I agree on data access, but would also point out that most of the evidence in support of the algorithmic hypothesis is highly anecdotal and non-causal. The best analysis I've yet seen is @BrendanNyhan's recent work w/web tracking data that also finds little support in my reading.
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And-- though also not the experimental evidence you and I might like see-- I think Kevin Munger's observational analysis of YouTube also finds little evidence:https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1940161220964767 …
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And even though we should be highly skeptical of work authored by people inside social media companies, it is perhaps worth noting that Bakshy et al (in Science) found little evidence of this many years ago as well.
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Replying to @chris_bail @BrendanNyhan
On the other hand, we have a stream of news reports of (quashed) research from inside the companies that do allege extensive contribution *and* crucially, I'd like to repeat that Fox News is part of the algorithmic public sphere (which makes measurement harder).
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Replying to @zeynep @BrendanNyhan
I am familiar with the cases you describe, I believe, but do we actually know that they radicalized people, or just that people joined more radical groups? Also, shouldn't we be concerned that media accounts of such cases are highly selective themselves?
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I'm sure we both agree that this is why we need independent audits of algorithms, but in my reading of the (still preliminary) literature, we should not be surprised if they are much less powerful than we might think.
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Replying to @chris_bail @BrendanNyhan
A small effect per person at a time in a feedback cycle (person-algo-person-algo-person) over time in a transitional time (when all the big players are reacting to it by adjusting output) can quickly add up to a substantial societal transition, though.
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Replying to @zeynep @BrendanNyhan
As the author of a book about how fringe ideas become mainstream via emergent processes I agree ;) But it's not clear to me that this is driven by algorithms anymore than other forms of collective behavior
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Replying to @chris_bail @BrendanNyhan
Hahaha yes. Congratulations, btw! But how can it not be part of the cycle? Incentives matter, and if these algorithms had no effect, the companies who measure everything to death wouldn't use them. It's not *just* driven by algorithms: yes, that is obviously and trivially true.
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Replying to @zeynep @BrendanNyhan
For me, it's not trivial given the amount of public discussion dedicated to this and other issues that research indicates have minimal effects (not just algorithms but misinformation and echo chambers too).
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And my frustration is that we’re not looking at the full feedback cycle, which can easily be societally transformative but hard to measure like this, and our research isn’t equipped to find those effects.
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So we get the companies saying it’s the people, researcher saying look at these other processes, journalist focusing too much on the companies... But the crucial dynamic is that feedback cycle, and pretty much nothing is out of it now unless it’s, say, Harper’s? Eccentric funder.
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Replying to @zeynep @BrendanNyhan
Exactly- as
@duncanjwatts@davidlazer and@j_a_tucker have recently argued, we need eco-system level data, over time (and I would add mixed-method research, as well).1 reply 1 retweet 6 likes - Show replies
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