BlueSky Thinking Summary

William Brady and colleagues explain how social media algorithms are corrupting social learning by epitomizing that platforms are really promoting "PRIME" information—prestigious, in-group, moral, and emotional—in search of maximal engagement.

According to them, such a flood of PRIME content hasú?astní distorted reality to a degree measurably instantiated in events such as the January 6th insurrection and is spreading misinformation, also at very high magnitudes, and increasing extreme views.

They propose increasing algorithm transparency and "bounded diversification," a mix between PRIME content and diverse perspectives that would feel healthy for discourse without losing engagement.

For, if such challenges are met, accountable social media can be a learning and interaction space where users are clearer and more insightful to navigate through content and, in turn, shape a digital landscape looking toward understanding rather than polarization.