The impact of recommender systems on production and consumption of news: the case of Instagram

This paper leverages on a change in the Recommender System (RS) to study its impact on the market for news. We exploit cross-type variation in the promotion of content stemming from the announcement of Instagram change in RS that highlighted videos. Introducing a new RS increases engagement—measured by likes and comments— significantly for video content, with a 44% rise in engagement for posts with videos compared to posts with pictures. The effects persist despite initial user backlash and subsequent reevaluation of the RS. In response, news media outlets adapt by increasing the share of video posts by 4%, with improvements in media quality and reductions in video duration, though behavioral adjustments takes time. At the market level, audience growth remains stable, but engagement gains are concentrated in video content. Additionally, content creators who increased video production attract younger audiences and expand their market share. These findings suggest that the RS change play a central role in reshaping the entire market.