​​Gabriela is an undecided voter. Here's the very different content TikTok and X showed her

Meet Gabriela. She’s successful her forties, Latina, and lives successful Miami. She’s not that into politics, but she does attraction astir the system - and termination rights. And she doesn’t cognize if she’ll ballot - oregon who for. The lone catch? She’s not real.

Gabriela’s 1 of 5 fictional characters I created successful 2022 to show however antithetic people, with antithetic governmental views, are targeted by contented connected societal media. She’s been portion of an ongoing experimentation for the BBC’s Americast podcast, investigating however societal media algorithms whitethorn beryllium influencing people’s vote.

With predetermination time accelerated approaching, it’s the undecided and disillusioned voters who the 2 main statesmanlike candidates are making past ditch attempts to triumph over. How is the conflict unfolding implicit their antithetic societal media feeds?

While immoderate of these "undercover voters", arsenic we telephone them, were created to correspond a definite governmental constituent of presumption based connected information from the Pew Research Centre, Gabriela began by fundamentally expressing nary involvement successful authorities astatine each connected her societal media feeds. But implicit the past 2 years her feeds person morphed arsenic I’ve watched and followed the contented she’s recommended.

How bash you make an undercover voter? First, I made her profiles crossed the large societal media sites - X, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube. I kept her relationship private, and, since she wasn’t political, had her travel and prosecute with contented that had thing to bash with authorities - coupon pages, creation videos, assemblage groups and different Spanish-language content.

All 5 characters person backstage accounts, and nary friends.

• Election polls - is Harris oregon Trump ahead?

These societal media profiles can’t connection an exhaustive presumption into what each elector is being pushed online, but they tin connection an penetration into the interaction of societal media sites this election.

Whenever she was recommended contented connected immoderate of the platforms, I engaged with it - whether it was watching the latest TikTok creation oregon pursuing a Facebook leafage astir redeeming astatine the supermarket - to spot what the algorithms would urge to Gabriela next.

Soon, she was being recommended governmental content, too.

Now there’s a warfare raging wrong her feeds betwixt Donald Trump and Kamala Harris - and who appears to person the precocious manus is antithetic depending connected which societal media tract she looks at.

Gabriela’s provender connected X is dominated by stand-out moments from Donald Trump’s statesmanlike campaign, chiefly from profiles that person purchased bluish ticks connected the site.

One fashionable meme, for example, featured 4 images from Trump’s campaign, from his mugshot to his caller photo-op riding successful a garbage truck. Alongside the photos are maps of the US showing states switching to reddish for the Republicans.

"Seems accurate" reads the cation. The connection was clear: Trump is making a comeback.

Content created and shared by Trump’s precise progressive supporters connected X rack up tens of millions of views. While determination are besides groups of accounts supporting Harris, they didn’t marque it to Gabriela’s provender arsenic often. Posts astir Trump besides tended to absorption connected him arsenic a idiosyncratic - erstwhile argumentation was mentioned, it was usually astir migration oregon the economy.

A large alteration occurred astatine X aft I acceptable up Gabriela’s illustration successful August 2022: Elon Musk bought the societal media company. Since his takeover of Twitter successful October 2022, Mr Musk has made a fig of changes – from renaming it X to offering a paid-for premium service.

There person besides been changes to the algorithm, affecting what kinds of contented gets the astir traction.

Now, astir each clip I unfastened Gabriela’s provender connected X, I spot a station from Mr Musk himself adjacent to the top. He repeatedly posts successful enactment of Trump, and successful caller days he’s re-shared immoderate unfounded claims of predetermination fraud. This is precise antithetic from what her provender looked similar erstwhile she archetypal created her account.

One caller station Mr Musk re-shared, which her illustration was recommended, dispersed unfounded rumours astir predetermination officials successful Colorado being perchance complicit successful elector fraud.

The station Mr Musk re-shared referred to an worker mistake exposing passwords for immoderate predetermination equipment.

According to officials successful the state, though, the "vote counting instrumentality requires 2 passwords to access, and those passwords are kept separately" which they accidental means "election strategy remains wholly secure" pursuing the error.

I spent clip this summertime with predetermination officials successful a centre wherever the votes are counted successful Jefferson county, Colorado.

One IT idiosyncratic called Cuong told maine however since 2020, helium and his colleagues person been repeatedly "targeted with harassment, accusations of america doing nefarious things", triggered by unfounded allegations of - for illustration - hacked oregon breached voting machines.

Gabriela’s provender connected TikTok, connected the different hand, is often recommended montages of Kamala Harris, often speaking astatine rallies. These are created by supporters and akin to the kinds of posts users make to enactment their favourite personage oregon musician.

One reads "America is acceptable for Kamala Harris" from an relationship called Latinos for Harris.

The clips thin to absorption connected Harris arsenic a person, alternatively than her policies - though respective bash notation the taxable of termination rights and the contented of idiosyncratic freedom.

When a comedian astatine Donald Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally called Puerto Rico "a floating land of garbage", it sparked backlash from galore successful the Latino community.

Gabriela’s TikTok provender has featured immoderate video clips of that moment, oregon commentary connected that moment, often with Spanish captions taking offence to those comments.

The algorithm pushed contented highly applicable to Gabriela’s individuality arsenic a Latina voter.

There’s immoderate contented from the authoritative accounts belonging to some Donald Trump and Kamala Harris’s campaigns connected her provender too.

One run video shows Harris alongside Michelle Obama successful beforehand of an American emblem declaring this predetermination is "going to beryllium close", with 7.7 millions views.

Another shows Donald Trump dancing alongside fashionable streamer Adin Ross. That has 67.1 cardinal views - showing however his contented is having a immense reach, adjacent if not truthful overmuch connected Gabriela’s feed.

While TikTok prohibits governmental ads, it’s not the aforesaid connected YouTube, wherever Gabriela has been targeted by respective astir some of the main candidates. The paid-for ads she receives thin to absorption connected the economy. A video from Harris’s run squad saying she volition "cut taxes for 100 cardinal moving Americans". Another advert from Trump’s squad declares "there’s nary clip to waste! Make a plan, get to the polls & ballot Trump".

A batch of this content, whether ads oregon posts from the campaigns and supporters, seems focused connected motivating radical to really spell retired and vote, alternatively than alteration their minds astir a topic.

Like her TikTok feed, Gabriela’s YouTube leans towards partisan governmental content, opinions and run messages. But I’ve not seen the aforesaid kinds of posts pushing unsupported claims of elector fraud that I’ve spotted connected Gabriela’s X feed. Her X provender has been overtaken by astir wholly governmental posts.

Her Instagram and Facebook accounts person remained reasonably apolitical. Meta, which owns some of the societal media companies, decided to halt recommending governmental contented from accounts that users don't already travel earlier this year.

The biggest changes I’ve spotted connected Gabriela’s societal media feeds implicit the 2 years I’ve been moving her illustration person happened connected X.

In caller weeks, Mr Musk has been precise vocal astir his enactment for Trump, which he’s entitled to bash arsenic a backstage citizen. He has besides accused Twitter of aged - arsenic good arsenic different societal media sites - of suppressing right-wing presumption points. And helium has antecedently said helium believes X is simply a abstraction for each governmental opinions.

But Gabriela’s provender shows how, astatine slightest to 1 primitively neutral viewer, the tract skewered successful Trump’s favour - which appears to beryllium successful portion due to the fact that of changes to however the tract works nether Mr Musk’s tenure.

Last month, X besides changed its rules truthful accounts tin marque wealth according to engagement from premium accounts - likes, shares and comments - alternatively than the ads that popular up nether their posts.

I investigated however these changes helped immoderate users marque thousands of dollars, they say, from sharing contented that included predetermination misinformation, AI-generated images and unfounded conspiracy theories.

X’s idiosyncratic basal is smaller than tons of different sites. But it is the location of politicians, activists and journalists and screengrabs from its tract tin migrate onto larger platforms.

Another important but little utmost displacement has occurred connected Gabriela’s TikTok feed.

Before she didn’t spot overmuch astir the Democrats, but aft Joe Biden announced helium was nary longer moving to beryllium President her provender has been progressively flooded with pro-Kamala Harris videos.

Because Gabriela isn’t real, it’s intolerable to cognize however overmuch she would respond to immoderate of these societal media posts. Plenty of factors beyond the online satellite could signifier her decision.

One thing’s for sure, though, my antecedently apolitical elector has not been capable to debar the deluge of authorities - and algorithms connected the sites, which look to favour engagement implicit each else, are shaping the mode that she receives authorities done her feeds. Who and however she votes could beryllium connected which societal media tract she trusts and relies on.

X did not respond to questions from the BBC. X says online that its precedence is to support and support the user's voice. All of the different large societal media companies accidental they person policies and measures successful spot to support users from disinformation and hate.