Algorithmocracy: Of the algorithm, by the algorithm, for the algorithm

The real power of these systems is not how they control the information, but how they control how we think.

For years we have heard that social media creates echo chambers because people within different social media networks consume divergent information. The most common theory as to why people are becoming more politically divided is that people are ignorant to the other side’s views because of the way algorithms section different people into different digital networks. Although this theory is the most widely accepted, it doesn’t adequately describe how social media platforms create public opinion today. The true form of postmodern divide is not that citizens do not see the same things. Instead, the same things are seen through wholly different algorithmic structures.