Social media platforms have been implicated in conflicts of all scales, from urban gun violence to the storming of the U.S. Capitol building on January 6 and civil war in South Sudan. Scientifically, it is difficult to tell how much social media can be blamed for one-off incidents.But in much the way that climate change increases the risk of extreme weather, evidence suggests that current algorithms (which mostly optimize for engagement) raise the political “temperature” by disproportionately surfacing inflammatory content. This may make people angrier, increasing the risk that social differences escalate to violence.
Origen: Social media algorithm02s can be redesigned to bridge divides — here’s how | Nieman Journalism Lab
