EVERY NIGHT, after dinner, 22-year-old Saloni Malhotra from Delhi does what she has always done—scroll through Instagram while half-watching TV. Her phone is rarely out of sight and social media is where she gets everything: news, entertainment and a sense of what the world is talking about. A few nights ago, she watched a reel about ayurvedic home remedies. By morning, her feed was packed with content suggesting herbal detox tips, turmeric shots and wellness trends. Later, she realised she had completely missed a major political update that had dominated primetime news.
“I never even saw it,” she wonders aloud, before calling her sister who works in social media. “It just didn’t come up for me.”
Her sister sighs. “That’s the algorithm at work,” she says. “It’s showing you what it thinks you want to see, based on your past likes, shares and watch history. You probably engaged with one wellness reel and now the system thinks that’s your new favourite thing.”
Saloni frowns. “But then how am I supposed to know what’s important if it never even shows up?”
“That’s how it works,” her sister says, settling into what sounds like a familiar explanation. “These platforms prioritise what keeps you hooked—not necessarily what’s relevant or accurate. That’s how something important can just... disappear from your feed. It’s not broken—it’s built that way.”
Saloni had not realised that her feed had been quietly reshaped. Not by a newsroom editor, but by invisible algorithms designed to guess what she wants—and keep her watching. She is not alone. For millions of Indians, the news and videos they consume online are heavily shaped by platform algorithms—mathematical rules and AI models on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and beyond. These algorithms are the gatekeepers of information, determining what we read and watch. The shift is subtle, but seismic—we once relied on front pages and primetime; now, we scroll through a reality that is filtered by engagement.
The consequences go beyond just viral videos or celebrity gossip. What we see, or do not, can influence our opinions, voting, health decisions and even our relationships. From state elections to major court verdicts, what people end up seeing—or missing—on their feeds can shape how they interpret public events. Yet, most users do not realise their feeds are dynamic. They can be tailored, reset or questioned.
Technology companies say this personalisation is meant to enhance our experience. “Instagram doesn’t have a singular algorithm that oversees what people do and don’t see on the app,” a Meta spokesperson tells THE WEEK. “We use a variety of algorithms, classifiers, and processes, each with its own purpose. We want to make the most of people’s time, and we believe that using technology to personalise everyone’s experience is the best way to do that.”
But, what happens when personalisation comes at the cost of awareness?
Each section of apps like Instagram—Feed, Stories, Explore, Reels—relies on a distinct algorithm, all working to serve content that keeps users hooked. “Feed is your personalised home base,” the Meta spokesperson adds, “where you’ll see posts from friends, suggested content we think you’ll like, and ads. The most important signals are your past activity, the popularity of the post, and your relationship with the poster.”
Meta also clarifies that user input matters: “How you use Instagram heavily influences the things you see and don’t see, but there are a few more explicit things you can do to influence what you see. You can customise your Feed and Stories. Add accounts to your Favourites to ensure their posts appear higher. You can also switch to a chronological view of just the accounts you follow. If you’re not enjoying suggested content, you can snooze those posts for 30 days, mute accounts, or even reset your recommendations entirely.”
But, many times, before we even think about what we want to see, algorithms have already made that decision for us.
Ameya Ambulkar, founder of Next Brick Solutions, says these algorithms are not only shaping behaviour but also splintering perception. “Engagement-based algorithms are pushing people into their own content bubbles,” he says. “Over time, this creates fragmented world-views. Everyone sees a different version of reality based on what they engage with.”
He believes attention spans have not necessarily shrunk—they have become selective. “People might scroll past long videos, but they’re also willing to watch a two-hour podcast if the topic matters to them,” says Ambulkar. “So, it’s not just shrinking attention. It’s more about selective attention.”
As a digital marketer, Ambulkar notes that today’s content discovery model carries an inherent trade-off between reach and relevance. “Smart content planning now means designing for three kinds of users: casual scrollers, loyal followers and new explorers.”
What can platforms do? Ambulkar says some are already experimenting with gentle nudges. “One idea that could help is to show content that’s popular among your close network,” he says. “For example, ‘20% of your connections found this interesting’. It adds a social signal and encourages exploration beyond your usual feed.”
This highly individualised feed, however, can still create a form of tunnel vision. “Since everyone’s feeds are turned into engagement timelines without chronological sequence, information often gets misinterpreted,” says Raghav Chopra, managing editor of Coinheadlines.com. “The algorithm, in many ways, encourages misinformation and fake news. For users, it creates an echo chamber where they are bombarded with the same narrative over and over, strengthening stereotypes and biases.”
What is more, platforms now reward content that evokes emotional reactions—sometimes at the expense of accuracy. “Engagement-first algorithms have reshaped content discoverability, rewarding emotional triggers over factual depth,” says Akash Kumar, a global SEO and digital marketing professional. “With the algorithm as the new editor, creators are optimising for reach, not resonance.”
Abhismita Sen, who leads online reputation management and digital initiatives at CESC Limited, believes algorithms directly affect how brands are perceived. “Subject to the algorithms, the content gets engagement on a platform and content popularity is a crucial element of creating a positive brand perception,” she says. “Hence, it is important to experiment with various content formats and types.”
She adds that algorithms decide which audience a post will reach, and without early engagement, it can be shown to the wrong group. “This is a strategy of social media platforms to garner paid advertisements, in a bid for brands to reach the relevant audience segments,” she says.
Sen believes transparency is essential. “Most of these platforms do not have a reachable customer support team, unless the accounts are high value, yet charge a considerable amount for maintaining premium memberships,” she says. “At least for the paid accounts, there should be a dedicated customer support team or a key account manager.”
While Gen Z may be the most visible online, the algorithm’s reach extends across age groups. Rajeev Kapoor, 61, a retired bank manager from Bareilly, now spends more time on Facebook and Instagram than he ever did in his banking days. “After retirement, I thought I’d be bored,” he says. “But now I’m in five WhatsApp groups, I follow comedy reels and I’ve even started commenting on food videos!”
One afternoon, his daughter pointed out that he had not heard about a recent RBI circular that was making headlines. “How would I? Nobody in my groups shared it. I just saw bhajans and memes,” he shrugged, adding, “social media is my newspaper now—and I love it.”
For 19-year-old Kiana Janveja from Utah, it was not politics or protests that made her question the algorithm—it was Taylor Swift. “I found out about her new album two days late,” she says. “In my friend group, that’s basically a disaster.”
Kiana had been binge-watching Korean cooking reels on Instagram, and her feed shifted accordingly. “The app thought I’d rather learn how to make kimchi than catch a global music drop,” she laughs. “By the time I tuned in, everyone had picked their favourite songs and decoded all the lyrics. I felt like I’d missed the group chat.”
When she told her mother about the delay, her mum teased her: “Maybe try watching a bit of news, too—then your feed won’t think all you care about is sesame oil and soft tofu.” They both laughed, but it struck a chord. “She’s right,” Kiana admits. “What I see is what I’ve trained it to show me. I guess I need to retrain it.”
Digital experts believe the first step is awareness. “You won’t escape the bubble unless you help users break it,” says Akash Kumar.
For Saloni, Rajeev, Kiana, and millions like them, knowing that these systems can be adjusted—or resisted—may be the first step to reclaiming control over their news diets.
DECODE THE NET LINGO
ALGORITHM
A set of rules that social media platforms use to decide what shows up on your feed.
ENGAGEMENT
Likes, shares, comments and views—a key metric that drives what content is shown.
ECHO CHAMBER
A situation where users only see information that reinforces their existing beliefs.
FILTER BUBBLE
The isolated information environment created by personalised content.
CHRONOLOGICAL FEED
A feed that shows posts in the order they were published, rather than based on engagement.
SELECTIVE ATTENTION
A user’s tendency to focus only on content they already find interesting.
REACH VS RELEVANCE
The trade-off between how many people see content vs how meaningful it is to them.
RESET RECOMMENDATIONS
An option to clear past preferences and start afresh with what your feed shows.