Engagement-Based Algorithms are Causing Social Division - But is There an Alternative?

"Anger is more contagious than joy, indicating that it can drive more angry follow-up tweets and anger prefers weaker ties than joy for the dissemination in social network, indicating that it can penetrate different communities and break local traps by more sharing between strangers. ""

"As you can see in this listing of the topics that see the highest rate of promotion on Douyin, which is the Chinese local version of TikTok, among the most popular topics are 'positive energy' and 'knowledge sharing,' two topics that would be unlikely to get anywhere near these levels of comparative engagement on TikTok."

Anger spreads more readily than joy, producing more angry follow-up tweets and higher contagion across users. Anger travels preferentially along weaker ties, enabling it to cross community boundaries and break local containment through increased sharing between strangers. Platform-specific dynamics affect topic promotion and engagement. On Douyin, topics such as 'positive energy' and 'knowledge sharing' achieve high promotion rates and comparative engagement levels that are unlikely on TikTok. Differences in algorithms, curation practices, and local cultural preferences shape which topics gain traction and how emotions propagate across social networks.

Read at Social Media Today