Lesson video

Hello, my name's Miss Willow and I'm going to be your teacher for today's lesson.

Today's lesson is called How Algorithms Influence What We See, and it fits into the unit Media Influence: Who Decides What I Experience in the Online World.

During this lesson, we are going to be talking about discrimination.

So for this lesson we recommend that you have an adult with you.

If at any point you do feel worried or uncomfortable, it's really important that you stop the video and that you speak to a trusted adult.

Okay, let's make a start.

By the end of today's lesson, you'll be able to describe how algorithms influence the content that we see online.

Before we get started with today's lesson, we need to go over some ground rules.

These helps make sure that everyone feels safe and comfortable during today's lesson.

First of all, Laura tells us that, "we need to listen to others." This means that we're not going to interrupt other people when they're speaking.

Next, Jacob says that, "we need to not have any judgment." This means that if someone chooses to share a story or an experience, we are not going to judge them for it.

Next, Andeep says that "we need to respect each other's privacy." This means that we're not going to ask anyone any personal questions as this can make some people feel uncomfortable.

And finally, Izzy tells us that, "we can choose our level of participation." This means that during today's lesson, it's up to us how much we want to join in.

We are now going to go through the keywords for today's lesson.

These keywords are gonna come up quite a few times in today's lesson, so it's really important that we have a good understanding of what each of these words mean.

So first of all, we have the word algorithm.

This is a set of rules used or created by a computer program.

Next, we have content.

This is posts, videos, reels, and articles put online by a content creator.

Next we have data.

This is detailed information stored online.

And finally, we have viewpoint.

This is a person's opinion or perspective, their point of view.

As we go through today's lesson, keep an eye out for these keywords, and when you spot them see if you can remember what they mean.

Today's lesson is split into three learning cycles.

Our first learning cycle is called, What is a Social Media Algorithm? Our second learning cycle is called How Does Social Media Influence What We Watch? And our last learning cycle is called, Is Everyone Showing The Same Content Online.

Let's make a start on our first learning cycle.

What is the social media algorithm? Algorithms are used in many ways across the internet.

They're computer programs that make choices about what online content is suggested to us, based on what we engage with online.

Lucas says that, "Without algorithms, the internet would be overwhelming and it would be harder to find what interests us." Algorithms are influenced by what websites we visit, the links that we click on, what we search for online, for example, on search engines, where we live, interactions that we have on social media, and characteristics that we have, for example, our gender or our age.

All of these things can influence algorithms. Let's do a check for understanding to see how you're doing.

Can you remember, how do algorithms decide what online content to show us? Is it A, they only remember what we buy online, B, they remember what we talk about with others, or C, they notice what we engage with online? What do you think? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

(car engine revving) Well done if you said that C is correct.

Algorithms decide what online content to show us by noticing what we engage with online.

Well done if you said the same thing.

It is common for people on social media to be recommended content that's similar to what they already watch.

So for example, if they watch content related to football, they might notice content relating to other sports on social media.

So for example, if they're watching something to do with football, they might start to notice that they're being recommended to watch something to do with tennis.

This happens because social media uses algorithms to understand what people who use the internet are interested in.

Sam says, "It does this so it knows what content they are most likely to engage in.

Engagement includes clicking the like button, commenting on, and sharing the posts, following accounts and watching videos." All of these things are engagement.

When someone first joins a social media platform, the algorithm shows them lots of different types of content to see what grabs their attention.

So, it notices when they watch, like, or comment on something.

Then it shows them more of the type of content that they've watched, liked, or commented on the most.

So, let's have a look and see what this looks like.

So first of all, someone interacts with something on social media.

Then the algorithm remembers what the person interacted with and find similar content that it thinks that they will like.

Next, the algorithm personalizes what they see on social media based on their interests and what they've engaged with already.

This cycle keeps going as people keep engaging with and interacting with things on social media.

A social media feed is what someone sees when they first open a social media app.

So what's a person's social media feed looks like depends on who they follow online, what they've interacted with, what their friends have interacted with, and what their algorithm thinks that they will be interested in based on what they've already engaged with.

Let's do another check for understanding to see how you're doing.

Why are social media algorithms used? Can you remember? Is it A, to allow people to see all of the internet, B, to show people more of what they engage with, or C, to make sure that people don't see the same content? What do you think? Why are social media algorithms used? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that B is correct.

Social media algorithms are used to show people more of what they engage with.

Well done if you got this right.

Social media companies also collect data which influences what content the algorithm shows people.

So if someone has a social media account, even if it is set to private in their privacy settings, the company that made the social media will usually know, for example, their gender, their age, their location, their buying habits, so for example, if they've bought something online, who they're friends with, and their phone number too.

The algorithm makes guesses about someone's interests based on what it already knows about them.

So for example, if the algorithm knows your gender, it might recommend to you sports or beauty.

If it knows your location, it might recommend to you places to go.

If it knows your age, it might recommend to you toys or technology, and it might show you different films as well.

If it knows your buying habits, it might recommend to you and show you clothes or makeup based on what you've already bought.

For example, if the social media algorithm knows someone's interests, it will show them more content that's related to these interests.

So here we have Aarnav.

Aarnav likes buying clothes so his social media is often made up of clothes.

Aarnav likes animals, so on his social media feed he often sees animals.

Aarnav also likes nature, so his social media feed will be made up of nature.

Aarnav's social media feed will be made up of all the different things that the algorithm knows that he's interested in.

What we see on the internet is therefore influenced by who we are and what we engage with.

Both of these things make up what the internet looks like for us.

Remember that the internet will look slightly different for everyone because of algorithms. Let's do another check for understanding.

Is this statement true or false? If someone has an account set to private, the social media company won't collect any of their data.

What do you think? Is this true or false? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that this is false, but why? You might have said that, if someone has a social media account, the social media company will collect data about them regardless of their privacy settings, for example, if they've set their account to private.

We are now gonna move on to your first practice task and well done for your hard work so far.

For this first task, I'd like you look at, based on what Tom likes, can you name three examples of content that the algorithm might show him? So Tom says, "I like playing sports, trying out different fashion styles, and my favorite animals are dogs and horses." Based on what Tom likes, can you name three examples of some content that the algorithm might show him? Pause the video and we'll go through what you might have said in a few minutes.

Okay, let's see what you might have said.

You might have said that based on what Tom likes the algorithm might show him content relating to sports, for example, football, rugby, and netball.

It might show him content relating to fashion, so for example, clothes to buy, outfits, and different clothing brands.

And finally, Tom likes content relating to animals, so the algorithm might show him dogs, horses, or cats.

Well done if your answers were anything like this.

It's now time to move on to our second learning cycle and well done for your hard work so far.

Our second learning cycle is called, how does social media influence what we watch? Social media algorithms can be useful because they mean that we typically only see content that we find interesting.

Izzy says that, "You can learn more about things that you find interesting and see things that relate to you." And Jun says that, "You can see content from people with similar viewpoints to you." However, algorithms can mean that our experience of the internet is limited.

Jacob says that, "It can be difficult to see different content if we want to," because the algorithm is constantly showing us things that it thinks that we're going to be interested in based on what we've already watched or engaged with.

Andeep says that, "It also means that if we interact with something, even though we don't like it, for example, commenting on it, the algorithm will show us even more of it even though we don't like it." Let's do a check for understanding to see how you're doing with this learning cycle.

Which is one negative of algorithms being used on social media? Is it A, that we're able to find content that's interesting to us, B, that it's hard to find content that is interesting to us, or C, it's difficult to find different content if we want to? What do you think? Which is one negative of algorithms being used on social media? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that C is correct.

It is difficult to find different content on social media if we want to, and this is one negative of algorithms being used on social media.

Well done if you got this right.

Content will often get popular on social media because it's shocking, upsetting or worrying, and it could be controversial too.

Controversial content involves someone voicing a shocking viewpoint, potentially because it's unpopular and people may disagree with it.

This includes content that discriminates against people because of their race or ethnicity, their gender, their sexual orientation, a disability that they have.

People sometimes engage with this online content whether they agree with it or not.

When we engage with content online, the algorithm assumes that this means that we like it and that we want to see more of it.

So, even if for example, Sophia watches a video that she doesn't like and she decides to comment on it saying, "I don't like this video," the algorithm will think that just because she interacted with it that this means she likes it.

When we engage with something online and we interact with it, the algorithm will think that we liked it just because we engage with it, so it will show us similar content.

If we see content online that we don't like, we can manage it by stop watching it and telling a trusted adult.

We can report it if it breaks the social media site's rules, and we can click an I don't like this button if it's available.

This allows us to let the algorithm know that what we've just seen we don't like and we don't want to see things like it.

Let's do another check for understanding.

Which of these are things that we can do if we see content that we don't like online? Can we A, comment on it to say that we don't like it, B, talk to a trusted adult, or C, click an I don't like this button if it's available? What do you think? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that B and C are correct.

If we see content that we don't like online, we can talk to a trusted adult, and if it's available, we can click an I don't like this button.

It's important to not comment on it to say that we don't like it because the algorithm could think that just because we've engaged with it, we like it and we want to see more of it.

Well done if you got this right.

Someone's social media feeds will also be influenced by how their friends use social media.

Tom says, "I follow the social media accounts of pop stars online." And Holly says, "I follow the social media accounts of sports players online." If Tom and Holly both follow each other on social media or they are friends online, they may also get shown content relating to what the other person engages with.

So in this scenario, Holly would be shown pop stars online and Tom would be shown sports players online.

This is because the social media algorithm guesses that people will be interested in what their friends engage with online.

Holly says, "Sometimes I get recommended videos of pop stars on social media that I know Tom likes and I end up liking them to." Let's do another check for understanding and this time it's a true or false question.

What people see on social media can be influenced by what their friends engage with.

What do you think? Is this true or false? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that this is true.

It is true that what we see on social media can be influenced by what our friends engage with.

Well done if you got this right.

We are now moving on to your second practice task and well done for your hard work so far.

In this task, Aisha and Jun statements are incorrect.

I'd like you to rewrite them so that they are correct.

Aisha says, "Only content that makes people feel happy will become popular." And Jun says, "If someone comments on a post saying that they don't like it, the algorithm won't show them anything similar again." Both of these statements are incorrect, I'd like you to rewrite them so that both Aisha and Jun statements are correct.

Pause the video and we'll go through some model answers in a few minutes.

Okay, let's see what you might have said.

Your rewritten statements might look like this, Aisha might now say, "Content that is shocking, upsetting, worrying, or controversial often becomes popular," and Jun might now say something like, "When someone engages with content to say that they don't like it, the algorithm assumes that they like it, so will show them similar content." Well done if your rewritten statements were anything like this.

It's now time to move on to our final learning cycle, is everyone shown the same content online? We are often shown the same content as people that are similar to us.

Algorithms group users together based on their characteristics and their interests.

So here we have this group that likes football and this group that likes dancing.

In this case, the algorithm is going to group these people together because they have similar interests.

Algorithms often assume that these groups will have other similar interests and that they'll engage with similar things.

So Jacob says, "I like a rock band." Sam says, "I like the same rock band, but I like another band too." It's likely that the other band that Sam likes will get recommended to Jacob as they share a common interest, as they like the same rock band.

Social media algorithms also take our characteristics into account, and Alex tells us that, "Our characteristics are traits like our gender, age, location, and ethnicity." Sophia says that, "Someone's social media feeds will often show them things that other people with the same characteristic have also engaged with." So for example, someone with the same gender, age, location, or ethnicity.

Let's do a check for understanding to see how you're doing with this learning cycle so far.

Can you decide out of Jacob and Aisha who is correct? Jacob says that, "Social media algorithms show people with different characteristics the same content," but Aisha says that, "Social media algorithms show people with similar characteristics the same content." Who is correct? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that Aisha is correct.

It is true that social media algorithms show people with similar characteristics the same content.

Well done if you got this right.

It can be tricky to understand online content sometimes, for example, information found through search engines.

There are some helpful tips that we can follow.

Laura asks, "Is the website trustworthy and reliable?" Alex asks, "Are there spelling or grammar mistakes within the online content?" Izzy asks, "Do other online sources say the same thing?" And Lucas asks, "Does the information seem believable?" These are all some helpful tips that we can follow to help us understand online content.

Because algorithms group people who are similar together, it means that we can often only be shown certain parts of the internet.

So Alex can see this part, Lucas will see this part, Laura will see this part, and Izzy will see this part.

Everyone might have access to the same internet, but they might see different content, ideas and viewpoints.

What we see online can heavily influence how we see the world.

By only seeing what the algorithm thinks that we will like, we can become unaware of different content, ideas, and viewpoints.

I'd like you to have a think about what Alex has to say.

Alex says, "If someone has lots of social media accounts and spends a long time online, they will see most things on the internet." What do you think about this comment? Do you agree, disagree, maybe you're somewhere in the middle, or maybe you are not sure? Well done if you says that Alex is incorrect.

Because of algorithms, we only see a small amount of what is on the internet and usually what the algorithm thinks that we'll enjoy.

We are less likely to see content that's completely different to what we normally see.

Well done if you had a similar idea.

If we only see one type of content, idea, or viewpoint, we can start to think that our opinion is the only right one or that everyone thinks the same way that we do.

We're going to take a look at opinions about a film as an example.

On Alex's part of the internet, "Everyone is saying that this film is great," but our Lucas is part of the internet, "Everyone is saying that the same film is rubbish." On Izzy's part of the internet, "Everyone says that this film is a bad influence," but on Laura's part of the internet, no one's even heard of the film.

This shows us how different parts of the internet can have different viewpoints and different ideas, and people can see only one viewpoint or one idea.

In these scenarios, people are making assumptions about what everyone thinks based on what they can see on their part of the internet.

Let's do another check for understanding.

What happens if we see the same viewpoints online? A, we can think that everyone thinks the same as us, B, we're more likely to have the correct viewpoint, or C, we can be unaware that different viewpoints exist? What happens if you see the same viewpoints online? Pause the video, talk to the people around you, or have a think to yourself.

Well done if you said that A and C are correct.

If we see the same viewpoints online, we can start to think that everyone thinks the same as us and we can be unaware that different viewpoints exist.

Well done if you said the same thing.

It's now time to move on to our final practice task.

I'd like you to explain to the person next to you why Jun is incorrect.

Jun says that, "Everyone has access to the same internet, so everyone will have the same information and opinions." Why is Jun incorrect? Pause the video and we'll go through what you might have said in a few minutes.

Okay, let's see what you might have said.

You might have said that because of algorithms, everyone sees different parts of the internet, which are usually similar to their own viewpoints.

This means that everyone sees different information and opinions.

Well done if your answer was anything like this.

We're now going to summarize the key learning from today's lesson.

In today's lesson, we've learned the algorithms decide what content is suggested to us online, and this influences what we see.

When we watch or like content, the algorithm will suggest similar content that we're more likely to enjoy, so we engage with it.

Remember, this means watching, commenting, and sharing this with others.

The content that's suggested to us depends on data that's collected by social media companies often relating to our characteristics.

So for example, things like our age, gender, and ethnicity.

We're often shown the same content as people who are similar to us as the algorithm thinks that we will enjoy the same content.

And finally, we've learned that we're often unaware of other content, ideas, and viewpoints because we only see a small part of the internet based on algorithms. Well done for your hard work in today's lesson.

In today's lesson, we have talked about some tricky topics, so if you have any questions or worries, it's really important that you share these with a trusted adult.

There's also some resources on the screen that are there to help you too.

Well done for your hard work today, and I hope to see you in another lesson soon.