Adapting the Selective Exposure Perspective to Algorithmically Governed Platforms: The Case of Google Search

Experimental research on selective exposure on online platforms is generally limited by a narrow focus on specific parts of the information selection process, rather than integrating the entire sequence of user-platform interactions. The current study, focusing on online search, incorporates the entire process that stretches from formulating an initial query to finally satisfying an information need. As such, it comprehensively covers how both users and platforms exercise agency by enabling and constraining each other in progressively narrowing down the available information. During a tailored online experiment, participants are asked to search for social and political information in a fully tracked, manipulated Google Search environment. Although the results show a structural impact of varying search result rankings, users still appear to be able to tailor their information exposure to maintain their prior beliefs, hence defying that algorithmic impact. This corroborates the need to conceptually and methodologically expand online selective exposure research.

Automated summary

Experimental research on selective exposure on online platforms often focuses on specific parts of the information selection process, rather than the entire user-platform interaction sequence. This study, however, explores the entire process of online search, demonstrating how users and platforms influence each other in narrowing down available information. The results suggest that users can still tailor their information exposure to maintain their beliefs, despite the structural impact of varying search result rankings, highlighting the need for further expansion in online selective exposure research both conceptually and methodologically.