Decoding the Algorithmic Manipulation: The Hidden Agenda Behind Social Media Content

Google, Facebook and other large silicon valley based companies in the tech industry play an indispensable role in how the open world communicates and receives information. These immensely powerful corporations decide what we see, what we should buy, what narratives to listen to and which political ideas to consider. How do they do this? Through recommendation algorithms. These are sophisticated equations through which data (user information) is fileted through so the platform can provide content that is most pertinent to a particular user. 

Digital content on social media sites does not just appear, it is curated through different coded algorithmic structures and big data systems which are immensely complicated. Every decision we make online is saved and computed, another data point fed into computations that aim to determine what content you would most like to see, most likely to buy and most likely to engage with. 

It is the recommendation algorithms that organise this systematic curation of content which, in the brilliant expose/documentary The Social Dilemma (2020) is likened to an intentional manipulation of our information diet to maximise ‘engagement’, but which subsequently impacts our most personal decisions and thoughts. An often repeated line from the Netflix documentary is that “If you're not paying for the product, then you are the product” – despite how it appears, these services are not free, we pay with information about ourselves – our ‘consumer preferences’ - which is sold to 3^rd party advertisers.

Recommendation algorithms have helped to grow social networking services' user engagement and popularity, encouraging the growth of online communities, but also fostering social media addiction. While increasing factual levels of knowledge among users,  they are also arguably the reason behind increasing social division. The term ‘filter bubble’ now refers to curated news content which can polarise societies into factions and amplify pre-existing political views. Isolating users from diverse viewpoints is especially an issue in a world where more and more people casually absorb news through these platforms. 

How do they work? that appears to be largely a secret to all but the companies that run them. Demand for increased oversight and regulation from the European Commission is thus much needed. The internet presents the best opportunity for information exchange and interpersonal connection, and the best challenge to instructional authority and hegemonic forms of power – but I think we would be weary that it has been co-opted for the purposes of revenue and advertising consumption, with some untoward consequences for society’s broader social fabric.