Social media pages, which once were filled with funny memes and viral challenges, have made a slow shift over the past few years. Teens and young adults are now increasingly exposed to polarizing content on social media — content that doesn’t just spark debate, but can shape beliefs.
As a concerned parent or person who is close to young people today, you may be wondering, how did this content even get in front of them?
It’s because of an algorithm. The set of instructions that a computer follows can help solve a problem, make decisions, and even decide what content to show you based on what you have “liked” or watched previously.
Experts warn that algorithm-driven feeds, designed to boost engagement, often amplify extreme opinions and misinformation, leaving young users vulnerable.
David Schweidel, a professor of marketing and chair in business technology at Emory University, has watched how algorithms have moved through society in his work, with their nonstop political bends having real world consequences.
“There’s so much polarization out there already that it’s kind of hard to escape it, you know, whether you’re looking at health-related content or you’re looking at commercial content,” Schweidel told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The backlash to the unfettered internet access for young people, especially in schools, has already begun.
In early 2024, the passing and implementation of Georgia Senate Bill 351, Protecting Georgia’s Children on Social Media Act, shined a light on how schools are addressing the content kids are watching throughout their days, especially after some attributed higher complaints of poor behavior to internet use.
Now, over a year later, schools are implementing the changes set forward by the bill. This includes Parent ProTech, a free instructional tool for parents which provides guidance, video tutorials and tips on different aspects of social media and technology. The tool is now available to districts statewide.
“It provides those resources for the parent to watch videos and see why that [content] may not be a good idea, or why it may be, depending on the parent and what they choose to do with their child,” said Aimee Darwazeh, director of instructional technology services for Gwinnett County Public Schools.
“There are a lot of times when you’re just not sure about TikTok, for example, or one of the other social media accounts,” she said. “‘I don’t know if my kids have that.’”
According to Darwazeh, the district valued the resource for its multiple language options, which supported their large multilingual population and offered accessible information about AI to help students adapt to emerging technologies.
“We wanted to ensure that students knew how to be good digital citizens,” Darwazeh said.
Credit: TNS
Credit: TNS
Why is polarizing content dominating young adults’ social feeds?
Most understand how algorithms work to push people to stay on platforms. However, it’s less understood why the algorithms seem to have latched so hard onto political content.
“So much of it is now coming with a kind of political orientation to it,” Schweidel said. “And one of the big risks that we see is even if you’re not going out of your way to look for it, it’s going to find you because of the way that these algorithms are designed.”
Young people specifically have been drawn to what Schweidel refers to as “misinformation-related topics,” turning once less controversial topics into hot button issues.
“You know, even like, should I get my flu and COVID vaccine this year has taken on political overtones to it. People’s diets are being politicized,” he explained. “And it just seems like it’s something that’s very difficult to avoid.”
According to Schweidel, these topics can be especially appealing to young people and teenagers, as it allows them to fall down a “rabbit hole,” leading to echo chambers “that reinforce the slight orientation that we may have had.”
“What I’ve seen is that political content doesn’t tend to be something my kids actively seek out, but rather what ‘pops up’ in their feeds,” Dr. Courtney Whittle told the AJC. The pediatrician and obesity medical specialist has noticed the drift toward certain figures and topics on social media, both in her work and as a mother of six spanning preschool age to adulthood.
In her experience with her teenage son and some polarizing political content he was watching, the “rabbit hole” seemed like something he was able to turn away from.
“What reassured me was that he didn’t dive deeper into researching that content or let it influence him,” she said. “It was more of a passive exposure than an intentional choice.”
Though Whittle’s son did not go down the “rabbit hole,” she still notices that her children’s personalities and passions can be radically changed by what they consume on social media. This is only exacerbated as many young people are unable to “distinguish between curated online personas and reality.”
“I notice that my kids’ deeper interests, like clothing trends, slang, music, are more directly shaped by social media than politics is at this stage,” she said.
Still many young people are captivated by political content online, with the most polarizing content often yielding the largest young fanbases. With the current generation expected to be less economically secure than their parents, Schweidel suggests the move toward politically enraging and polarizing content may be a way to cope with problems that feel unsolvable.
“There’s a lot of anger there. And so they’re looking for an answer, right? And I don’t know that the political rhetoric that we necessarily see is giving us an answer, but it’s at least giving us someone to blame,” Schweidel said.
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