04/17/2026
Have you noticed that your Facebook feed looks less and less like what you actually chose to follow?
You're not imagining things. Researchers call this algorithmic drift — a well-documented phenomenon in artificial intelligence.
Here's what's happening: recommendation algorithms no longer simply show you content from your friends or the pages you follow. They optimize to maximize your time on the platform, even if that means exposing you to content that drifts further and further from your real interests — and sometimes downright harmful.
In 2026, up to 50% of what you see on Facebook comes from sources you never chose. Meta confirmed it themselves.
A study published in March 2025 (Coppolillo et al.) formally measured this phenomenon: algorithms quietly shift our preferences over time, often without us even realizing it. And psychologist Jonathan Haidt puts it bluntly: these systems favor content that triggers strong emotions — outrage, fear, shock — because that's what drives the most interactions.
Personally, what bothers me isn't seeing opinions different from my own. I'm perfectly capable of analyzing, nuancing, and forming my own views. What bothers me is the rise of harmful content, distasteful posts, and gratuitous sensationalism.
And I keep asking myself a deeper question: is the explosion of AI agents — those tools used to boost the performance of organic and paid content — contributing to this drift? Because at the end of the day, it's algorithms talking to other algorithms, all optimizing for engagement… without ever asking whether the content is actually good for us.
Understanding the mechanism is already a first step toward taking back some control.
What about you — have you noticed this shift in your feed? 👇
