Down the rabbit hole: Social media is exploiting youthful angst for profit or politics

Teenage insecurities are nothing new, but social media has made it easier for commercial, political and ideological actors to identify what young people worry about, keep feeding those anxieties and offer products, communities or beliefs as answers. Social media is also responsive in a way older media was not. Assoc Prof James Patrick Williams from NTU noted that recommendation systems constantly observe, measure and interpret users' actions. Someone repeatedly seeking content about an insecurity, such as their complexion, can consequently receive both more of that content and advertising related to it. The system may continue doing so even if the material worsens the insecurity because its incentives lie elsewhere. "Algorithms are typically designed to increase revenue, not to increase an individual user's well-being," said Assoc Prof Williams.

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- Facilitated by CCO.