X’s algorithm effectively ragebaits Democrats – A.V. Club

Those who still use X, The Everything App with any regularity at all are probably aware of how the situation has deteriorated in the past few years. The algorithm feeds its users a steady stream of slop and right-wing talking points, and replies under posts are dominated by people (or bots) who have purchased a blue check to get a priority placement under a post. If Twitter was the internet’s town square, X has become the rundown, anger-inducing ghost of what used to be.  Of course, that is part of its purpose, as a new report in 404 Media reminds. The outlet reports on a new study published in the Proceedings Of The National Academy of Sciences academic journal, which found that reply generation is the biggest indication of what will make a post appear in someone’s For You page. This in itself isn’t especially novel information; algorithms have long prioritized engagement, which often means they are designed to provoke anger in a user. But what is more new is the revelation that the platform serves people who call themselves Democrats more ragebait than anyone else. However, this seems to at least partially correspond to Democrats’ behavior on the platform. 
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