Teenagers who disengage with manosphere still fed misogynistic content
Teenagers have told the ABC that even when they go out of their way to not engage with manosphere content, they are shown misogynistic videos in their social media feeds.
Social media algorithms, which consider factors like age and gender, feed misogynistic content to teenagers even when they do not interact with it. Teenage boys have expressed frustration at this persistent exposure to harmful ideologies. According to Professor Dan Angus, director of QUT's Digital Media Research Centre, the manosphere content promotes toxic attitudes towards women and young men, often opposing feminism and portraying men as victims.
His work shows that once teenagers engage with this content, it reinforces the algorithms' prediction of its popularity and further pushes it to their feeds. While social media platforms have filtering tools and can remove harmful content, misogyny still appears in many users' feeds. Teenage boys claim they never search for this type of content, yet it continues to appear due to the algorithm's prediction of its likely appeal.
Experts suggest addressing the home environment to counteract the negative influence of social media on impressionable minds, encouraging positive role models and promoting equality.
Written by urgent.news from ABC News AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
