When you’re browsing for something to read or watch online , algorithms usually decide what content will be put in front of you. Whether that’s what search result shows first, or what news stories are in your social media feed, somewhere a computer is following a complex but predefined set of rules to decide what content you’ll see first. Renée DiResta, Research Manager at the Stanford Internet Observatory, explains how these algorithms try to deliver content that you’ll  find interesting and relevant — and how that leads to your online world looking very different from your neighbor’s online world.

We sat down before the recent elections to talk about how information spreads online — whether true, false, or somewhere in between — and how we can all be better consumers of information.

Related Content

• Renée DiResta on Twitter: @NoUpside
• Democracy Talks from the Bush Institute