PG

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.

😬

I will continue to beat this drum: this is not about what happens on Election Day, but afterwards.

The key tell is her articulation of the core MAGA belief that the legitimacy of elections is entirely determined by the results: if they win, it’s legitimate; if they lose, it’s not.

Couple of charts are worth a thousand words.

Kid Rock walking mad saying “White people running to social media to let everyone know they did not enjoy the halftime show.”

LMFAO!!!🤣😭🤣😭🤣😭😭😭💀🪦

Facebook right now:👇

Bad Bunny lâche un "God Bless America!", puis nomme tous les pays du continent...

Terrified Conservatives Lose Ability To Speak English After Exposure To Bad Bunny Performance

Terrified Conservatives Lose Ability To Speak English After Exposure To Bad Bunny Performance https://theonion.com/terrified-conservatives-lose-ability-to-speak-english-after-exposure-to-bad-bunny-performance-dios-mio-cry-millions-of-panicking-republicans/

hell yeah all the flags they’re gonna be so fucking mad

With the caveat that I am not the world's biggest halftime show connoisseur, I have to say this one is KILLING IT. Culture and history, classical guitar and violin, kiddies and seniors, wedding cake and so much colour! I would pay to see this as a musical, seriously. Calling Lin-Manuel Miranda.

The only thing more powerful than hate is love.

I can literally hear the racists shrieking and losing their minds right now over the all Spanish language Bad Boy Super Bowl Halftime Show. It’s awesome. Cry more! Die mad.

"Epstein class" is terrific not simply because several of them are directly tied to Epstein's crimes, but because it strikes at the corruption, immorality and impunity of that entire circle.

So I'm told apparently everyone in 🇨🇦 loves the ad except Wayne 🤷🏻‍♂️🤣

(seen a bunch of people sharing this/talking in general about how "normal" Mamdani is but imo this doesn't show a normal person, but an *exceptionally* skilled communicator - a normal person wouldn't react like that to having a speech interrupted by a child! give him his due!)

EPSTEIN FILES MENTIONS:

Trump- 38,000+
Reid Hoffman- 2,658
Bill Gates- 2,592
Peter Thiel- 2,281
Elon Musk- 1,116
Richard Branson- 987
Howard Lutnick- 653
Kevin Warsh- 521
Larry Ellison- 398
Steve Bannon- numerous
Prince Andrew- numerous
Trans people- 0
Drag Queens- 0
Hardworking immigrants -0

The Montreal Canadiens are playing the Minnesota Wild in Minneapolis tonight. The players have been recommended to stay in/eat at the hotel, take the team bus to the arena, and carry passports.

Perhaps we shouldn't be hosting the World Cup and the Olympics...

The President of the United States is a mentally ill deluded lunatic and nobody will do a damn thing about it. This is insane. Literally.

U.S. government has lost more than 10,000 STEM Ph.D.s since Trump took office A Science analysis reveals how many were fired, retired, or quit across 14 agencies

Wow. This is devastating.

www.science.org/content/arti...

Le dessin du jour, par Soulcié

Look at these beautiful faces. Say their names.

Iranian forces massacred protesters fleeing burning market, witnesses say A rare detailed account of Iran’s crackdown, produced by The Post, reveals the brutality used by security forces in one of many such cities rocked by violence.

Iranian security forces gunned down dozens of protesters trying to escape a devastating blaze in the Caspian Sea city of Rasht during a nationwide uprising earlier this month, according to witness accounts provided to The Post.

Alex Pretti was an American hero. He saved lives. He protected people. He cared deeply about his community, unlike the murderous thugs who killed him.

The very last thing he did was try to help a woman who had been pepper-sprayed and violently shoved to the ground by ICE. 1/

Let me try to articulate what I think the central economic issue of the current moment really is.

Trump Administration:

Everyone, come to the World Cup and Olympics! Sure, you might get shot and killed by ICE, but, hey, spend money here in America!

people.com/nj-girl-foun...

"6 years old... walking by herself on the street, crying, crying out for her dad, asking, 'Where's Papi? Where's Papi?'..."

Checking in on the Florida Panthers tonight

🤷‍♂️

Screenshot of an X post by FactPost. The text begins “21-year-old activist injured by ICE:” and describes severe injuries and losing sight in one eye, with fractures and shrapnel-like debris removed. Below is a video still of a young person sitting on a couch being interviewed, with a visible bruise/discoloration around one eye.

We should all be furious on behalf of this young man. Abolish ICE.

Me in 2009, being presented with the Stanley Cup. Such a wonderful gesture of respect.