My Facebook use peaked when I first joined in 2009. At that time, it was used for almost the sole purpose of letting all the other kids in middle school know exactly what you were doing that day, who you were with, and to “text” or “don’t text.”

But now, one scroll through Facebook and you’ll see a few statuses and pictures, but mostly a combination of advertisements and viral articles. This change can be attributed to the shift from chronological news feeds to algorithms. In one light, the algorithmic change has been beneficial– people are (ideally) seeing content with more value. But, Facebook has reached a point where the algorithmic changes are only fueling confirmation bias in millions of people. The curation of our virtual world has become too narrowly focused on our own views and interests.

After the shock many Americans felt after the 2016 elections, people have realized the possibility of social media– Facebook in particular, undermining our democracy. The Russian investigation and manipulation of Facebook ads aside, Facebook’s news feed is inherently reaction-based. Having posts with the largest emotional reactions placed as top stories, only creates greater divides. For example, a news story that has an incredible amount of negative, “angry” reactions will algorithmically be at the top of your feed spreading possible false stories or divisive content. This is especially a problem when tied together with Facebook’s lack of profile verification. Meaning that anyone (or anything) can spread a false story like wildfire if it can anger or shock enough people. Even Mark Cuban thinks so too.

Some steps that Facebook can take to turn this trend around is to remove the reaction-based algorithm, or make it positive reaction-based only. To avoid fake accounts manipulating these algorithms, Facebook needs to increase it’s verification process to ensure that there is a human that can be held accountable behind every profile. This can ensure information that is not only valid, but also content that can make valuable contributions to people’s experiences on Facebook.