Algorithmic Literacy in Search

The next speaker in this ICA 2018 session is Bibi Reisdorf, whose focus is on the role of algorithms in shaping information flows, and on users’ understandings of the impact of such algorithms. Algorithmic literacy is not yet well researched; it extends beyond digital literacy and is specific to different platforms, too.

The present study examined algorithmic literacy in the U.S. and Germany, to capture user attitudes and practices across very different media and political systems. It captured a range of personal and behavioural variables, and it seems that algorithmic knowledge, amount of use, and search skills strongly affect users’ understanding of the accuracy or bias of results or the reliability of search. This is broadly the case in both countries, with some variations.

This means that digital literacy, algorithmic literacy, and search skills are clearly not the same, and algorithmic literacy affects trust in search results (in the U.S., less so in Germany) – but the effect of amount of use and search skills is greater. But those with lower algorithmic literacy are also more sceptical of search bias and results.