Social Media Algorithms Determine the Speed of Issue Development, Says Analyst
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Social media analyst Rustika Herlambang has stated that social media algorithms can determine the speed at which an issue develops within society.
In her doctoral research titled “Algorithmic Intermedia Agenda-Setting in the Issue of the Nusantara Capital City (IKN) Relocation: Analysis of Big Data from Online Media, Twitter, and TikTok (2020–2024),” Rustika explained that in the digital ecosystem, algorithms influence the extent to which a message gains resonance in the public sphere.
“Today’s policy communication must understand how public attention operates within a marketplace of attention, influenced simultaneously by humans and algorithms. Building resonance is now just as important as conveying information,” Rustika stated in an official release in Jakarta on Wednesday.
One of the key findings of her research indicates that the success of digital communication is no longer determined by the sheer volume of published content. A message with fewer publications can achieve far greater resonance if it appears at the right momentum, is packaged in a format suited to the platform’s character, and is reinforced by algorithmic distribution mechanisms.
Her findings also show that public agendas do not develop linearly but rather move according to political momentum, policy events, or symbolic occurrences, which are then amplified by information distribution across digital platforms. Each platform plays a distinct role; for instance, online media strengthens legitimacy through in-depth policy information and development progress, while Twitter/X serves as a space for elite discourse and political contestation, and TikTok amplifies emotional and symbolic narratives.
Rustika, who earned her doctorate from the Faculty of Communication Sciences at Padjadjaran University, introduced a new theoretical model called Algorithmic Intermedia Agenda-Setting (AIAS). This model expands upon traditional intermedia agenda-setting theory by positioning algorithms as key mediators in the formation of public agendas in the digital era.