessarily a measure of photograph's quality.
It’s not possible to calculate or project your own Pulse. This is because Pulse is determined by multiple factors, including the quality of your photo and overall community engagement, as well as other visible and non-visible engagement signals.
When a photo is first uploaded, its Pulse starts at 0. As the photo receives community engagement, its Pulse may increase based on the overall performance of the photo.
Photo quality and overall engagement both influence Pulse. In general, photos with higher quality may be more likely to achieve stronger overall performance and receive more views and engagement, while photos with lower quality may have more limited overall performance. Pulse is therefore not calculated based on any single metric, such as Likes, Views, Comments, or Saves.
Engagement includes different types of interactions, such as Views, Likes, Comments, repost and Saves. The system considers these engagement signals together rather than simply adding up the number of interactions to determine a Pulse score. All photos' Pulse drops after 24 hours, and again after a week.
Your photo's highest achieved Pulse will be recorded and displayed on the photo page.
Why is my Pulse different than another photo that has similar views and votes?
That's part of Pulse's secret sauce. Pulse is determined by multiple factors, including photo quality and overall community engagement. These factors work together to determine the overall Pulse score. The details of the Pulse algorithm is a trade secret, which we do not disclose in order to prevent abuse.
What are Views?
Views is the number of times other users click on and view your photo’s detail page. Each time another user opens the photo detail page, it counts as one View. Views from yourself are not counted.
All factors that affect the algorithm are not disclosed due to being a trade secret and to prevent abuse. Those who attempt to cheat the Pulse rating may be permanently banned from 500px.com. If you see any suspicious activity please report it to our Moderators by using these tips. For a complete list of 500px terms refer to our Terms page.