How are the 6 friends displayed in the profile page in Facebook selected?

[Martina]

Every time you open facebook 6 friends are displayed on the left, and every day those change. At first I thought they were picked at random, but if so why every time you refresh the page the same 6 friends are displayed (or 5 the same 1 changes) but arranged differently?

Could it be the last people that viewed your profile?
Karthikeyan, I dont think that is true, one of my friends changes her status every hour, that would mean she is always in those six friends based on what you said. she never is.

[Karthikeyan]

its not random basis.. it based on how active ur frnds r.. lik wen ur frnd s online nw they ll b shown 1st or how much actively they r using facebook.. and how many times they r signing n / how many hrs they r n online per day..

[Kevin]

no its not the last ppl, it picks it randomly and only change days or when u log out of facebook and turn off the computer

[Smith]

They are randomly selected but what i noticed on 6 people displaying at profile are getting change at every time you refresh it. I think they are that one who were or who are online at that time that's why they are displaying there.

[stephieSD]

It's supposed to be completely random.
I know it doesn't really seem like it, but there could be some secret equation involved.

But as far as all evidence supplies, it's completely random.