How Much Control Should We Have over Our Social Media Feeds?: Reflections on a Lesson for High School Students

Authors

• Daniel G. Krutka, University of North Texas
• Edward Henry, Beaver Country Day School

Document Type

Voices from the Field

Abstract

This paper describes a week-long high school lesson designed to help students understand and reclaim agency over their algorithmically curated social media feeds. Drawing on Nicholas Carr's framework of media's three functions — message creation, selection, and transmission — the lesson traces how algorithms displaced human editorial judgment beginning with Facebook's 2006 News Feed. Through guided inquiry, social media diaries, and platform comparison charts, students examined how much control they have, and should have, over what they see online. The lesson aims to foster critical algorithmic awareness and more intentional social media practices among young people navigating an increasingly automated media environment.

Recommended Citation

Krutka, D., & Henry, E. (2026). How Much Control Should We Have over Our Social Media Feeds?: Reflections on a Lesson for High School Students. Journal of Media Literacy Education Pre-Prints. Retrieved from https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/jmle-preprints/48

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.