Blog Post #6 – EDCI 339

Talking, chatting, discussing, forum conversation, online messaging speech bubbles concept.

This week I wrap up my free inquiry research by going back to my free inquiry question: How do algorithmic recommendation systems on social media platforms influence public discourse, and are they more likely to amplify misinformation than substantive or accurate content? After the last weeks of research, I feel as though I have a much clearer understanding of how systems work and why they can impact the spread of misinformation.

One of the most prominent things that I have learned is that algorithms don’t spread misinformation on purpose, nor were they built to do so. They were built to spread what gets engagement and to give viewers similar content that they like to view, for the purpose of entertainment. From there, what goes viral or becomes more popular is realistically up to viewers. This is where psychology comes into play, users view a video, and if it has emotional content or surprising or dramatic there is a shock value, and innately someone is interested so they engage with the video, whether that is commenting or sharing or like and then from there more content similar to that is provided to them. We all have a similar reaction to intriguing content, so it is very likely for someone to be interested in it. Then because of how the algorithms are built they feed off of this. This is how misinformation can be spread so easily.

So therefore because there is a tendency for misinformation to be more intriguing it also then creates more public discourse. Because social media platforms aren’t made to be slower and fact-based conversation, but rather quick paced, it in a way rewards the qualities that misinformation contains. So again, because public discourse is built around what gets attention online, the structure of algorithms ends up having a large influence on what society pays attention to.

Overall, this project was very informative for myself, for a few reasons. The main one is that by being knowledgeable on this topic you make yourself less susceptible to being caught up in misinformation. This project has definitely increased my digital literacy. I now understand how misinformation spreads and it’s not just because people create it on purpose but because the platform’s content pace and algorithms encourage less research and education, and more quick emotional reactions and sharing of content.

Resources

Leave a Reply Cancel reply