Algorithms and echo chambers
I can explain how algorithms and human behaviours influence what we consume online.
Algorithms and echo chambers
I can explain how algorithms and human behaviours influence what we consume online.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Money influences how content is created, shared and viewed.
- People can pay money to advertise their products or boost their views.
- Content is suggested to us, based on computer algorithms that guess what we might enjoy.
- We are often shown identical content to people who are similar to us, creating an 'echo chamber'.
- Echo chambers create polarised opinions and can cause problems in society.
Keywords
Influence - the effect that somebody has on the way a person thinks or behaves
Content - posts, videos, reels or articles put online by a content creator
Algorithm - a set of rules used or created by a computer program
Echo chamber - a space where we only hear opinions and beliefs similar to our own
Polarised - when something is split into two very different or opposite opinions, like when people strongly disagree about something
Common misconception
Most people think the same way as me.
When we use the internet, we are normally shown things that reinforce our current opinions due to social media algorithms and human nature. This means we are often unaware of diverse viewpoints.
Equipment
Content guidance
- Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
Supervision
Adult supervision recommended
Licence
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
to create or make something
computer programs that can learn and think in a way similar to humans
to spot or recognise something
Exit quiz
5 Questions
posts, videos, reels or articles put online by a content creator
a set of rules used or created by a computer program
a space where we only hear opinions and beliefs similar to our own