Exhibit 723

Engagement, user satisfaction, and the amplification of divisive content on social media

Exhibit 723 · Peer-reviewed study

Engagement, user satisfaction, and the amplification of divisive content on social media

Twitter’s engagement-based ranking algorithm amplifies emotionally charged, out-group hostile content that users say makes them feel worse about their political out-group.

Preregistered audit of Twitter's engagement-based ranking against a reverse-chronological baseline, with user surveys.

Source: Milli, Carroll, Wang, Pandey, Zhao, Dragan (PNAS Nexus)
Date: 27 February 2025
Quoted from: Abstract
Grade: Peer-reviewed
Document: https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf062
Accessed: 2026-11-09
Cited by: Findings citing this exhibit

Cited by

Finding POL-3.7: Peer-reviewed A preregistered audit of Twitter's engagement-based ranking, published in PNAS Nexus in 2025, found that it amplified emotionally charged, out-group hostile content that users said made them feel worse about their political out-group.
Finding POL-3.11: Open question Whether engagement-optimizing ranking causes lasting polarization, as distinct from what it amplifies and what users see, is unresolved in the peer-reviewed record.