Beyond the Scroll: How Social Media Algorithms Shape Your Reality
Social media algorithms curate content based on user engagement to keep individuals on platforms longer. These algorithms utilize techniques like collaborative filtering and content-based filtering to predict user preferences. While they aim to enhance user experience, they can inadvertently lead to echo chambers and the spread of misinformation.
- ▪Social media algorithms are designed to maximize user engagement by predicting what content users will interact with.
- ▪They use data from user behavior, such as clicks and watch time, to recommend similar content.
- ▪Techniques like collaborative filtering and content-based filtering help these algorithms suggest posts that align with user interests.
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Social Media Beyond the Scroll: How Social Media Algorithms Shape Your Reality An intro to recommender systems Ivo Bernardo May 23, 2026 13 min read Share Recommendation from an AI Model – Image by Author You’ve probably felt that your social media feed may know you too well. When you browse social media, you notice a very typical behavior: you watch one video, and suddenly your timeline is flooded with more of the same. 5 years ago, it felt a bit like magic. But today, we talk about “the algorithm” as if it were a mysterious entity pulling strings in some Silicon Valley basement. The truth is much less dramatic, and much more interesting. The algorithm isn’t inherently evil, it doesn’t sit there plotting your radicalisation.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at Towards Data Science.
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