this post was submitted on 03 Aug 2026
84 points (97.7% liked)

Technology

86860 readers
4002 users here now

This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.

Our Rules

  1. Follow the lemmy.world rules.
  2. Only tech related news or articles.
  3. Be excellent to each other!
  4. Mod approved content bots can post up to 10 articles per day.
  5. Threads asking for personal tech support may be deleted.
  6. Politics threads may be removed.
  7. No memes allowed as posts, OK to post as comments.
  8. Only approved bots from the list below, this includes using AI responses and summaries. To ask if your bot can be added please contact a mod.
  9. Check for duplicates before posting, duplicates may be removed
  10. Accounts 7 days and younger will have their posts automatically removed.

Approved Bots

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
L3s@lemmy.world
enu@lemmy.world
technopagan@lemmy.world
L4s@lemmy.world
L3s@hackingne.ws
84
Social media algorithms shape the beliefs people form /// Even small changes to content curation algorithms can shape what people come to believe—for better or worse. (www.mpg.de)
submitted 1 day ago by homesweethomeMrL@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
11 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

cross-posted from: https://piefed.world/c/tech/p/1305963/social-media-algorithms-shape-the-beliefs-people-form-even-small-changes-to-content-cura

Research Paper.

  • Algorithms shape the beliefs people form: Simple changes to content curation algorithms can affect beliefs, consensus, and belief accuracy.
  • Personalized engagement-based ranking can be problematic: Although users perceive these feeds positively, they tend to lead to less consensus and less accurate beliefs.
  • Consensus is possible: Bridging-based ranking can help promote consensus by surfacing content that receives approval across different groups.
  • Belief accuracy can be improved: Intelligence-based ranking can promote more accurate collective and individual judgments.
  • Small algorithmic changes can have large effects: Simple changes to how posts are sampled and ranked can substantially influence the beliefs people form.
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] PierceTheBubble@lemmy.ml 2 points 6 hours ago

lead people to form erroneous beliefs ... whether they promote consensus or belief accuracy ... more polarized and less accurate beliefs ... help users find more mutual understanding on these platforms ... content that receives approval across different groups is promoted ... bridge divides and encourage positive interactions across diverse audiences ... bridging-based ranking can promote consensus ... elicit belief updates that benefit collective accuracy ... improve both collective accuracy and average individual accuracy ... aligning them more closely with socially desirable goals

I don't know what's creepier: a polarized society but with a more diverse view on topics, or a cohesive society with an eerily uniform view instead. Polarization is problematic, but so is thought-policing. I would argue feeds shouldn't be algorithmically determined, but composed of content by channels the user has explicitly chosen to subscribe to; and a separate explore feature for interest-based suggestions, without creepy "this is what most people agree with, and so should you" course-correction measures.