Ah yes the noted scientific journal amenclinics.com/blog

Unassailable source there, bud.

Source: just trust me bro

Mastodon has no algorithm, instead the users determine what spreads - so boosting posts is what helps them be shown to more people.

Favoriting a post on Mastodon doesn’t show it to your followers, so it doesn’t contribute to the “algorithm” the way boosting a post does. But it does tell the creator that you liked their content!