On The Big Tech Show, Adrian is joined by Dr. Catherine Baker, a postdoctoral researcher at Dublin City University’s Anti-Bullying Centre, who authored a recent report on the growing trend of toxic content recommended to young men on social media platforms.
The study conducted by Dublin City University’s Anti Bullying Centre involved recording the content recommended to 10 experimental accounts on 10 blank smartphones, with five accounts each on YouTube Shorts and TikTok. Within the first 23 minutes of the experiment, all accounts were fed masculinist, anti-feminist, and other extremist content.
The findings revealed that YouTube Shorts recommended a larger amount of toxic content, accounting for 61.5% of the total content, compared to TikTok accounts, which stood at 34.7%. The majority of the recommended videos featured ‘Manfluencers’ (male influencers), with Andrew Tate being the most prevalent, appearing 582 times on YouTube Shorts accounts and 93 times on TikTok accounts.
This study sheds light on the concerning trend of algorithms recommending harmful content to young men on social media platforms, and raises questions about the impact of such content on their perceptions and attitudes. You can listen to the full episode on the Irish Independent website or on your preferred podcast platform.
