My News Feed is Filtered?

Abstract

Personalization algorithms, widely used by digital media sources, filter and prioritize news in ways that may not be apparent to users. Savvy media consumers should be aware of how this technology is used to tailor news to their tastes. This two-part study examines the extent to which US college students are aware of news personalization, and the actions and criteria that affect news selection and prioritization. Interviews with one set of students (N = 37) focus on the news sources they use most often to begin a news search. A subsequent survey given to a second set of students (N = 147) focuses on Google and Facebook, two influential gatekeepers. Results show that students are largely unaware of whether and how news sources track user data and apply editorial judgments to deliver personalized results. These studies identify aspects of news personalization that warrant greater attention in college curricula.

KEYWORDS:

• algorithms
• college students
• gatekeeping
• journalism education
• news personalization
• news portals
• social media

Notes

1. From this group, the response rate was 80 percent.

2. Interviews were part of a larger mixed-methods study on students’ news consumption habits, and ways of accessing and assessing news online. Only the subset of interview questions on news personalization are reported here.

3. This study focused on news searches on a computer rather than mobile devices.

4. Such information was often gathered from the “privacy information” or “user data” pages.

5. In the other cases, participants were either incorrect or unsure.

6. This number includes the researcher, who taught a seminar course.

7. For this and other multiple-choice questions referenced below, answer options were “yes,” “no,” and “unsure.”

8. One student identified as “gender fluid.”

9. Eight percent of respondents had deactivated their Facebook account, and 2 percent never had one.

10. The number of responses to this and other text-entry questions are below the total study N of 147 because students who could not think of an example left the field blank. Every response was coded and is represented in tables 2, 3 and 5.

11. Participants were divided into two roughly equal-sized groups: those who spent 15 or fewer minutes and those who spent more than 15 minutes daily consuming news on Facebook. The following shows by how much a greater percentage of the latter group correctly identified the following answers than the former group: Facebook does not show you every post (7 percentage points); Facebook allows you to adjust your News Feed preferences (22 percentage points); Your actions or usage history affect news selection/prioritization (17 percentage points); Actions your friends or organizations you follow take (27 percentage points); Actions users you don’t know take (1 percentage point); Actions taken by Facebook engineers, editors, and curators (13 percentage points).

12. The following shows by how much greater a percentage the “more than 15 minutes group” than the “15 minutes or fewer group” correctly identified the following answers: Different people searching for news on Google are likely to get different results (6 percentage points); Google News allows you to adjust the news you see (10 percentage points); Details about your online session affect news selection/prioritization (9 percentage points); Actions other website users take (13 percentage points); Actions taken by Google engineers, editors, or curators (18 percentage points).