The overwhelming majority (94%) of regular social media users have taken action to manage the content they are shown by algorithm-driven feeds, moving beyond passive scrolling and becoming more intentional about the way they shape their digital experiences.
So says the Generation Algorithm study by Brave Bison’s strategy and insights consultancy MTM, which presents a growing challenge for brands and platforms, with audiences becoming more aware of how algorithmic media works and more selective about the content they allow into their feeds.
For platforms, the research points to a clear appetite for greater transparency, control and user input. For brands, it shows the need to create content that feels relevant enough to be welcomed, rather than ignored, hidden or pushed out of view.
The study reveals that users are actively trying to influence what appears in their feeds in a number of different ways.
These include signalling intent using existing built tools, such as liking/disliking content and following/unfollowing accounts; users are also manipulating content engagement by watching content for longer to signal interest or skipping past quickly when not interested.
Meanwhile, others are seeding searches by actively searching for specific topics to trigger future recommendations and managing their environment by having multiple social accounts for different purposes on the same platform or browsing in a private browser.
MTM surveyed 2,000 regular social media users across the UK and US, alongside cultural insight work and AI-assisted qualitative interviews, to understand how audiences are responding to algorithm-driven media and what this means for the future of online discovery, advertising and engagement.
The findings suggest this behaviour is now mainstream across age groups, rather than being limited to younger audiences. While Gen Z is leading the shift, with 70% saying they direct the algorithm, the same is true for 64% of Millennials and almost half (47%) of Gen X and Boomers.
In fact, audiences are actively thinking about the algorithm, with 88% of daily social media users think about how their actions online affect the content they are shown, with one in five saying they are always thinking about it.
Meanwhile, 88% of users have engaged in ‘training’ behaviours, including manipulating content engagement, seeding searches and managing accounts to influence what they see.
However, the more control people feel they have over their feed, the more satisfied they are with their social media experience, with those users also 5.2x more likely to say they are open to advertising.
Brave Bison chief strategy officer Ric Hayes said: “Algorithm-driven media has become the default way people discover content, products and communities online. What this research shows is that audiences are no longer treating the feed as something that simply happens to them.
“They are learning how to influence it, even if that process is still messy. For brands, this changes the rules of engagement. Relevance can’t just be assumed because a piece of content has been targeted at the right demographic. It has to earn its place in a feed that audiences are actively shaping around their own interests, moods and needs.”
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