A seat at the table: Teen experiences and perceptions of social media recommendation algorithms
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Date
2026-06-21
Authors
Nyhan, Megan
Doherty, Kevin
Snow, Daniel
Moylan, Kayley
Jacka, Rhys
Fox, Izzy
O'Sullivan, Barry
Griffith, Josephine
Leavy, Susan
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Association for Computing Machinery, Inc
Published Version
Abstract
Teens are intensive users of social media recommender systems yet remain largely excluded from platform design and governance. The EU Digital Services Act (DSA) has the potential to address this through its call for stakeholder consultation in risk assessment and mitigation. To demonstrate how teens can be meaningfully engaged with as stakeholders, and to understand their experiences of algorithmically curated content, we conducted a participatory engagement study with 87 teens using scenario-based think-pair-share discussions. Findings reveal an ongoing negotiation between benefits, risks, and harms, as teens attempt to influence algorithms while managing the emotional impact of harmful content and excessive use. We contribute: (1) an account of trade-offs between personalisation, harm, and control; (2) teen-informed design recommendations, including safeguards, low-effort feedback, and screen-time tools; and (3) a participatory engagement method. This research reframes teen recommender system use as negotiated agency rather than passive content consumption and offers actionable guidance for DSA related stakeholder engagement with teens.
Description
© 2026, the owner/author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Keywords
SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production , SDG 16 - Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions , Algorithmically curated content , Recommender systems , Social networking sites , Stakeholder engagement , Teen online safety , [ComputerScience] , Computer Networks and Communications , Human-Computer Interaction , Software , Media Technology , Behavioral Neuroscience , Developmental and Educational Psychology
Citation
Nyhan, M, Doherty, K, Snow, D, Moylan, K, Jacka, R, Fox, I, O'Sullivan, B, Griffith, J & Leavy, S 2026, A seat at the table: Teen experiences and perceptions of social media recommendation algorithms. in IDC 2026 - Proceedings the 25th Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference, Brighton, UK, 22–25 June 2026. IDC 2026 - Proceedings the 25th Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference, Association for Computing Machinery, Inc, pp. 372-389, 25th Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference, IDC 2026, Brighton, United Kingdom, 22/06/26. https://doi.org/10.1145/3773077.3806115
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