Have you ever had a post fall flat — no likes, no comments — and wondered whether some all-seeing social media algorithm was punishing you?
We turn to social apps for news, political discussions and up-to-date information, but much of what we see is decided by sets of algorithms that try to prioritize the content we like while showing us ads at regular intervals.
How those algorithms make decisions is largely a black box, and critics have long called on social media companies to be more transparent.
Major political figures have accused the companies of using algorithms to censor speech, while regular users worry their posts are being suppressed based on biased criteria.
