Algorithm-driven feeds turn Gen Z into a target for fake content

New Delhi: The number of Indians in the 14 to 29 years age group, which represents GenZ, numbers around 407 million or nearly 28 per cent of the national population, according to UN World Population Prospects data.

This large segment constitutes the decisive voter base for the coming decades, but the fact that it is hooked onto social media poses a serious risk of being influenced by fake online propaganda, according to an article by Indian Narrative.

The article sites IIM Rohtak study which concluded that nearly 39,000 respondents aged between 18 and 25 years recorded an average daily screen time of about seven hours with substantial portions devoted to social platforms.

When hundreds of millions of young people devote this volume of attention each day to algorithmically curated feeds, then we must not ignore one disturbing fact that the content that reaches them is not a neutral reflection of reality, the article states. It equates these algorithms with highly paid attention merchants. They do not ask what is true or what is good for society. They ask only one question, that is, what will keep this person scrolling longer so that more advertisements can be sold.

“The core issue is that algorithm driven social media is not a neutral mirror of reality but it is, rather, designed to maximise engagement and that design often rewards outrage, polarisation and emotionally charged content. In practice, this can distort public debate, suppress inconvenient information and even intensify real world political violence.