Assistant Editor of EMEA Oliver Kerry investigates news personalization, exploring the potential pros and cons of this increasingly popular approach.
To learn more, contact publishers@storyful.com today.
A typical day can be spent browsing through your usual news app. You then might browse the feeds of X (formerly Twitter), TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook. You share the best videos or articles with your like-minded friends or followers; perhaps you like, bookmark, or comment on a post.
We all participate in this skimming, sharing, and clicking. Many of us are uninformed or frankly uninterested in how our behavior online impacts us in return and its consequences.
Social media platforms act as intermediaries for news consumers, particularly the young, as they digest a wide variety of digitally focused news. This has been a driving force behind the development of individual forms of personalization through algorithmic selection and presentation of content.
For example, TikTok’s “For You” function algorithmically delivers news, entertainment, and viral videos, to a user depending on their appetite for that type of information. Instagram’s reels and feed works to deliver content in a similar way, giving consumers more of what they click or watch.
This isn’t just limited to social media, Google News begins with its own “Your Briefing” and “For You” sections that contain a number of leading stories that its algorithm has pulled in for you. Apple News is also personalized.
As such news organizations and journalists are also increasingly offering tailored and personalized options for their content, such as options to receive more news through algorithms rather than content tailored by editors.
Benefits:
Focus on consumer:
- News content can be adjusted to any reader’s interests, preferences, values, and/or location so that news organizations can tailor their content to meet individual needs and expectations.
- Analyzing the news consumption of an individual and people who have similar interests, gives news organizations a clearer idea of what those audiences want and creates the opportunity to tailor more content. A system can predict trends, drive
Expand news knowledge:
- Provides new opportunities to engage with audiences and foster news diversity. Provides new opportunities to engage with audiences and foster news diversity.
Greater news autonomy:
- User’s get greater news autonomy. Pre-selected personalization could foster more diverse choices in news consumption.
Cons:
Reinforcement of filter bubbles:
- Algorithms might reinforce the echo-chamber effect, particularly for the distribution of news. The opposite of the positives mentioned above could create ‘filter bubbles’ – the notion that people get what they want, but are less exposed to other opinions or facts they have little interest in.
Public interest over interests of public:
- Can algorithms detect what is in the public interest? Or are they only good at finding what interests the public?
- Traditionally, editors would weigh the relevance of the flow of news. Controversial content can have higher share rate or more comments, but that doesn’t always define what is the most important news for a consumer.
Over-personalization:
- Narrowly tailoring a feed of people’s individual preferences could force them into a tiny box. News organizations have to be wary of over-personalizing their content. This could lead to consumers missing unexpected news, or something more outside their comfort zone that they may in turn appreciate.
For more breaking news updates from Storyful, subscribe to The Cut newsletter today.
