Attitudinal and behavioral correlates of algorithmic
awareness among German and U.S. social media users

Attitudinal and behavioral correlates of algorithmic
awareness among German and U.S. social media users

algorithmic literacy, algorithmic awareness, algorithmic attitudes, algorithmic divide, social media algorithms

With the increase in algorithms on social media, scholarship is increasingly focused on “algorithmic literacy,” or users’ understanding of
algorithms. Algorithmic literacy is multi-faceted (knowledge, attitudes, and behavior), and researchers are still uncovering how these facets are
connected. This article presents a preregistered survey of social media users from two western countries: the United States (n 1⁄4 990) and
Germany (n 1⁄4 1117). Results show key predictors of algorithmic awareness—age, education, frequency of social media use—are the same in
both countries. Nevertheless, U.S. social media users show higher algorithmic awareness and more positive attitudes toward algorithms than
German social media users, likely due to their higher overall social media usage. Results also indicate that algorithmic awareness predicts
attitudes about filtering algorithms depending on users’ defense motivations or accuracy motivations and behaviors to counteract filtering. These
patterns have implications for literacy interventions and for increasing algorithmic transparency.

Anne Oeldorf-Hirsch 1,*, German Neubaum

https://doi.org/10.1093/jcmc/zmad035

17 July 2023

PERI IRAWAN

PDF

ENGLISH

TEXT