Jakarta, Indonesia Sentinel — A recent study indicates that Elon Musk’s social media platform X, using algorithm bias to shape online discourse for the presidential election. According The Verge, X may have adjusted its algorithms to boost Musk’s account and other right-leaning profiles around the time he publicly endorsed Donald Trump’s presidential campaign.
Researchers from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Australia conducted a computational study on user engagement, which revealed that X algorithm was altered in mid-July to amplify right-wing accounts and Musk’s own posts. The study, still in its preliminary stages, raises critical questions about the “potential impact of adjustments on public discourse and the ‘neutrality’ of social media platforms as information carriers.”
The research was led by Timothy Graham, an associate professor in digital media at QUT, and Mark Andrejevic, a professor of communication and media studies at Monash University. The team examined Musk’s engagement metrics before and after his endorsement of Trump in July.
According to Cybernews, the study was conducted in two phases. The first phase analyzed engagement metrics—views, retweets, and follower counts—for Musk’s personal X account compared to other prominent users. The second phase compared engagement metrics for accounts that leaned Republican versus those that leaned Democratic.
The analysis covered 56,184 posts from various accounts between January 1 and October 25, 2024, assessing metrics including view counts, retweet counts, and favorite counts for each.
Study Revealed
Findings revealed a “structural shift in Musk’s engagement metrics around July 13, 2024,” the day Musk officially endorsed Trump. Following this change, Musk’s posts saw a 138.27% surge in views and a staggering 237.94% increase in retweets, alongside a similar spike in likes.
These increases significantly outpaced those of other monitored accounts. The study’s authors concluded that this “unique post-change uplift for Musk’s account suggests the possibility of X algorithm prioritization or bias , positioning Musk’s content favorably in terms of platform visibility and user engagement.”
The study also noted that other right-leaning accounts experienced similar boosts starting in July, albeit in lesser degree. “These findings suggest a possible recommendation bias favoring Republican content in terms of visibility, potentially through mechanisms like the ‘For You’ feed,” the study reported.
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However, the data showed no significant increase in retweets or likes for these right-leaning accounts, suggesting a more balanced engagement distribution across political affiliations. The researchers acknowledged that the reasons behind this pattern remain unclear as the researchers were limited by “a relatively small dataset” due to X’s decision to cut off access to its Academic API.
Bluesky Rises
Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of X users, especially progressives, have already concluded that the platform wasn’t ideologically neutral and actually promoted Musk’s worldview and politics. Many users opt to explore alternative platforms, which one of the main beneficiaries has been Bluesky.
Bluesky social media platform has seen its user base jump from nine million in September to over 19 million in recent weeks. Many users have praised Bluesky for its absence of algorithm-driven feeds, which they find refreshing.
As debates over social media influence continue, these findings suggest that platforms like X may be playing a more active role in shaping political narratives, raising concerns about the neutrality and fairness of digital public spaces in the lead-up to the 2024 election.
(Raidi/Agung)
