Social Media Algorithm is Fueling a Wave of Questionable Practices on the African Social Media Space
Social Media Algorithm is Fueling a Wave of Questionable Practices on the African Social Media Space
There are millions of floating pieces of content on social media, and thousands more are added every minute. Sifting through all of this content would be impossible without social media (SM) algorithms.
The algorithm is in charge of searching for and delivering the content you're looking for.
Origin of Social Media Algorithm
Prior to the advent of algorithms, most social media feeds arranged posts in reverse chronological order. Therefore, making it was easy for users, particularly those with millions of followers, to miss critical content. It is resolved by the SM algorithm, which determines which content you see based on your behavior.
For instance, Instagram or Twitter may prioritize posts from your closest friends at the top of your feed if you interact with them frequently while ranking those with whom you rarely communicate lower.
While using an algorithm may be effective, it requires machine learning and data science, which can be used to purposefully design for profit, among other concerns, as demonstrated in the Netflix Social Dilemma Documentary.
You may believe that none of this matters because it is merely suggestions that you are free to disregard. You will discover, however, that algorithms are used to influence and incite user engagement, as well as to auction advertising space.
Social Media Algorithm in Africa
As with the rest of the world, algorithms can be abused in Africa's social media space. It includes distinctive and distinguishing characteristics that set it apart from other regions.
1. Failure to Label Paid post by Influencers
Twitter suspended over 1,500 accounts a few weeks ago for manipulating its platform with the #FreeAlexSaab hashtag. Several prominent Nigerian influencers were suspended after paying to sway public opinion about Saab, a Colombian businessman charged with money laundering in 2019.
The suspension demonstrated how Twitter's trending topics in Africa are still being manipulated, particularly by shady influencers.
The critical point is not that these influencers are compensated. The issue is that they do not label paid posts as sponsored, as their international counterparts do. It It makes it difficult for followers to determine whether or not it is their celebrity's opinion.
Finally, many unsuspecting followers are duped into making decisions or advocating for a cause such as Saab's that they are unfamiliar with.
This flaw has far-reaching consequences, as influencers with a sizable following could manipulate the algorithm to favor a particular candidate during elections.
2. Flagging of Misinformation and Fake News
While social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook are increasingly relying on artificial intelligence technology to detect and prevent the spread of hate speech, disinformation, and other abusive content, research indicates that the algorithms that detect and prevent the spread of hate speech and disinformation online are biased against a certain demographic of users, including Africans.
Rather than filtering out disinformation and hate speech online, the algorithms have identified them incorrectly or completely missed them.
Unlike in Europe and America, where governments are quick to debunk falsehoods and are quickly flagged by the algorithm, authorities in Africa rarely debunk falsehoods.
They frequently do so after the news has trended and significant damage has been done. A false Ebola cure, for example, killed people during the 2016 outbreak.
3. Propagation of Biases
Brian Kagoro, a well-known pan-Africanist, had his Twitter accounts suspended indefinitely last year. Although no explanation was provided, his account appears to have been flagged for using the hashtag "#AfricanLivesMatter" concerning a variety of issues, including police brutality, corruption, and human rights violations.
As with Brain, many people in Africa have suffered the unjust fate of account suspension due to an algorithm's biased decision. While algorithmic systems may be neutral, the data used to train them is determined by humans and may contain pre-existing biases.
This is because, in comparison to other social media platforms worldwide, Africa's algorithm still has a long way to go in terms of bias, particularly regarding social, local, political, linguistic, and cultural contexts.
4. Controversy and Bad news are the biggest voices
On Twitter, controversy and bad news are quite common. However, it is more pronounced in Africa than in any other continent. According to research, an average of six out of ten topics that trend each week revolve around controversies.
5. Common Abuse of Hashtags
While it is acceptable to include a few hashtags in a post, it has become common for Africans, particularly social media businesses, to include hundreds of hashtags to increase their audience. This is frequently the case because advertising remains prohibitively expensive for the larger population of SMEs, particularly as average revenue shrinks due to devaluation.
Nowadays, most entrepreneurs outwit the algorithm when it comes to selling their business on social media. This resulted in the widespread use of hashtags. Still, it also had the unintended consequence of making it frequently difficult to track down the source of a trending topic amidst the noise of marketers and influencers' posts.
6. High Number of Scams
You are more likely to fall for scams in Africa's social media than anywhere else in the world. Scammers are increasingly active on Africa's social media platforms, from business to personal accounts.
Certain criminal elements even employ influencers to spread their scams. Numerous supposedly trustworthy influencers have confidently propagated scam messages as long as they are compensated.
A recent example is the Racksterly Ponzi scheme, which several influential individuals directly or indirectly backed.
In Conclusion
Regardless of the debate surrounding social algorithms, they are here to stay. Consider the near-impossibility of sifting through all social media content.
However, algorithms are not always perfect; the flaws mentioned above demonstrate this. To stem the toxic tide, drastic change is required immediately. It's worth noting that algorithms are constantly evolving and learning to provide the best possible user experience. As a result, some of its issues may naturally be resolved in the near future. Others, on the other hand, may require deliberate effort on the part of social networks.
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