Research results that Facebook and Instagram algorithms increase their dependence on SNS and create echo chambers

A study investigating political behavior on Facebook and Instagram, conducted jointly by the social media researcher community and Meta, created a unique algorithm in which Facebook pages and groups formed echo chambers and feeds about political doctrines. have increased their reliance on social media.

Asymmetric ideological segregation in exposure to political news on Facebook | Science
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.ade7138

Like-minded sources on Facebook are prevalent but not polarizing |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-023-06297-w

Groundbreaking Studies Could Help Answer the Thorniest Questions About Social Media and Democracy | Meta
https://about.fb.com/news/2023/07/research-social-media-impact-elections/

A new study found that Facebook's Pages and Groups shape its ideological echo chambers | TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2023/07/27/a-new-study-found-that-facebooks-pages-and-groups-shape-its-ideological-echo-chambers/

The research is led by Professor Tania Jomini Stroud of the University of Texas Center for Media Engagement and Professor Joshua Tucker, co-director of the Center for Social Media and Politics at New York University, in collaboration with an internal group at Meta. was advanced. There are several papers to be announced, and it is said that they will be published in order within the next few months.

In the paper published this time, researchers provide insight into how users of social media platforms are exposed to politically aligned content. The research team said, ``Our analysis highlighted that Facebook as a social and information environment greatly divides user ideologies.This is the result of previous research on online news consumption based on browsing behavior. It is much more pronounced than

According to the research team, content posted to Facebook groups and pages shows much more 'ideological separation' than content posted by users' friends. In fact, it has been reported many times that Facebook groups and pages have become venues for disseminating fake news and misinformation, as well as creating rebel groups and conspiracy theory communities. .

Survey results that Facebook has a community of millions of far-right conspiracy theory supporters 'QAnon' - GIGAZINE

19 of the top 20 pages for Christians on Facebook were operated by ``Troll Farm'' that spreads conspiracy theories and misinformation - GIGAZINE

According to the research team, ``Facebook pages and groups benefit from the ease of reusing content from political news outlets, and have a queue that can redistribute ideologically consistent content from a variety of sources. It provides a relational structure.”

Additionally, the study found a significant skew between 'liberal political content' and 'conservative political content' on Facebook, with a significant percentage of conservative Facebook news content being mistaken by Meta's third-party fact-checking system. It turned out that it was judged to be. This indicates that users with conservative ideologies are more likely to be exposed to misinformation and fake news than users with liberal ideologies.

And in another survey conducted jointly with Meta, Facebook and Instagram users often switched algorithm feeds to reverse chronological (new arrival order) feeds. And it seems that users who switch to reverse chronological feeds have found that the time they spend on Facebook and Instagram has decreased dramatically. The research team points out that Facebook and Instagram are increasing engagement and promoting platform dependency by inserting recommended posts and messing up the time series with algorithms.

TechCrunch, an IT news site, evaluates that the paper published this time is part of a larger research result, summarizes the complex research results on social media clearly, and will be an important foundation for future social media research. increase.