The algorithm knows what you like and before you know it
Have you ever noticed how Instagram seems to read your mind? Or how TikTok can always propose you the perfect video at the right time? It's not magic: it is the artificial intelligence that runs 24 hours on 24 to decipher your tastes, predict your behaviors, and guide your choices digital.
Social media have become a lot more simple platforms of connection. They are complex ecosystems where invisible algorithms decide what we see, with whom we interact, and even what we think. Behind every scroll, every like, every share, there is an artificial intelligence system that learns, analyzes, and influence.
But how aware are we of this hidden power? And above all: we still choose, or are the algorithms that social media is choosing for us?
What really is a algorithm that is social media and how it influences us
The definition that changes everything
An algorithm that social media is not simply a computer code. It is an artificial intelligence system that combines machine learning, behavioral analysis and cognitive psychology to create digital experiences and custom.
These algorithms process trillions of data every second, the time you spend looking at a post, the comments you leave, the people with whom you interact, even the speed with which you slide the feed. From this mountain of information, the AI builds a detailed profile of who you are, what you like and what you probably will.
As highlighted in our guide to the ethics of AIthis profiling automated raises fundamental ethical questions that go far beyond the technological realm.
The four pillars of the influence of algorithmic
1. Behavioral analysis and predictive The algorithms do not simply record your past actions: predict those of the future. If you have watched videos of Italian cuisine for three consecutive days, the AI anticipates that tomorrow you will be interested in the recipes of home-made pasta.
2. Customization emotional Artificial intelligence to analyze your emotional reactions to the content. A post that made you laugh will receive more weight than the one you've ignored. The algorithm learns to recognize the triggers, emotional, involves you the most.
3. Timing optimized Through the analysis of the behavioral pattern, the algorithms identify the moments in which you're more likely to interact. It is not happenstance if you receive notifications when you are more vulnerable to distraction.
4. Clustering social The IA group, the users in the cluster of behavioral, creating a “tribe” digital-based interests, similar values and behaviours. This mechanism amplifies the echo chambers and reduces the exposure to different perspectives.
The invisible architecture of customizing digital
As Facebook and Instagram read your mind
The algorithm Facebook uses over 100,000 different signals to determine what to show in the News Feed. These include:
- Signals explicitlike, comments, shares, reactions
- Signals implied: time spent on a post, speed scroll, pause in the navigation
- Signals contextual: time of day, device used, network connection
- Social signals: drug of friends, popularity of the content in your network
Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram) has developed artificial intelligence systems so sophisticated that they can predict your moods, based only on the pattern of navigation. According to a research published on Naturethese algorithms reach an accuracy predictor in excess of 85% in identifying behavioral preferences.
TikTok and the algorithm of the addiction
TikTok has revolutionized the concept of the algorithm is social media with its “For You” Page. The system uses:
- Computer vision to analyze the content of the video
- Natural language processing to understand audio and text
- Behavioral analysis to track micro-interactions
- Collaborative filtering for suggestions based on users with similar
The result? A feed so addictive that the average user spends 95 minutes per day on the platform, often without realizing it.
Twitter/X, and the selective amplification
The algorithms of Twitter have been shown to amplify certain types of content over others. A study published in PNAS Nexus has revealed that the algorithm of the engagement of Twitter boosts content emotionally loads, in particular those that express anger and hostility towards out-groups: the political content selected by the algorithm of Twitter, 62% expressed anger and 46% contained hostility toward out-groups, as compared with 52% and 38%, respectively, in the timeline, a chronological Knight First Amendment Institute. This research, conducted through a experiment randomized pre-recorded, creates a cycle of polarization that continues to influence the policy perceptions of the users.
This mechanism is particularly worrying because users do not prefer necessarily the political content selected by the algorithm, suggesting that the algorithm based on the engagement does not meet the stated preference of the users, but exposes them, however, to content that is disruptive.
Echo chambers: when the AI builds prisons digital
The mechanism of the bubble information
The echo chambers are one of the side effects are the most problematic of the algorithms of social media. Artificial intelligence, in an attempt to maximize the engagement, tends to show content that confirms our beliefs that exist.
This phenomenon is closely related to the algorithmic bias we have already analyzed in depth: the algorithms not only reflect the biases of their creators, but they amplify through the mechanisms of continuous feedback.
This mechanism works through:
Reinforcement loop positive: Every interaction with content aligned to our opinions is interpreted by the algorithm as a signal of interest, increasing the probability of receiving other similar content.
Filtering bubble dynamics- The AI creates bubbles of information that you constantly adapt, becoming more rigid and impermeable to alternative perspectives.
Polarization amplified: Algorithms reward content, emotionally involving, often extremists, because they can generate more engagement.
The social cost of customization
A study from MIT has shown that users are only exposed to content that is aligned to their opinions show:
- 40% reduction in the ability to understand opposing perspectives
- A 60% increase in the certainty of their beliefs
- A decrease of 35% in the availability of the constructive dialogue
These data highlight how the optimization for the engagement can have negative consequences on social cohesion and democratic debate. The implications for the privacy digital are equally worrying: the more we know about the mechanisms of profiling, the more we can protect our autonomy in decision-making.
The Pew Research Center reported that 64% of americans believe that social media has a negative impact on democracy, mainly due to these mechanisms algorithmic. The study, conducted in 19 countries economically advanced, reveals that the United States is an anomaly: while in most other countries, a median of 57% consider social media to be positive for democracy, the american people are the most critical in the world about the impact of these platforms on the democratic process.
Key points to remember
🎯 The algorithms that social media are not neutral: Every platform optimizes for specific business objectives, influencing inevitably the content that you see.
🧠 The customization has a price cognitive: Selective exposure reduces our ability of thinking and critical understanding of different perspectives.
⚖️ The control is in our hands: There are concrete strategies to maintain autonomy in decision-making in the era of intelligent algorithms.
🔮 The future requires awarenessUnderstanding these mechanisms is essential to navigate responsibly in the digital landscape evolving.
Strategies to regain control digital
Tactics of digital detox algorithmic
1. Diversification and the active sources Follow deliberately accounts that express opinions different from your own. The algorithm will adapt gradually, expanding your bubble statement.
2. Interruption of the behavioral pattern Regularly changing your pattern of navigation: explore hashtag unusual, interact with content outside your comfort zone, varies with the time of use.
3. Conscious use of the features
- Takes advantage of the options of “Not interested” or “See less content like this”
- Use custom lists to heal the content manually
- Disable the auto play to keep you in control on video
4. Audit periodically to your feed Regularly looks at the content that you receive: they are really your interest or reflect only what the algorithm thinks you like it?
Tools for the awareness algorithmic
There are tools that will help you understand how the algorithms that we perceive:
- DataViewer (Facebook): displays the categories in which you have been classified
- AlgoTransparency: browser extension that shows the bias algorithmic
- Who Targeted Me: reveals who has targeted with advertising
Towards a future of AI ethics in social media
Ongoing initiatives
Several organizations are working to make the algorithms of social media for a more transparent and ethical:
Partnership on AI: International consortium that includes Facebook, Google, Twitter, to develop best practices for the ethical implementation of artificial intelligence.
Algorithmic Accountability Act: Legislative proposal for the US to force tech companies to disclose how their algorithms.
GDPR and Digital Services Act (EU): The european regulations that introduce transparency requirements for algorithmic.
The Stanford Human-Centered AI Institute is conducting pioneering research on how to make the artificial intelligence more understandable and controllable by the end user.
The role of education in the digital
The literacy algorithmic should become a key competence. Understand how these systems allows us to:
- Recognize when we are influenced
- Make more informed choices
- Expect more transparency from platforms
- Use social media as tools instead of us use from them
FAQ – frequently asked questions
The algorithms that social media can read my private messages?
Technically, the platforms have access to the data that loads on their servers, including private messages. However, the major platforms state that they do not use the content of private messages to the customization of the ads. Encryption end-to-end, where implemented, protects the content from the same platforms.
Because I always see the same types of content, although my interests are more spacious?
Algorithms optimized for engagement, not for diversity. If you interact more frequently with a content type, the AI interprets this as preferably as dominant. To expand the variety, you actively engage with different content, and use functions of negative feedback.
It is possible to “reset” the algorithm of a platform?
Not completely, but you can influence it significantly. Clear activity history, radically changes your patterns of interaction, and using the customization options available. The change takes time and consistency.
Social media can influence elections through algorithms?
Studies show that the algorithms can influence the policy preferences through selective exposure to content. During the election, platforms like Facebook implement special measures to reduce the spread of misinformation and increase the visibility of reliable sources.
How can I protect my privacy from the mechanisms of profiling?
Use the privacy settings of the platforms, it limits the personal information shared, consider the use of the browser anti-tracking, and regularly review the permissions granted to your app, social on your devices.
Conclusion: navigate knowingly the era of algorithmic
Artificial intelligence has transformed social media in complex ecosystems that profoundly influence our digital lives and, as a result, the real ones. The algorithms that social media are neither inherently good nor bad: they are powerful tools that reflect the objectives of the people who design and behaviour of the people using them.
The real question is not if these algorithms will continue to evolve – they will inevitably – but if we manage to keep our agency in this process. Awareness is the first step towards a more conscious and profitable of these technologies.
The future of social media will depend on our collective ability to apply transparency, promote diversity statement, and use the artificial intelligence as a tool for authentic connection rather than subtle manipulation. Only through this awareness, criticism, we can turn social media into spaces that enrich really our human experience and social.
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