Algorithmic content filtering can funnel users toward polarization and extremism

Evidence

Algorithmic filtering of content, based on user behaviour and recommendation engines, can act as a funnel and nudge people down a path of polarization and extremism. — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 476

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Platform algorithms delivered foreign propaganda to its most receptive audiences — Anna Merlan, Republic of Lies, 203; Automated recommendation feeds can expose teenagers to thousands of radicalizing videos — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 381; Creators hijack recommendation algorithms to expose radicalized users to rebuttals — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof: Why Misinformation Infects…, 385 (+9 more)

Broader Connections

• Algorithmic feeds convert the open Internet into personalized echo chambers #expands (0.90) — Lee McIntyre, Post-Truth, 192
• Radicalization stories overstate the causal role of recommendation algorithms #complicates (0.85) — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 387
• Algorithmic filtering amplifies preexisting biases rather than causing them #qualifies (0.85) — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 414
• Empirical refutations of political echo chambers center on algorithms, not user choice #complicates (0.80) — Alice E. Marwick, Status Update, 832
• Automated recommendation systems reproduce and intensify offline racial discrimination. #expands (0.78) — Grant Bollmer, Katherine Guinness, The Influencer Factory, 36
• Search-engine algorithms displaced human judgment in content prioritization #corroborates (0.72) — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 197
• Exposing people to opposing viewpoints increases rather than reduces polarization #qualifies (0.70) — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 453