Information bubble in the feed

It’s worth bearing in mind that feed algorithms don’t usually select content with the aim of showing what is most truthful. Their main aim is to show what will hold people’s attention for the longest. That is why content that evokes strong emotions – such as fear, anger or outrage – may appear more frequently. Such posts are more likely to prompt users to click, comment and share, and this signals to the platform that the content ‘works’.

Over time, a so-called ‘information bubble’ can form. This means that users see more and more similar content and similar opinions in their feed. Other topics and different points of view appear less frequently, and sometimes hardly at all. This can give the impression that ‘everyone is saying the same thing’, although in reality this is the result of the algorithm’s operation, rather than a true reflection of society as a whole.

Various sources of information appear in the feed. These include posts from friends and people you follow, content from company and organisation pages, as well as recommendations – content suggested by the platform even though you do not follow the author. Sponsored content may also appear amongst these items; these are adverts that sometimes look like ordinary posts.