Week 4:

Week 4: Survey & Looking Into the Algorithm 

This week I focused mostly on my survey. Last week I hoped to come up with some ways to get my survey out there. I think the best way to get kids to take the survey is to use the ‘devil of which I speak’, Instagram. I plan on posting a link to the survey on my social media, and as friends to do the same. One student, last year I believe, put up QR codes across NY in places like the subway. If my survey doesn’t get enough responses this may be the way to go. 

As I was looking into how to answer last week’s question about how Instagram can be used for good, I found out Instagram changed its algorithm in 2024. Every section of Instagram has its own algorithm, meaning that what you interact with or like on stories doesn’t really affect the content you see on your explore page or reels. Additionally, Instagram has put greater restrictions on certain content surrounding self-harm, violence, eating disorders, and content that contains restricted goods such as drugs. All these changes make no effort to restrict content on mental health. The restrictions Instagram has placed are definitely for the better, but they can be doing more. Instagram has started to prioritize original content which is great! They have started taking down accounts that simply repost other creators’ content as their own, and started mixing smaller creators into the explore page, rather than only showing already popular creators. This gives more people an opportunity to use social media for its intended purpose to share your life and creativity with others. 

When I started my placement I was mostly doing research on highschools around the country, but I may start to help with the social media accounts. This will definitely provide insight into the positive impact of social media, as it helps get the word out about all the amazing work CITYarts does. 

Questions I’m left with this week: 

1. How might the differences in algorithms of different apps impact the content Gen Z is seeing?
2. How can I account for this difference in my survey? 

What I hope to address in Week 5:

I hope to answer last week’s questions and edit my survey accordingly.