Technology Alert: Massive study on Facebook users during the 2020 election casts doubt on the assumption that social media fuels polarization

The study was undertaken by 17 academics with the cooperation of Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, and is one of the deepest looks to date at social media's political impact. The group's first research papers, published Thursday, show that Facebook's algorithms tend to expose users only to posts from like-minded people but that changing the contents of users' feeds has little impact on their political beliefs. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Sign up for alerts Technology Alert July 27, 2:01 p.m. EDT Massive study on Facebook users during the 2020 election casts doubt on the assumption that social media fuels polarization The study was undertaken by 17 academics with the cooperation of Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, and is one of the deepest looks to date at social media's political impact. The group's first research papers, published Thursday, show that Facebook's algorithms tend to expose users only to posts from like-minded people but that changing the contents of users' feeds has little impact on their political beliefs. Read more   Advertisement

Manage my email newsletters and alerts | Unsubscribe | Privacy Policy | Help You received this email because you signed up for news alerts or because it is included in your subscription. ©2023 The Washington Post | 1301 K St NW, Washington DC 20071