Facebook Use as a Communicative Relation: Exploring the Relation Between Facebook Users and the Algorithmic News Feed

This study examines how young Danish adults between 18 and 26 engage in a communicative relation with Facebook's news feed as algorithmic technology and to what extend they are aware of this relation. The empirical analysis is based on theoretical concepts related to media use and everyday life as well as a recent development within the field of Human-Machine Communication. Drawing on 20 in-depth interviews, the qualitative thematic analysis was organized in relation to the following themes: (1) critical reflection; (2) everyday use; and (3) communicative agency. We find that young Danish users lack critical awareness of how their own everyday media use is communicating with the Facebook algorithm. We argue that the concept of ‘use’ needs to be re-examined on a theoretical as well as a practical level in relation to algorithmic media use. We finally propose that future research should approach social media use from the perspective of communicative relations between everyday media use and algorithmic personalization.