Day: November 5, 2024
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Social Media Algorithms and the Importance of Informed Voting
The BBC invented “Gabriela,” a fictional voter, to investigate how social media sites use algorithms to influence political beliefs. Gabriela’s feeds were initially apolitical, but after Elon Musk’s platform improvements, X (previously Twitter) began to prioritize Trump-related information. Meanwhile, TikTok’s algorithm promoted a pro-Kamala Harris video that reflected her identification as a Latina voter, while…
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Breaking Free from the Google Echo Chamber: The Need for Diverse Perspectives in Search
Google’s search engine frequently tailors results based on the language of users’ queries, which can perpetuate confirmation bias by returning results that support a user’s implicit position. For example, the same questions framed in positive or negative phrases produce different viewpoints, influencing how people perceive issues. Google argues that its algorithms offer a variety of…
