LG Electronics has launched a global campaign called ‘Optimism Your Feed,’ which aims to help users bring more optimism to social media experiences by inviting them to proactively engage with positive and inspiring content.
“As a customer-focused brand, LG is a passionate champion of optimism,” LG vice president and head of brand management, Kim Hyo-eun said.
“We aim to create positive changes in people’s lives by being intentional with our positive activities both online and in the real world. In the AI era, LG remains committed to our unwavering promise of ‘Life’s Good.’ We will continue to enhance our customers’ lives with a human-centric approach, fostering hope for a better future.”
In a new global survey commissioned by LG, almost half of respondents (45%) reported their social media feeds consist of an equal or greater amount of negative content than positive content. More than one in four respondents (28%) claimed negative content on their social media feeds has increased their anxiety and one in five (20%) said it has made them unhappy.
The global survey sought to understand the triggers that affect how algorithms work and how to increase feed’s positive content. The result is the ‘Optimism Your feed’ playlist of original content that, when interacted with, will pull more optimistic content into your feed.
Created in collaboration with global influencers including Tina Choi, Victoria Browne and Josh Harmon, the ‘Optimism Your Feed’ playlist includes over 20 short-form videos ranging from motivation to feel-good content.
LG is also consulting with social media experts including Professor Casey Fiesler, an information scientist and technology ethicist, with a PhD in Human Centred Computing. Fiesler researches and teaches in the areas of technology ethics, internet policy, and online communities, and has published on topics such as social media content moderation and recommender systems.
According to Fiesler, recommendation algorithms determine what we see on social media by predicting what content we are likely to engage with.
“These algorithms can therefore send us down ever more specific niches – for good and for bad. Research has shown that left unchecked, users can go down negative rabbit holes and encounter harmful content quite quickly,” she said.
“One of our first lines of defence needs to be improving our digital literacy, and paying more attention to how algorithms influence our online experiences. And the good news is that we do have some control over the input for these algorithmic predictions; if we choose to engage with optimistic content, there’s a good possibility we will see more of it.”