1. A computer-implemented method that is executed using one or more processors, the method comprising: identifying a set of items of digital content to be displayed to a user of a social networking service; processing the set of items to identify a set of boost items, items within the set of boost items to be prominently displayed, the processing comprising: receiving a close-ties score associated with a respective item, the close-ties score representing a relationship between the user and i) an author user that distributed the respective item through the social networking service, ii) one or more recipient users to which the respective item was directly distributed to, and iii) one or more interacting users to which the respective item was indirectly distributed to and that have interacted with the respective item, the close-ties score also representing an importance of a social circle associated with the respective item to the user; determining that the close-ties score associated with the respective item exceeds a threshold close-ties score; in response to determining that the close-ties score exceeds the threshold close-ties score, adding the respective item to the set of boost items; and providing instructions for boosting a display of one or more items in the set of boost items in a page displayed to the user.