About this tool

The Algorithmic Feed Simulator is a classroom tool for teaching K-12 students how social media algorithms work. The teacher selects a set of sixteen hypothetical social media posts. Each post appears on a feed with editable stats: followers, likes, comments, whether the post has a photo or video, whether the viewer follows the account, and whether the viewer tends to engage with similar content. These are the data points meant to mimic real social media algorithms, like those used on YouTube, X, Instagram, or Twitter. Like those platforms, the simulator weighs these data points when deciding which posts to promote and which to suppress in a user's feed.

Choose from one of the preset feeds featuring common types of posts for tweens and teens or create your own. Click “Share with students” for a link (or a QR code) that opens the preset feed or your customized version on any device.

Once they're in, students can manipulate the posts' stats and watch the posts shift upward or downward in the feed. Switch between the algorithmic feed and chronological feed tabs to compare a ranked feed against the recency-based feeds of the past.