Rafaella Benoit (She/Her) (2027) | Psychology and Sociology
Rafaella Benoit is a Psychology and Sociology double major researching how personalized algorithms shape the content people see on social media. Her project focuses on Instagram’s personalized feed and how exposure to certain content may affect people who are navigating life after incarceration, particularly as they work to reintegrate into society. Drawing from her own experiences and observations of how her feed changed over time, Rafaella is exploring how algorithms can create feedback loops that reinforce the ideas and information users are already exposed to. Through her research, she hopes to better understand how predictive algorithms may shape the opportunities and barriers people encounter in their everyday lives.
What first drew you to this topic? Was there a moment, class, experience, or question that made you want to learn more?
My interest in this topic started in fall semester when I was going through something and my feed started showing me related content, even though this was not a matter I had searched. The content that was appearing was only known because of conversations I had with my friends. Then, as finals were approaching, my feed was suddenly full of content about the pressure of academia and how students learn a semester’s worth of material in a week to ace their finals. Looking at the topic more broadly, I started to wonder how people’s feeds are personalized and what that means for their accessibility. As someone who was formerly incarcerated, I noticed a certain theme appearing on my feed for a while after my release. I have friends who are also formerly incarcerated and started to wonder if we were just seeing similar videos because we kept sharing themwith each other or because these videos were targeted to reach us specifically? It made me curious. I started to observe my feed more objectively and noticed a trend of how it changes based on things I am going through. My topic excites me and I want to learn more about it because as technology continues to evolve and remain embedded in our lives, a new set of opportunities and limitations are presented through the structural constraints of personalized algorithms.
How would you explain your research to someone who knows nothing about your field?
When explaining my research to someone who knows nothing about my field, I ask what they see most on their feed. Based on their answer, I explain how the things that we like, share, or comment on become more apparent on our feed because the algorithm thinks that we like it. Since these platforms are designed to keep us engaged, the algorithm will show each of us different things. For my question about criminogenic thinking and Instagram’s personalized feed, I explain that there are certain populations that are more vulnerable to certain ideas. I am hoping to understand how someone who has spent time in prison and put in the work to attain a “state of rehabilitation” feels when they see certain kinds of content while navigating the challenges that come with reintegrating into society as a convicted felon.
What was the most exciting or rewarding part of working on this project?
All of this is exciting to me. I am really thankful for the opportunity to be an emerging researcher at a leading research university. The most rewarding part of it is seeing how the process unfolds. I thought my mixed-methods approach was going to be easier than it is. It is exciting to get everything set up and let it unfold organically because anything can happen. Overall, it is both exciting and rewarding to see the output of my effort as I try to answer a question derived from my lived experience.
Was there a challenge or unexpected moment during your research that really shaped your experience?
It is too early in the process to have a response to this. However, I will say that before beginning I knew the word pivot would become my most frequently used word in 2026. Having the foresight to know that things will need to be adjusted based on unexpected events or hitting a wall is helpful because I expect obstacles. This has made it easier when dealing with challenges because I am always trying to have an alternative plan. I think the challenges that arise shape my experience because it is not about the challenge itself and more about how I deal with it.
I would really like to answer this question at a later time because it is a great one. I know over the next few months I will have had so many situations that will enable me to respond more thoughtfully.
What do you hope comes out of this research, whether that’s something you continue exploring or simply something you take with you from the experience?
From this research, I hope to better understand predictive algorithms overall. As a double major, I am passionate about psychology because it teaches how people think and why they respond in certain ways; sociology teaches why society is structured a certain way and how that impacts the opportunities or constraints individuals have. Together, these disciplines teach me why people are the way they are and how society creates barriers to access. Barriers may include race, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic background, or something else entirely. I am curious to learn how predictive algorithms will shape structural constraints for people. If algorithms are personalizing content that creates feedback loops and echo chambers, it is hard to notice because the content remains something the user is interested in. Open-tie relationships are becoming more important because it is the people you engage with the least that will be able to offer you the most because they will not have the same feedback loops, making it possible to receive new or different information.