The Infamous Social Media Algorithms

With most popular networking sites including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram moving from a chronological timeline to a ‘preference based’ timeline, social media has been questioning the filter bubble mechanism.

Earlier last year, networking sites began to implement algorithms that determine a user’s preference through post engagement, relationships with other users, historical data, and various other factors which are not very clear. A preference based timeline, according to these social networks, helps users by serving or ‘prioritizing’ posts. With this in place, users won’t miss out on the information they care most about – thereby improving their overall social media experience.

That being said, this is still in somewhat of a grey area, for now; people still want to decide for themselves what they wish to see on their social feeds. Many users, who treat social media as their window to the real world, see it as a threat to the unbiased nature of the medium.

Furthermore, with ‘fake news’ developing into a very real menace, a bigger question arises – are social media users trapped in an echo-chamber?

The Brand Equity Show on ET Now recently took a closer look on the impact of algorithms and #fakenews on social media’s credibility as a source of information, in conversation with Chaaya Baradhwaaj, Founder, BC Web Wise and other digital experts. Watch the video to learn more –