We’re all at the mercy of the algorithm.
On social media apps like X and Facebook, there’s some machinery at work that determines how many people see our posts, where they appear in a feed and how often, and can even dictate the fact that Meta has the right to remove posts at will for absolutely no reason.
And guess what? This applies to the two presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Donald Trump right now. They are also at the mercy of the algorithm, as proven by a recent comment by a White House staffer.
Christian Tom is a Digital Strategist for the White House and was speaking at a recent VidCon conference when he was asked about how they fall prey to the whims and wishes of the algorithm that determines how many people can see a post. “The White House, the president’s account, doesn’t have some special treatment,” said Tom, likely to a few laughs in the audience.
His team manages the accounts for @POTUS and @WHITEHOUSE and falls right in line with the rest of us who have to tweak our posts to make sure people can see them.
Are you including links that might get your post relegated to obscurity? That happens to Harris and her team as well. Trump can post all he wants on Facebook now without worrying about restrictions. That doesn’t mean his posts will always catch fire with his followers.
Of course, Trump was allowed back on the X app but has chosen to stick with Truth Social instead where we know absolutely nothing about whether he can control the algorithm. (My guess is that he can do whatever he wants there.) He posts regularly, and the app should really be labeled as a political action group since Trump seems to be the unchallenged king.
Meanwhile, the networks that matter like Facebook and Instagram are still a free-for-all.
When it comes to organic posting, none of us really know how the algorithm works. I can say it is not a bunch of cartoon characters that were depicted in the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, flipping knobs and switches. I would venture to guess it is also not even monitored that much by humans at all.
What we do know, or at least suspect, is that the algorithm is fairly neutral. It will determine the success of your posts and is not partial to any entity, as far as we know. You can see this when an organic post by a political candidate falls flat with few comments and low engagement.
Unless you are a conspiracy theorist.
In that case, Meta has the ability to adjust the algorithm at will, advocating for the candidate they approve of the most. I doubt it. We would have uncovered evidence of that by now, and someone would have talked—at least, more than they already have.
What’s more likely? We’re all on a level playing field, and that’s a good thing.
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