News personalization in the era of news algorithms. Know your social media news feed! - Is news personalization in the algorithmic age shaping reality?

With the advent of social media platforms and algorithms, news consumption and journalistic practices are changing. Algorithms filter and recommend news for users on social media, and are also deployed in the newsroom. The way algorithms personalize news for users, and are embedded in journalistic practices is, however, also the subject of concern and comes with challenges. Algorithms can, for example, cause filter bubbles and spread fake news in personalized social media feeds. Also, combining the nature of algorithms with journalistic values can be challenging. Ultimately, news personalization, together with its challenges, can have an impact on how young users’ reality is constructed. The question also is whether users are even aware of their news being personalized. Therefore, the main research question was formulated as: What is the perceived influence of news personalization on individual perceptions of reality among young Dutch social media users? To uncover this, in-depth interviews were conducted with ten young Dutch social media users between 18 and 29 years-old. A grounded theory approach was taken to analyze the data, which resulted in four main themes. First, the shifting role of news was recognized as users mostly consumed news via social media, but also expressed doubts about the combination of journalism and algorithms. Second, the level of awareness towards news personalization was found to be minimal regarding news personalization, as well as the perceived level of control. For this, users indicated having to take responsibility, but would also like to see news organizations be more algorithmically transparent. Third, a paradox was recognized in the way news personalization is perceived by users. The personalization of news is stated as twofold and indicated by participants as convenient, as well as dangerous for example. Fourth, participants stated news personalization having a significant impact on the construction of their reality and on how they view the world. Taking together, these results show a lack of awareness amongst the young Dutch generation regarding news personalization, perceptions on news personalization as paradoxically, and the perceived influence on perceptions of reality is indicated as significant. Furthermore, this research forms implications for media literacy programs, as well as for news organizations that could improve on algorithmic transparency. Also, the Dutch government can play a role in increasing awareness and future research is advised to focus more on this important topic to provide insights on a larger scale.