Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

15 minutes

Tune In: All the feels

15 minutes

Find Out: Machine manipulation

25 minutes

Take Action: Analysing case studies

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions

Students will:

understand how algorithms influence the spread of misinformation and disinformation.

Success criteria

Students can:

explain how social media algorithms amplify misinformation and disinformation
identify strategies to engage with algorithm-driven content critically.

Tune In: All the feels

Step 1

Ask the class to tell you the names of a wide range of social media platforms they’ve used (for example, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn, Mastodon, Discord, Snapchat, WhatsApp, YouTube, BlueSky, X, Instagram, Pixelfed, etc – there are many!).

Step 2

Brainstorm all the emotions the class has ever felt while using any social media platform. Suggested answers could include envy, rage, amusement, joy, curiosity, jealousy, anger, alarm, worry, fear, concern, happiness or isolation.

Learning support: If you want to keep this anonymous, ask students to contribute their words to a shared document, then use the document to generate a word cloud using a program such as Edwordle or Word Clouds.

Step 3

Lead a class discussion using the following question:

Why is it in the best interest of social media companies to engage your emotions? In other words, what do they gain?

Students may have various responses. Explain to them that there are many different ways that social media companies engage users' emotions, such as through longer use of their platform, more interactions, and exposure to more advertising, which generates money. Outline to students that enraged users means engaged users. Research has shown that social media content that evokes strong emotions in the viewer spreads further and faster. Researchers found that advertisers and professional content creators rely on 8 key emotions to gain attention and spread their posts.

Step 4

Display the Visual Explainer and outline to students that 8 of the listed emojis represent the emotions social media platforms use to engage users in their content. Their task is to guess the 8 emotions using emojis as clues.

As you display slide 2, invite students to write their guesses on a sticky note and share their guesses. Reveal the answers on slide 3.

Step 5

Ask the class:

What can we say about this list?
What emotions are missing? You can refer to the class list or word cloud.
Why does the class think happiness is not there?

Find Out: Machine manipulation

Step 1

As a class, watch the following video discussing social media algorithms and how they influence behaviour. Stop the video at 04:22.

Is the internet expanding or narrowing our minds? (https://youtu.be/tPqI0n44zP8)

Step 2

Invite students to discuss their thoughts on social media algorithms and how they function. Identify to students there are many explanations for how a social media algorithm works, such as:

It is a mathematical formula or set of rules.
It determines what the social media platform will show you, including ads and suggested content.
It tracks your activity, data, habits, purchases and engagement.
It relies on artificial intelligence or machine learning algorithms to build a profile about you.
Specific algorithms are often kept secret by companies, and they change them regularly.

Step 3

Identify to students that the social media algorithm has many flaws. Explain to students that the algorithm:

is more likely to show users content that will provoke the 8 emotions they explored earlier
promotes information that gets reactions (whether or not the information is factual), which can spread misinformation and disinformation that is deliberately designed to mislead you about an issue
creates an echo chamber where the more you hear things that are the same as the things you heard before, the less aware you are of the diversity of experiences and opinions in the world. An echo chamber can confirm your preexisting beliefs about something and ensure those beliefs are never challenged – even if they are untrue and based on incorrect information.

Ask students how this can be dangerous for individuals unable to identify accurate information. Students may say it can be dangerous when using social media to explore and make up their minds about complicated or contested issues, especially when constantly forming opinions and assumptions about the world, and the echo chamber distorts your view.

Take Action: Analysing case studies

Step 1

Divide students into small groups and assign 1 case study to each group.

Case Study 1: The Voice to Parliament Referendum	In the lead-up to the referendum, social media became a hotbed for false claims about the proposed Voice to Parliament. One prevalent claim suggested that the Voice would create a separate, divisive system rather than fostering unity and genuine representation. These claims were amplified by algorithms prioritising high-engagement content, resulting in echo chambers where sensational misinformation was repeatedly shared. This amplification distorted public debate and contributed to polarised perceptions of the referendum. RMIT Information Integrity Hub worked hard to identify inaccurate information during this time, which can be found here.
Case Study 2: The 2024 American election	During the 2024 American election, Donald Trump spread disinformation to discredit Kamala Harris’ and her party's views on immigration, where he claimed that immigrants ‘are eating the dogs and cats.’ Donald Trump also claimed that Kamala Harris had limited supporters at an election rally, which is discussed further in this article. Social media algorithms amplified the shocking content within echo chambers, even as fact-checkers debunked it. This case highlights the risks of algorithm-driven misinformation in political discourse, where algorithms were designed to boost engaging content and amplify these sensational conspiracy theories, allowing them to spread rapidly across networks.
Case Study 3: Misleading campaigns against clean energy initiatives	During debates on Australia’s transition to renewable energy, misinformation was spread on social media, claiming that shifting away from fossil fuels would lead to catastrophic economic consequences. The Australian Liberal Party candidate, Peter Dutton, was linked to claims that clean energy policies would cause massive job losses and skyrocket energy prices. Social media algorithms amplified these sensational claims by boosting high-engagement content, reinforcing public fears despite contrary evidence from economic experts. This misinformation heightened scepticism about clean energy initiatives and influenced public debate on Australia’s future energy, which is discussed further in this article.

Step 2

Instruct students to research and summarise their case on their Student Worksheet. They will also identify strategies to use on social media that combat algorithm-driven content, such as unfollowing, hiding, blocking and reporting accounts spreading misinformation and disinformation.

Step 3

Invite groups to share their insights and lead a class discussion on how repeated exposure to similar content may skew public perceptions and influence civic behaviour.

Learning extension: Students can research a topic of their choice and identify how the spread of misinformation and disinformation on social media has impacted it. They can then write a short article on their topic and present it to the class.

Learning opportunity: Students monitor their social media feeds over the course of a week and write a log of the different types of content and advertisements they encounter. Students report back to the class.

Reflection

Ask students to respond to the reflection questions on the Student Worksheet:

Why does misinformation spread more easily than factual information?
How can understanding algorithms help citizens to evaluate their social media feeds critically?

Understanding The Algorithm

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