Think about this: "The science historian Jacob Bronowski wrote in 1973, 'There is no way of exchanging information that does not involve an act of judgement.' We’ve grown accustomed to many of those acts of judgment being made by algorithms that have a commercial goal in mind" (Source: Barbara Fister, The Librarian War Against QAnon (Links to an external site.)).

What are Algorithms?

Social media platforms use algorithms (meaning a set of rules to be followed) based on personal data they collect from us. For example, Google uses an algorithm to find search results that match the search terms we type in. This means that Google finds and shows us the most visible and popular links. The results we see may not be the most trustworthy sites/articles, and therefore may not be the best information out there for our information need. This shows how important it is for us to think critically about all the information we find when we search on the web.

Check out these videos on algorithmic literacy and strategies to be mindful about the personal data you're sharing through social media.

You may also be interested in learning more about what the algorithms think they know about us. Check out these resources to learn more about protecting your privacy:

Take Steps to Protect Your Data (Source: Penn State University Libraries)
Virtual Privacy Lab (Source: San José Public Library)

Algorithms and Echo Chambers (3 min. 21 sec)

Algorithmic Literacy Strategies (2 min. 19 sec.)

Video source: Citizen Literacy was created by Robert Detmering, Amber Willenborg, and Terri Holtze for University of Louisville Libraries and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.