Mark Zuckerberg recently overhauled the fact-checking and content-filtering features of Meta in their entirety. Witnessing the deterioration of one of the largest social media platforms on the planet through the destruction of checks and balances against false news and dangerous content, I wanted to find out how the highly educated Cambridge demographic was affected by social media spaces. I particularly wanted to focus on the differences that the algorithm created between male and female users, and the results were both startling and disappointingly predictable.

“71% of students reported that their exposure to extremist content had increased or significantly increased over the last five years”

Using an anonymous survey circulated online, I collected responses from male and female students that depicted their exposure to extremist content. Almost 40% of students said that they witness extreme political content on a daily basis, typically “right-wing populist content,” as one respondent noted. Predictably, rhetoric surrounding anti-immigration, “racist incitement of violence,” and conspiracy theories (the usual weapons of the far right of UK politics) were noted as common, but what is perhaps more worrying is the way in which this type of content is appearing. Numerous students said that comment sections are rife with such extreme views, but some also described right-wing news pages “being pushed onto [their] TikTok more” in a notable increase since the ban.

It seems that, for Cambridge students at least, extreme online content is being pushed onto them, rather than simply appearing organically as any other type of content would. Indeed, 71% of students reported that their exposure to extremist content had increased or significantly increased over the last five years. The algorithm seems to have been turned on its head because, instead of tailoring feeds to show preferred content, it is now aggressively invading the social media spaces of students. The For You pages of platforms like Twitter and Instagram were described as “an absolute hell hole”, often because of “a Reform UK/Trump rabbit hole,” particularly among British consumers.

“One respondent shared they encountered “views preaching the importance of traditional femininity” and domesticity”

This is not just limited to explicitly political extreme content: it is no secret that the social media that platforms figures like Andrew Tate has created a monumental shift in online and social attitudes toward women. While unsurprising, the survey results were still terrifying. 45% reported seeing misogynistic content more than once a day, particularly centred around conservative ideals of gender roles. Content that simultaneously sexualises and shames women (for example OnlyFans models), misogyny “disguised as male self-improvement,” and incel culture are all types of content rife in the male online space.

Not surprisingly, therefore, female consumers are then exposed to the opposite. One respondent shared they encountered “views preaching the importance of traditional femininity” and domesticity, and images such as “a person of power or standing diminishing women.” In particular, obsessive health cultures promoting bad mindsets around eating and body image (the ‘heroin chic’ trend etc.) were reported. Overall, 90% of students report being exposed to content that promoted “idealised body images and body negativity.”

The final question on the survey asked how Cambridge students’ real-life experiences with extremism have changed over the past five years, and the results are astoundingly conclusive. One student summarised it rather neatly: whilst their “personal views have changed little, exposure to these vociferous ideas has increased exponentially.” As young people, we are not only experiencing the increasing online platforming of dangerous content but witnessing first-hand the leaching of such extremism into everyday social settings within elite institutions like Cambridge. In the words of survey respondents, “the rise of incel culture is real and noticeable” and “men are increasingly promoting misogyny and hatred towards women and their political viewpoints.”

Across the university, and the country as a whole, vulnerable individuals are becoming increasingly exposed to content which is shifting their social perceptions towards a dangerous place, fuelled by social media and its misuse in political agendas. Students today are seeing social media mutate out of all recognition from even five years ago, into a toxic entity that forces extreme content onto young people. Due to the influx of unchecked content, posts which would encourage any sort of productive discourse are being shouldered out of platforms in favour of content that divides and polarises young people, as the algorithm creates a space for the radical, not the social.