How do social media feed algorithms affect attitudes and behavior in an election campaign?

Area of Science:

• Social Media Research
• Political Communication
• Computational Social Science

Background:

• Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram utilize complex algorithms to curate user feeds.
• These algorithms significantly influence the information users consume, particularly during critical events like elections.
• Understanding the impact of algorithmic versus chronological feeds is crucial for assessing their societal effects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of algorithmic versus reverse-chronologically-ordered feeds on user behavior and attitudes.
• To analyze how feed curation impacts exposure to different types of content on Facebook and Instagram.
• To determine if switching to chronological feeds influences political polarization, knowledge, and other key attitudes.

Main Methods:

• A sample of consenting users was assigned to either algorithmic or reverse-chronologically-ordered feeds on Facebook and Instagram.
• User activity, time spent on platforms, and content exposure were monitored over a 3-month period during the 2020 US election.
• Measures of issue polarization, affective polarization, and political knowledge were assessed.

Main Results:

• Algorithmic feeds significantly decreased user time spent on platforms and overall activity.
• Chronological feeds increased exposure to political and untrustworthy content on both platforms.
• On Facebook, chronological feeds reduced uncivil content exposure but increased exposure to moderate sources and ideologically mixed audiences.

Conclusions:

• Shifting from algorithmic to chronological feeds substantially alters the user experience and content exposure on social media.
• Despite significant changes in on-platform experience, chronological feeds did not demonstrably alter users' political polarization or knowledge levels.
• The findings suggest that while feed curation impacts information consumption, its effect on core political attitudes may be limited in the short term.