A Cyber Ethnography Research on Algorithm Power, Algorithm Resistance, and User Tactics of Platform Media

Abstract

"Trending lists" have become an essential channel through which people can obtain information in the era of social media. "Trending list" is naturally accompanied by greater exposure to the event. Based on this, this study found that in the "trending list" process, the platform plays a key role depending on the algorithm, and the platform media can use the algorithm to filter and push content. To answer the related questions of "trending list", this study uses the method of online ethnography to discuss with the respondents their thoughts and comments on the phenomenon of "trending list" and the algorithm behind it. The research found that, on the one hand, users' attention to trending lists is personalized, and the platform algorithm plays a key role in screening and pushing trending list content. However, it also causes problems such as information cocoon room and public opinion deviation.