Recommendation algorithms, built into social media media platforms, Internet search tools, e-commerce sites, and other digital applications, influence people's behaviors and choices on a daily basis in widespread and often unnoticed ways.
While algorithms are simply "instructions for solving a problem or completing a task" (Rainie & Anderson, 2017, para. 2), they are used to shape people's thinking and behavior by suggesting "products, services, and information to users based on analysis of data" (Voice Tech Podcast, Medium, June 25, 2019, para. 2).
Social media platforms (Amazon, Google, Netflix, Spotify, Goodreads)use recommendation algorithms to determine what viewers might like to see and buy on their sites (e.g., posts, sponsored ads, people) based on data about what you have viewed, bought, or done before. Of the shows people watch on Netflix, 80 percent follow from suggestions made by its recommendation system (Nice News, October 6, 2023).
Watch "How YouTube's Algorithms Are Fooling You" from Above the Noise to learn more.
Recommendation algorithms are different from search algorithms: "Search algorithms assist users in finding exactly what they want while recommendation algorithms help users find more of what they like" (Brooks, 2022, para. 4).
From a civics and critical media literacy perspective, recommendation algorithms direct the flow of information and news to readers and viewers. Ideally, algorithms help us what we want and need online quickly and effectively, but they can also contribute to the spread of misinformation and disinformation online.
Data scientist Noah Giansiracusa has argued in his book How Algorithms Create and Prevent Fake News, this algorithm technology not only allows for the creating and disseminating of false and misleading content, but it has the potential to "save us from fake news by automatically detecting and labeling assertions as true or false" (2021, p. xi, para. 1).
Systems that have algorithms make people's everyday life decisions for them are being developed. Would you prefer having a life decision made for you by another person or a computer algorithm? How do you think most people would respond? The answer may surprise you...
In a survey, 4,000 people were asked whether they wanted a human or an algorithm to decide for them if they would win a coffee gift card, get a bank loan, join a clinical trial for a promising medical treatment, or face a sizable money fine in civil court. In just over half of the situations, people preferred an algorithm to a human - when they believed the decision would made quicker, was cheaper, and would be more accurate (Bambauer & Risch, "Worse Than Human?" Arizona State Law Review 2021).
How are recommendation algorithms influencing your attitudes and behaviors?
You can also learn more at Defining Fake News and Finding Reliable Information in our Building Democracy for All eBook.
Building Democracy for All: Social Media, Digital News, and the Spread of Misinformation
This content is provided to you freely by Equity Press.
Access it online or download it at https://equitypress.org/mediaandciviclearning/recommendation_algorithms.