The Online Life of Liliana Szczepanik: ‘No socials? That would finally give me peace’

Algorithms guide us through the endless maze of the internet. Sometimes they’re helpful, distracting, or even hard to look at. This month we dive into the bubble of Liliana Szczepanik (22), a Polish bachelor’s student in Psychology. ‘Algorithms keep track of exactly what you like.’

What strikes you most about algorithms?

‘They keep track of exactly what you like. Once I looked up a recipe for cinnamon cookies, and suddenly my whole feed was full of them. Of course, all those cookies looked perfect because the photos were edited. That made my own cookies seem like a failure.

‘What I also notice is that algorithms don’t prepare you for what you’re about to see. In between those cookies, I suddenly got shocking images from Gaza or of animal abuse. That immediately affects my mood. I want to protect my mental health, but I also feel guilty because I can’t donate to every cause.’

Are you in a filter bubble that mostly confirms your own perspective? Do you ever try to step out of it?

‘I try to avoid that. My father sends me articles from a totally different political perspective, which helps me see other viewpoints. Sometimes I even listen to podcasts with people I disagree with, like Donald Trump or Elon Musk. They can sound smart and convincing. I now understand better why others like listening to them, even if I still don’t agree.’

Would you delete your social media?

‘I sometimes do. If I notice I’m scrolling too much, I delete Instagram and TikTok and switch to YouTube and podcasts. Having no socials at all would be ideal, that would finally give me peace. But then you quickly become an outsider, because so much communication happens online these days.’

Do you handle algorithms differently than your parents?

‘Yes, absolutely. My father grew up in communist Poland, where you had to fight for everything and an orange at Christmas was a luxury. With the arrival of capitalism, he finally got the chance to earn more. That shaped his worldview, but also how he uses social media. He only uses LinkedIn and YouTube, mostly for work and educational videos.

‘My mother has Facebook and Instagram, but mainly uses them to chat. She only follows yoga and animal accounts. I follow way too many accounts myself—I’ve basically never unfollowed anyone since high school. My mother guards her peace online, while I let myself get carried away much more easily.’

Do algorithms affect your online experience positively or negatively?

‘Both. Cute kittens make me happy, and I like that I get to see them. But in between there’s also really heavy news in my feed, often without warning. I don’t always like that. It’s intense to be constantly confronted with the suffering in the world.’