Understanding the social impact of the newsfeed curation algorithms on social media

What is it about?

Online misinformation and polarization pose some of the greatest societal challenges of the current decade. Social media platforms play an important role in shaping beliefs and controlling how information spreads. Agent-based modelling is a technique that can be used to model the complex interactions between the newsfeed curation algorithms, what users see, and the spread of information online. This work proposes that the future design of newsfeed curation algorithms on social media should involve the use of agent-based models to assess their likely social impact.

Featured Image

Photo by camilo jimenez on Unsplash

Photo by camilo jimenez on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Online misinformation and polarization can be hugely harmful. Understanding the role that newsfeed curation algorithms on social media play is critical to tackling them.