Engagement, User Satisfaction, and the Amplification of Divisive Content on Social Media

Milli, S., Carroll, M., Wang, Y., Pandey, S., Zhao, S., & Dragan, A. D. (2025). Engagement, User Satisfaction, and the Amplification of Divisive Content on Social Media. PNAS Nexus, 4(3).

Type

Journal article

Intellectual base

Primary research

Year

2025

Volume

4

Issue

3

DOI

10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf062

DOI registrant

Oxford University Press

Link

https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf062

Cited from

sociology_anthropology

Cited by

1 citation across 1 artifact.

Each citation links to the sentence it supports in the citing article.

Primes

• Encounter Surface
  • Replacing a library with a curbside pickup hub preserves book-lending while destroying the encounter surface; replacing a public street with a private plaza preserves transit while destroying it; algorithmic feed ranking preserves engagement metrics while destroying it.

    This sourceEmpirically contrasts engagement-based algorithmic ranking with a reverse-chronological feed, showing the algorithm reshapes what is seen and amplifies divisive content while sustaining engagement — supporting that algorithmic feeds preserve engagement metrics while changing the observability of who is seen and weakening stranger-encounter dynamics.

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