You watch one video about a topic you’ve never seen or cared about before. Maybe it’s a political topic you’re learning about for the first time, or an influencer advertising a new product. A few scrolls later, the same topic appears again. And again.
By the next day, that topic has flooded your social media “For You” Page.
This effect isn’t coincidental. The profusion of content surrounding a subject after only seeing a few related videos can be accredited to social media algorithms, digital systems that are designed to curate content to your interests and preferences.
Every scroll, like, comment, share and completed video are factored into a complex recommendation system that uses clues to guess what you may want to see next. TikTok, for example, uses your “For You” Page feed to record interactions such as likes, shares, comments, accounts followed, searches and how long someone watches a video. The company says that completing a longer video can be a particularly strong signal of interest.
The individualized stream of content that algorithm produces is a large reason why social media is so addictive. When every single scroll seems to be precisely curated to what you like to watch, it makes the experience feel constantly entertaining and relevant, which hooks most viewers.
Indeed, teenagers spend a lot of time in those personalized streams. According to a 2025 Pew Research Center survey of U.S. teenagers ages 13 to 17, 63% said they use TikTok, while 61% said they use Instagram and 90% said they use YouTube. 57% reported using TikTok daily. Pew Research Center also found that about one-third of teenagers use at least one of the major platforms it studied almost constantly.
Understanding the algorithm and the process in which content is shown is more than just learning about technology systems. In an increasingly digital age where social media impacts young people’s habits, beliefs and interests, it’s an essential aspect of digital literacy.
One important lesson to note when understanding social media algorithms is that the stream of content someone receives isn’t a narrative that is necessarily objective, popular or true.
Recommendation systems are designed to compound onto the existing beliefs and demonstrated interests of the user. That process might be useful when it comes to receiving relevant entertainment like edits of your favorite show or news on your favorite music artist’s tour. But when it comes to news, information and opinion, the distinction between personal relevance and objective truthfulness becomes important.
If you encounter one video on a topic with a strong opinion, and spend time scrolling the comments or maybe share it with a friend, chances are, the algorithm will feed you a plethora of similar content from the same angle. It’s easy to believe that this opinion is more valid than another belief, or that it’s the common consensus of the general public opinion. But really, you’re seeing a specific perspective that the automatic system hopes will garner the most of your engagement.
Something can be interesting without being true. It can be popular without being representative. It can appear on your feed ten times without becoming more credible the tenth time you see it. The compounding effect of seeing the same viewpoint reiterated in consecutive videos can be persuasive, but it’s important to keep an open mind and regard social media content with the critical thinking and fact checking skills you would use for anything you see online.
But just as much as your feed is trained by your interactions and behaviors, you also have the ability to train your feed in return.
Having control over the content you consume is important when social media shapes your beliefs and takes up large quantities of time. Consuming positive, motivating and genuinely entertaining content can have a massively different affect on your attitude and mood compared to a stream of negative, harmful and discouraging content.
The most intuitive answer is to simply scroll past that kind of negative content without lingering and showing the algorithm you’re interested in. While this can be effective, digital systems can’t tell whether your engagement with a post is positive or negative; it simply treats interaction as a basic metric.
If you come across a video you vehemently disagree with and send it to a friend to share your disapproval, the algorithm will still assume you’re interested in seeing similar content. Similarly, if you hated a video so much you paused to read the comments, all the platform detects is the amount of time you spent lingering on the video.
That’s why many social media platforms have built in features that now allow you to tailor your feed. For example, on platforms like TikTok, features allow you to select a “Not Interested” button on a post so the platform avoids giving you videos with similar content tags or from similar creators. Likewise, on apps like Instagram, a dedicated algorithm settings space allows you to select topics you’re interested in while blocking topics you’d like to avoid.
Other solutions exist in the mindset with which you approach content online. For example, being more cognizant about what you’re interacting with and remembering how your decisions decide what you watch, can be helpful in creating a positive online environment. Before liking, sharing or commenting on something, especially content that may spark anger or disgust, consider if you want to receive more similar content. Both curiosity and outrage can keep the algorithm feeding you.
Next, remember that repetition doesn’t mean verification. Just because you get numerous videos in a row with the same coverage or perspective on a topic, doesn’t mean it’s true or popular consensus. Five videos repeating the same claim isn’t the same as five trustworthy sources. Just like the promotion of a product you’ve been lingering on from several different influencers doesn’t automatically warrant a sign to buy it.
And finally, pay attention to what your feed might be missing. While social media algorithms are skilled at giving us what we already engage with, they can also narrow our perspective of issues and topics that exist in the world. If every single video presents the same argument, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the only argument that exists. Let your curiosity guide the way you consume content. Search for perspectives that are missing from the conversation.
As young people spend more and more time having their worldviews shaped by social media, it’s important to address how that social media is shaped. By understanding how the powerful digital algorithms that decide our daily stream of content function, we can look beyond the most convenient, often one-sided version of the world and develop a more informed, nuanced understanding of the world around us.
