IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/jcsosc/v7y2024i1d10.1007_s42001-024-00255-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Skewed perspectives: examining the influence of engagement maximization on content diversity in social media feeds

Author

Listed:
  • Paul Bouchaud

    (EHESS/CAMS
    CNRS/ISCPIF)

Abstract

This article investigates the information landscape shaped by curation algorithms that seek to maximize user engagement. Leveraging unique behavioral data, we trained machine learning models to predict user engagement with tweets. Our study reveals how the pursuit of engagement maximization skews content visibility, favoring posts similar to previously engaged content while downplaying alternative perspectives. The empirical grounding of our work provides a basis for evidence-based policies aimed at fostering responsible social media platforms.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Bouchaud, 2024. "Skewed perspectives: examining the influence of engagement maximization on content diversity in social media feeds," Journal of Computational Social Science, Springer, vol. 7(1), pages 721-739, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jcsosc:v:7:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s42001-024-00255-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s42001-024-00255-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s42001-024-00255-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s42001-024-00255-w?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Schaub, Max & Morisi, Davide, 2020. "Voter mobilisation in the echo chamber: Broadband internet and the rise of populism in Europe," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 59(4), pages 752-773.
    2. Hunt Allcott & Luca Braghieri & Sarah Eichmeyer & Matthew Gentzkow, 2020. "The Welfare Effects of Social Media," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(3), pages 629-676, March.
    3. Hossein Noorazar & Kevin R. Vixie & Arghavan Talebanpour & Yunfeng Hu, 2020. "From classical to modern opinion dynamics," International Journal of Modern Physics C (IJMPC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 31(07), pages 1-60, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wu, Haitao & Ba, Ning & Ren, Siyu & Xu, Lu & Chai, Jingxia & Irfan, Muhammad & Hao, Yu & Lu, Zhi-Nan, 2022. "The impact of internet development on the health of Chinese residents: Transmission mechanisms and empirical tests," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    2. Joël Cariolle & Yasmine Elkhateeb & Mathilde Maurel, 2022. "(Mis-)information technology: Internet use and perception of democracy in Africa," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 22010, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    3. Nicolás Ajzenman & Bruno Ferman & Pedro C. Sant’Anna, 2023. "Rooting for the Same Team: On the Interplay between Political and Social Identities in the Formation of Social Ties," Working Papers 231, Red Nacional de Investigadores en Economía (RedNIE).
    4. McNamara, Trent & Mosquera, Roberto, 2024. "The political divide: The case of expectations and preferences," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    5. Larsen, Vegard H. & Thorsrud, Leif Anders & Zhulanova, Julia, 2021. "News-driven inflation expectations and information rigidities," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(C), pages 507-520.
    6. Cook, Joseph & Kabubo-Mariara, Jane & Kimuyu, Peter, 2021. "The Short-Run Impacts of Reducing Water Collection Times on Time Use, Well-Being and Education in Rural Kenya," EfD Discussion Paper 21-9, Environment for Development, University of Gothenburg.
    7. Assenza, Tiziana, 2021. "The Ability to 'Distill the Truth'," TSE Working Papers 21-1280, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Mar 2022.
    8. Meng, Delong & Wang, Siyu, 2024. "Impact of open-mindedness on information avoidance: Tailored vs. generic communication," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    9. Arora, Swapan Deep & Singh, Guninder Pal & Chakraborty, Anirban & Maity, Moutusy, 2022. "Polarization and social media: A systematic review and research agenda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    10. Brynjolfsson, Erik & Collis, Avinash & Diewert, W. Erwin & Eggers, Felix & Fox, Kevin J., 2019. "GDP-B: Accounting for the Value of New and Free Goods in the Digital Economy," OSF Preprints sptfu, Center for Open Science.
    11. Daniel J Benjamin & Jakina Debnam Guzman & Marc Fleurbaey & Ori Heffetz & Miles Kimball, 2023. "What do Happiness Data Mean? Theory and Survey Evidence," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 21(6), pages 2377-2412.
    12. Luca Braghieri & Ro'ee Levy & Alexey Makarin, 2022. "Social Media and Mental Health," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 112(11), pages 3660-3693, November.
    13. Mohadzlishah bin Mazli & Mohd Fikri bin Ishak & Ariff Azly bin Muhamed, 2023. "The Role of Status Consumption and Materialism in Influencing Attitude towards Counterfeit Fashion Product," Information Management and Business Review, AMH International, vol. 15(3), pages 344-350.
    14. Fazio, Andrea & Reggiani, Tommaso & Scervini, Francesco, 2023. "Social media charity campaigns and pro-social behaviour. Evidence from the Ice Bucket Challenge," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    15. Salomon, Katja, 2020. "Dynamics of immigrant resentment in Europe," Discussion Papers, Presidential Department P 2020-002, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    16. Rakshit, Sonali & Sahoo, Soham, 2023. "Biased teachers and gender gap in learning outcomes: Evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    17. Andrea Tesei & Filipe Campante & Ruben Durante, 2022. "Media and Social Capital," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 14(1), pages 69-91, August.
    18. Eugen Dimant, 2020. "Hate Trumps Love: The Impact of Political Polarization on Social Preferences," ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series 029, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    19. Rezaee, Arman & Hirshleifer, Sarojini & Naseem, Mustafa & Raza, Agha Ali, 2023. "The Spread of (Mis)information: A Social Media Experiment in Pakistan," Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, Working Paper Series qt53n4q35z, Institute on Global Conflict and Cooperation, University of California.
    20. Ariel Goldszmidt & John A. List & Robert D. Metcalfe & Ian Muir & V. Kerry Smith & Jenny Wang, 2020. "The Value of Time in the United States: Estimates from Nationwide Natural Field Experiments," NBER Working Papers 28208, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:jcsosc:v:7:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s42001-024-00255-w. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.