Exhibit 724

How do social media feed algorithms affect attitudes and behavior in an election campaign?

Exhibit 724 · Peer-reviewed study

How do social media feed algorithms affect attitudes and behavior in an election campaign?

the chronological feed did not significantly alter levels of issue polarization, affective polarization, political knowledge, or other key attitudes during the 3-month study period.

Randomized experiment with Meta cooperation: consenting Facebook and Instagram users moved to reverse-chronological feeds, 3 months, 2020 election. Study window overlapped temporary Meta emergency measures (criticized in a 2024 Science eLetter).

Source: Guess, Malhotra, Pan, Barbera, Allcott, Brown et al. (Science)
Date: 28 July 2023
Quoted from: Abstract
Grade: Peer-reviewed
Document: https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abp9364
Accessed: 2026-11-09
Cited by: Findings citing this exhibit

Cited by

Finding POL-3.8: Peer-reviewed In randomized experiments run with Meta during the 2020 election, switching users to chronological feeds, removing reshares, reducing exposure to like-minded sources and deactivating accounts changed what users saw and produced no significant change in polarization.
Finding POL-3.11: Open question Whether engagement-optimizing ranking causes lasting polarization, as distinct from what it amplifies and what users see, is unresolved in the peer-reviewed record.