Tech

Facebook’s algorithm change in 2018 has benefited Republican groups, researchers say


A 2018 change in Facebook’s algorithm resulted in a significant increase in participation by local Republican groups even though their Democratic counterparts posted more often, according to newly released information . Discoveries, first NBC News, line up with one of the major revelations of . Specifically, a change to emphasize content from family and friends made the News Feed more divisive by encouraging negative posts.

The latest research, published in Research & Politicsused CrowdTangle data to measure engagement with posts from local Democratic and Republican groups on Facebook and Twitter between January 2016 and August 2021. The researchers found that In the fall of 2018, several months after Facebook announced the algorithm change, there was a significant increase in engagement with Republican pages on Facebook that didn’t happen on Twitter.

“We conclude that it is possible that changes to the way Facebook evaluates content have resulted in a doubling of total shares of local Republican posts compared to local Democratic posts. in the first half of 2019 although Democrats post more frequently during this time,” the article’s authors wrote.

The researchers said it was “very difficult” to know for sure what caused the change at the end of 2018. But they note that their findings are very much in line with what we know about the change. Facebook’s algorithm and react to it, thanks to Facebook Papers. The company announced a into News Feed’s rating system in January 2018, to highlight “meaningful social interactions” or MSI. But documents revealed by Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen indicate that in early 2019, publishers and political parties had about whether MSI has negative incentives.

“Without the actual algorithm, of course, we cannot say what caused the change in 2018,” Kevin Reuning, one of the paper’s authors wrote on Twitter. “We can say that there has been a change, specifically on Facebook, and it has affected a large number of local Republicans. We could also say the timeline matches what others have seen of the FB changes”

In a statement to NBC NewsMeta called the researchers’ findings “incredible,” saying the difference in engagement levels could be due to other factors. “It’s inconsistent with what MSI has actually done, which is to reduce the amount of public content – like political party content – on the platform,” said a company spokesperson. Instead, the trends here seem to coincide with a divisive election cycle, and since differences between political parties in the US have been growing for decades, the idea that the shift towards with Facebook ratings will fundamentally change the way people choose to engage with political parties. unbelievable. ”

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