Study: X's feed algorithm favors conservative content, and switching to For You for seven weeks shifted users' views toward more conservative political opinions
The algorithm also doesn't like posts by traditional news media, the researchers found.
GizmodoEce Yildirim
Context & Ripple Effects
The finding extends a cross-platform research record: a 2022 study reported that YouTube recommendations were more likely to suggest conservative-leaning videos regardless of viewers’ ideology, while a Facebook study linked heavier use with more polarized news consumption, especially among conservatives. X now adds evidence that feed design can be associated not only with exposure patterns but with measurable opinion movement.
It also sharpens the stakes for news publishers. The reported downranking of traditional-news posts comes after researchers built an X-feed tool to reduce antagonistic content, showing that alternative feed-ranking approaches can target political tone rather than merely maximize the platform’s default engagement signals.
First-order effects
Users switched to X’s For You feed received a more conservative content mix and, in the reported experiment, registered a shift toward more conservative political opinions.
Traditional news organizations face weaker distribution in the feed examined, making their reach more dependent on direct follows, user sharing, and other channels.
Second-order effects
The findings increase pressure on X to explain and test its ranking choices; feed-ranking rivals may face renewed scrutiny over whether recommendations create systematic ideological skews, as earlier YouTube recommendation research suggested.
Publishers may shift effort toward audience channels less exposed to default-feed ranking, while political communicators have an added incentive to optimize for the content signals X rewards.
Third-order effects
If replicated across platforms and populations, the issue moves from whether feeds personalize attention to whether ranking systems function as consequential political-distribution infrastructure.
The emerging competitive distinction may be between opaque default feeds and user-controlled or independently auditable ranking options; the current corpus supports concern about the pattern, not a conclusion that any single algorithm determines political outcomes.
The trend: Recommendation feeds are becoming a central arena in which platforms’ ranking choices can shape both the distribution of journalism and the political information environments users inhabit.
Algorithms do shape political views. A 2023 experiment on X found algorithmic feeds boosted engagement and nudged users toward more conservative positions — likely because the system amplifies certain political content. Effects can persist even after switching back.
Excited about our @Nature paper about the political effects of feed algorithms on social media. Here is the Research Briefing about it: https://www.nature.com/... !
This is a great paper. Randomizing people's Twitter feed between For You (algorithm) and chronological -> * Algorithm shows 8-20% more conservative posts (p<0.001) * Switching to algorithm made people more conservative * Switching away had no effect (persistence)
This new study about X's how algorithms are shifting people's politics finds — among many other things — that X hid content from news outlets: (I wonder what the reach of this 🧵will be??) https://www.nature.com/...
Can feed algorithms shape what people think about politics? Our paper “The Political Effects of X's Feed Algorithm” is out today in @Nature and answers “Yes”. https://www.nature.com/... [image]
“The key finding is that switching from a chronological to an algorithmic feed shifted users toward more conservative positions: policy priorities, views on Trump's criminal investigations, and attitudes toward the war in Ukraine all shifted to the right.”
New article in Nature describes a field experiment on X which shows that assigning users to an algorithmic feed increases engagement and shifts opinions to align more with conservative viewpoints and demotes mainstream news. Sounds obvious but important in light of prior claims …
X's Algorithm Pushes Users to Lean More Conservative, Researchers Find — Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are no better. Bluesky has become one of the few unaffected spaces... let's hope it doesn't change ownership. — gizmodo.com/researchers-...
When will algorithmic decisions on platforms be treated equivalently to editorial decisions in traditional media? — “Switching from a chronological to an algorithmic feed increased engagement and shifted political opinion towards more conservative positions, particularly regard…