Trevor Carlyon

The political effects of X's feed algorithm https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10098-2 Received: 16 December 2024 Accepted: 4 January 2026 Published online: 18 February 2026 Open access • Check for updates Germain Gauthier,5, Roland Hodler?5, Philine Widmer35 & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya3,4,5 m Feed algorithms are widely suspected to influence political attitudes. However, previous evidence from switching off the algorithm on Meta platforms found no political effects'. Here we present results from a 2023 field experiment on Elon Musk's platform X shedding light on this puzzle. We assigned active US-based users randomly to either an algorithmic or a chronological feed for 7 weeks, measuring political attitudes and online behaviour. Switching from a chronological to an algorithmic feed increased engagement and shifted political opinion towards more conservative positions, particularly regarding policy priorities, perceptions of criminal investigations into Donald Trump and views on the war in Ukraine. In contrast, switching from the algorithmic to the chronological feed had no comparable effects. Neither switching the algorithm on nor switching it off significantly affected affective polarization or self-reported partisanship. To investigate the mechanism, we analysed users' feed content and behaviour. We found that the algorithm promotes conservative content and demotes posts by traditional media. Exposure to algorithmic content leads users to follow conservative political activist accounts, which they continue to follow even after switching off the algorithm, helping explain the asymmetry in effects. These results suggest that initial exposure to X's algorithm has persistent effects on users' current political attitudes and account-following behaviour, even in the absence of a detectable effect on partisanship.

A new paper shows that less than 2 months of exposure to Twitter’s algorithmic feed significantly shifts people’s political views to the right.

Moving from chronological feed to the algorithmic feed also increases engagement.

This is one of the most concerning papers I’ve read in awhile.

Some may be saying, “yes, we knew this”, but we don’t really know know until we see data like these.

And something we may not have known that this paper shows is that once a person gets into the right wing silo, we’ve lost them. Changing to the chronological feed does not bring them back.

What share of doctors in your country are foreign trained? Source: brnw.ch/21wZZWP

Wow.

This is what happens when you elect as president a man whose personality and logic of governance is little more than a hyper-condensed bouillon cube of the nation’s deepest pathologies.

‪Doctors say that vaccines protect children from dangerous diseases. A nepo baby who barbecues dogs and snorts cocaine off toilet seats says that vaccines make children vulnerable to 5G radiation. For busy parents, it can be hard to know who to trust.

Liberal spills and by-elections Sussan Ley to leave parliament and spark a by-election in Farrer.

Sussan Ley to leave parliament, sparking a by-election in Farrer. A link roundup on that, and the other two by-elections underway in Victoria and the Northern Territory: caseybriggs.com/liberal-spil...

I gave one of his bird prints to my granddaughter. She loves it and will be devastated to learn of his death.

Oh no!

With the new Firefox version, users can individually choose to use AI translations, alt texts in PDF files, AI-enhanced tap grouping, link previews and AI chatbots, including options such as Claude, ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Google Gemini and Mistral. Plus, those who don’t want any AI features at all can block all AI enhancements.

There are so many AI features that are just 100% no-one-asked-for-this. This is meant to be economy-altering nearly-conscious human intelligence level stuff and it's just so comically mundane

The only things where it actually excels and "works" is just anything helping out fascism

A political cartoon (in color) from Michael de Adder, showing Jeff Bezos blowing out a candle representing the Washington Post

Another great cartoon from Michael de Adder (for The Contrarian):

Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue

Infographic chart showing the major AI chatbot market share as of January 2026, according to a Vertu report based on Similarweb data. Chart: AFP.

George Carlin always nailed it.

This is the BEST explanation I have seen so far.

#ice #ICEexecution #theresistance

If we weren’t all off on a long weekend celebrating Australia Day on Monday we would pile on you Tom.

No wonder we are all realigning our relationships away from the USA

Dammit!

There is always hope.

He listened to Carney’s speech at Davos 😂

Watch Carney’s speech at Davos!

YouTube video by MeidasTouch 🚨Canada PM BRINGS THE HOUSE DOWN with ANTI-TRUMP Speech

Prime Minister Carney's speech at Davos is sending a message of Canada's determination to the world.
Canada is united at this time in the face of staggering levels of threat.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=A5aQ...

Is anyone really surprised that convicted rapist Trump is trying to force himself on Greenland after it said no?

Screenshot of Fox News from Jan. 15, 2026 with picture of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and chyron: "Breaking News: Noem: U.S. Citizens Should be Prepared To Show Proof."

“Noem: U.S. Citizens Should Be Prepared To Show Proof.”

Did you vote for a “Show Me Your Papers” society?

One of the stories that makes me the saddest out of this ICE invasion is one out of the Minnesota Star Tribune today about ICE agents eating at a little Mexican restaurant in the small town of Willmar, Minn, —and then, when they were done, arresting some of the workers.