The impact of social media has become one of the most influential forces of change in the hyperconnected world in which we live today—in terms of our thinking, communication, and decision-making. Social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and X (formerly Twitter) are communities that have opened up all sorts of complex technologies that are not just social media. The content users can access, the voices that will be amplified, and the conversation patterns are all established silently and deliberately by platform-specific algorithms. Algorithms have become powerful forces that influence political orientations, political opinions, and even democratic processes themselves which grow stronger each year.
What Are Social Media Algorithms?
Algorithms are basically a group of mathematical equations or sets of directions for a computer to make a decision. Social media algorithms set out to choose and personalize the content for each user. They create an algorithm for what they think you are most likely to engage with, instead of every single post showing as written chronologically.
Facebook’s news feed algorithm picks posts that have a higher number of shares, comments, or reactions to rank higher than others. TikTok’s For You page suggests new content using interaction as an indication, whether that means you watched the video for a certain amount of time, liked the video, or scrolled passed it. YouTube used your history of watching videos to suggest content, in an attempt to keep you on the site for the longest period of time.
These algorithms curate content, providing an overall better user experience; however, it also produces a very strong feedback loop that has an exceptionally strong power to shape public opinion and behavior.
The Role of Algorithms in Spreading Misinformation
Social media algorithms aim to increase engagement, devoid of any moral agency. Unfortunately, sensational, emotional, and controversial content tends to draw the largest audience.
Research has shown that false information spreads significantly faster and reaches a wider audience than accurate news via social media. During times of significant international events, such as elections, pandemics, or social movements, misinformation can also spread rapidly and impact public opinion in harmful ways.
For example, through algorithmic amplification, inaccurate claims about vaccines, treatments, and the origin of the virus spread quickly and to broad audiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Similarly, in times of election, millions of people might be exposed to dishonest political advertisements or conspiracy theories, which are likely to affect their voting decisions or their levels of trust in democratic institutions.
Platform incentive, attention and engagement, does not fundamentally change in response to the platform’s attempts to address this by implementing fact-checking mechanisms or limiting personalized distribution of misleading content.
Behavioral Influence and Emotional Manipulation
The potential of algorithms to influence behavior and emotions is another subtle yet significant influence. Platforms build complex profiles that predict emotional states by tracking user behaviour to an unprecedented level.
The algorithms then serve content that keeps users engaged, often producing strong feelings like anger, fear, or excitement. This can influence users’ feelings about particular topics.
Because of the way that algorithms curate and present information, users can become more anxious, angry or polarized, not because of the information itself. There is a financial incentive for emotional manipulation: the longer users stay on a platform, the greater advertising dollars for the company.
There is also a social cost: a more polarized, reactive, and gullible public.
Algorithmic Targeting in Political Campaigns
The algorithmic context has introduced new ways for political campaigns to adapt. Political strategists are able to precisely target messages to particular groups of voters through data analytics and targeted advertising.
Campaigns may show different messages to different constituencies—sometimes even contradictory messages—based on what evokes an emotional or ideological response from that group through a marketing process called microtargeting.
The Cambridge Analytica scandal serves as an example of this. Political ads about the Brexit campaign or the 2016 U.S. presidential election were designed to be “highly personalized” based on psychological profiles or highly tailored ads that were made from data from millions of Facebook users.
Humans created them and they were trained on data that reflected societal bias. As a result, algorithmic systems can reproduce bias based on race, gender or ideology without intention. For example, if an engagement-focused algorithm produces more clicks and/or reactions, the algorithm incentivizes stereotypes or amplifying divisive narratives.
Additionally, since the algorithm privileges mainstream or popular content, marginalized voices have lower visibility.
Algorithmic Feeds and Their Effects on the Mind
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Cognitive
Is Algorithm Reform Possible?
In response to these concerns, an increasing number of experts and decision-makers are calling for algorithmic transparency and regulation.
Some suggestions include:
- Algorithm audits: Regularly testing algorithms to identify reoccurring bias or harmful impacts.
- Transparency reporting: Requiring platforms to provide visibility on how recommendation systems function.
- User autonomy: Allowing individuals to change or turn off algorithmic personalization.
- Improved moderation of content: Hate speech and misinformation have been mitigated by employing both AI moderation techniques and collaborating with fact-checkers.
There’s also simply a push for algorithms to be designed ethically, to align social media platforms with the welfare of society rather than only corporate purpose. With varying degrees of success, platforms such as Twitter (prior to rebranding) attempted to move to “chronological timelines” to reduce algorithmic manipulation.
In Summary
Algorithms are influencing society. Algorithms have become the hidden manipulators of public opinion in the digital age. They determine our perceptions, what we ignore, and eventually what we assume to be true. They add to convenience and personalization but dramatically threaten democracy, truth, and mental health.
Ensuring that these technologies will enhance and not hinder the public good is the issue of our times. Transparency, digital literacy, and ethical oversight are important to achieve this.
Society must recognize that algorithms are shaping our collective consciousness and not simply tools. Until we understand how algorithms shape our public opinions and we take charge, the unseen hands of code, as well as people, will continue to shape our collective opinion