Is this recommended by an algorithm? The development and validation of the algorithmic media content awareness scale (AMCA-scale)

Development and Validation of an Algorithm Literacy Scale for Internet Users

“…Fourth, a valid measure of algorithm literacy allows to address this aspect in empirical research design, e.g., by implementing it as a moderating or mediating factor to study the strength of algorithmic effects in online settings or investigating influence factors to interrogate to what degree algorithm literacy is determined by or related to other sociodemographic, attitudinal, or competencerelated variables (Zarouali et al, 2021).…”

“…Investigating Norwegian internet users' awareness and attitudes toward algorithm-driven functions, Gran et al (2021) relied on a single-item measure asking respondents to indicate their perceived level of awareness of "algorithms being used to present recommendations, advertisements and other content on the Internet" (p. 5). In a more recent study exploring internet users' awareness of algorithmic content recommendations, Zarouali et al (2021) developed a scale to measure users' awareness of content filtering based on four dimensions: (1) content filtering, (2) automated decision-making, (3) human-algorithm interplay, and (4) ethical considerations of algorithms (Algorithmic Media Content Awareness Scale, AMCA-scale). Each dimension consisted of three to four items, validated through confirmatory factor analysis.…”

“…Third, instruments to address algorithm literacy were restricted to using single item measures to assess users' self-reported level of awareness of algorithms employed online (Gran et al, 2021) or were rather generic as they used unvalidated lists of items (Latzer et al, 2020). With the AMCA scale, Zarouali et al (2021) provide a first validated measure. Yet, the authors focus on a specific area of algorithmic curation (content recommendations), which makes it difficult to assess algorithm literacy from a more general point of view.…”

“…Here, algorithms' filtering functions related to the prioritization of information and personalization of content were identified as relevant dimensions of user insights into algorithmic operations (e.g., Claes & Philippette, 2020;Cotter & Reisdorf, 2020;Hobbs, 2020;Powers, 2017). In addition to acknowledging the mechanisms of algorithms that center around the collection and processing of personal and use-related information, the interplay between users and algorithms needs to be addressed (Zarouali et al, 2021).…”

Investigating Algorithmic Misconceptions in a Media Context: Source of a New Digital Divide?

“…Adding to the lack of transparency is the fact that many algorithmic applications strive to provide a seamless user experience, optimizing for invisibility and normalization over time. However, despite these constraints, people can still develop-to some extent-a conceptual awareness about algorithms and their effects (Cotter & Reisdorf, 2020;Eslami et al, 2015;Zarouali et al, 2021). In an online media context, conceptual awareness would mean that users know that there is a dynamic system in place that can personalize and customize the information that they see or hear, based on a corpus of data composed of digital traces (Hargittai et al, 2020;Zarouali et al, 2021).…”