Your social media algorithm is hurting your wallet. Here’s how to break free.

Winter is a time to indulge in comforts, including holiday dinners, cookies, and treats. The familiar recipes bring us comfort. Many of us are careful not to overindulge, or at least to correct for this delightful dalliance with a New Year’s resolution to cut back or moderate our diets.

Most of us could benefit from taking the same approach to our social media diets by breaking free from our “For You” feeds.

The “For You” feed, as it is known on TikTok, X, and YouTube Shorts, is an algorithm-derived, AI-curated feed of content. Platforms decide what content you see based on your past clicks, likes, scrolls, and other behaviors — regardless of whether you have chosen to follow the accounts creating the content.

Much has been written about the algorithms’ ability to suss out users’ interests and use them to curate increasingly narrow content streams — kittens, babies, Taylor Swift, etc. The algorithms work well.

“For You” is a boon for social media platforms, presenting users with an unending buffet of “comfort food” content. Platforms are motivated to keep users online, given that their revenue streams are driven by clicks on ads embedded into users’ feeds.

In a study I conducted alongside colleagues at Lehigh University, the University of Hong Kong, and Wuhan University, we studied users’ responses to advertisements in their social media feeds. We found that the “For You” feed showed a marked increase in click-through rates on ads — in other words, people are more likely to click on an ad they see in “For You” than when scanning their “Following” feed, made up of posts from accounts they have chosen to follow.

Not only are users being lulled into remaining in the feed but they are also producing significantly more revenue for platforms by clicking on ads. Our study tied this change in user behavior to the users’ level of cognitive engagement.

Users imbue the accounts in their “Following” feed with a higher degree of credibility and give them a higher degree of cognitive engagement when interacting with them.

In this highly engaged state, we tend to be less amenable to ads. We find them distracting and try to avoid them.

By contrast, in the “For You” feed, we consume large amounts of content from accounts with whom we may have no relationship, but that nonetheless align with our “comfort food” preferences.

In this space, watching videos of babies cuddling puppies, we are less cognitively engaged, expend less effort, and settle for a hands-free driving experience through our feeds.

Given some time in this cognitive space, ads begin to feel less intrusive, and we’re more likely to give them a click — 20% more likely, we found.

One silver lining for those of us resolving to spend less money shopping: While we click far more ads in the “For You” feed, we’re far less likely to follow through and complete a purchase than if we click on an ad in our “Following” feed. This makes sense, as making a purchase requires a level of cognitive engagement that’s out of line with the “For You” vibe.

That’s why advertisers are likely to approach the “For You” feed with caution. For companies aiming to become more recognizable to users, the click-through bonanza is beneficial. But companies trying to make money on social media must optimize their ad spending to ensure users are completing purchases.

For users, the “For You” feed is akin to a holiday feast. It’s great to take a tour around the table and indulge in the favorites that hit you right in the sweet spot — coworker pranks, dancing kittens, and recipes for soothing winter soups. But proceed with caution.

The long-term, isolating social effects of rabbit holes — where algorithms push people toward more extreme content, and filter bubbles, where we see only news that confirms our existing beliefs — are well-documented.

Additionally, individual users suffer from spending too much time in the low-cognition state induced by the “For You” feed. In this state, critical thinking skills diminish, and users are at risk of suffering long-term decreases in creativity and the ability to learn deeply.

So in the first weeks of the new year, resolve to spend more time in your “Following” feed and less time scrolling “For You.” Moderating your online media diet may be a good addition to any health-related resolutions you’ve made this year.

Beibei Dong is an associate professor of marketing in the Lehigh University College of Business. Previously, she worked as a management consultant within the Chinese telecommunications industry.