The algorithmic public opinion: a literature review

Abstract

In the context of a society where digital technologies have come to pervasively intermediate most social, cultural and economic processes, algorithms represent an important socio-technical component of ‘the social’. Unsurprisingly, algorithms also hold an important role in the formation of public opinion. The way people access news and informational content, thus forming their political and social views, is now largely mediated by social media platforms. Their algorithms represent new types of gatekeepers that contribute in decisive ways to shape individual and collective access to information. In this literature review, we discuss the most relevant research concurring to the existence of what we define as an 'algorithmic public opinion', from an interdisciplinary perspective that brings together the sociology of media, critical algorithm studies and information design.

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