As creators compete for attention in an increasingly crowded digital space, many are questioning whether social media still rewards substance or whether controversy has become the quickest route to visibility.

Every day, millions of Nigerians pick up their phones hoping to learn something, follow the news or simply unwind. Yet it rarely takes more than a few swipes before a celebrity feud, outrageous podcast clip or social media controversy takes over the screen.

By the time users put their phones away, they may remember the latest online argument in vivid detail but struggle to recall the educational video they watched minutes earlier.

For Lagos marketing executive Tola Adebayo, Instagram serves both professional and entertainment needs. She follows career pages and business creators, but celebrity content frequently appears alongside them.

“My feed is a mixture of work advice, fashion and celebrity news. Sometimes the entertainment content takes over, but I still find useful ideas when I search for them,” she said.

Undergraduate Daniel Okafor mainly uses X to follow news and public conversations. He said the platform exposes him to different viewpoints, although discussions often descend into personal attacks.

“X helps me understand what people are talking about, but many serious conversations eventually become personal. You have to look carefully to find the comments that actually add value,” he said.

Their experiences reflect a growing concern among social media users and creators. Is valuable content becoming harder to find because people no longer want it, or have recommendation systems changed the rules of visibility?

The question goes beyond entertainment. It touches on education, culture, public debate and the values society increasingly rewards.

The promise of social media

For years, social media was celebrated for giving ordinary people opportunities that traditional media could not always provide.

A teacher could explain mathematics to thousands of students without entering a classroom. A doctor could correct dangerous health myths using a mobile phone. Small businesses could reach customers without paying for expensive advertising.

Writers, photographers, musicians and filmmakers who once struggled to find audiences suddenly gained direct access to the public.

That promise has not disappeared.

Nigerian creators such as Fisayo Fosudo have built large audiences by explaining technology in accessible language, while Aproko Doctor has used humour and storytelling to make health information easier to understand.

Across different platforms, financial educators, career coaches, chefs, historians and language teachers continue to demonstrate that useful content can thrive online.

For skincare entrepreneur Amina Bello, social media remains an important business tool. She follows beauty professionals and marketing experts to improve her brand.

“I have learnt useful things about branding and customer service online. The valuable content is available, but I sometimes have to search for it because trending videos usually appear first,” she said.

The problem, therefore, is not that good content has disappeared. It is that valuable information must compete inside systems designed to predict what will hold attention.

What the algorithm actually rewards

There is no single social media algorithm. Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and X use different recommendation systems. However, they all study users’ behaviour to decide what should appear next.

Meta says its artificial intelligence systems use different signals to predict whether someone will find a Facebook or Instagram post valuable. One of those signals is the likelihood that the person will share it. Meta also says its systems consider several predictions rather than relying on one action alone.

TikTok says its For You feed considers the videos users like or share, the accounts they follow, the comments they post and whether they finish watching a video. According to the company, completing a longer video is a stronger sign of interest than weaker factors such as two users being in the same country. TikTok’s explanation also shows that captions, sounds and hashtags influence recommendations.

X similarly says its For You timeline learns from likes, reposts, replies, followed accounts and topics. The platform says its system continuously studies these interactions when ranking posts. X’s recommendation guide states that users can switch to the Following timeline if they want posts only from accounts they follow.

These systems do not necessarily ask whether a video is educational, culturally important or socially responsible. They largely respond to signs that people are watching, reacting, sharing or returning for more.

That creates an uncomfortable cycle. Controversy attracts attention. Attention produces engagement. Engagement tells the system that people are interested. The system then recommends the content to more users.

Why negative content travels quickly

Research suggests that negative information has a natural advantage online.

A 2024 study published in Scientific Reports examined news articles from four major publications and the Facebook and Twitter posts that shared them.

Across the combined data, the researchers found that negative articles received about 91 per cent more shares than non negative articles. The size of the effect varied between publications and platforms, but negativity remained a significant factor. The study was based on international news organisations, not Nigerian social media, so its findings should not be treated as a direct measurement of Nigerian behaviour.

Still, it helps explain why outrage, conflict and fear can spread faster than careful explanation.

A controversial clip also demands less commitment from the viewer. People can watch it quickly, choose a side and leave a comment. A detailed video about health, history or personal finance may require patience, concentration and trust.

The platform records the immediate reaction. It cannot always measure what the viewer learnt or whether the information improved their life.

A digital content creator, Damilola Ajayi said, “I can spend two days researching an educational video and watch it struggle for attention. But when I react to a trending controversy, the engagement comes almost immediately. It creates pressure to follow what is popular instead of what is useful.”

That pressure is changing the way some creators work. Videos are becoming shorter. Headlines are becoming more dramatic. Serious topics are increasingly packaged through humour, conflict or personal storytelling.

This does not always weaken the content. A strong opening can make valuable information more accessible. The danger begins when attracting attention becomes more important than delivering substance.

A battle for public attention

Nigerian author and social commentator Idegu Ojonugwa Shadrach believes social media is gradually moving away from its potential as a tool for education and national development.

He argued that platforms capable of informing citizens and encouraging meaningful conversations are increasingly dominated by issues that contribute little to public understanding.

“Social media should be used to disseminate local, state and national issues for public opinion and international interventions,” he said.

“But many youths have turned it into a battleground for personal interests instead of using it as a tool for education, information and national development.”

His concerns come as viral disagreements, celebrity disputes and inflammatory podcast clips regularly dominate Nigerian social media.

Individual controversies eventually disappear, but the engagement they generate may encourage creators, influencers and media organisations to produce similar material.

For Shadrach, the deeper issue is what this culture teaches young people to value.

“In Nigeria today, we have many successful people but fewer valuable people,” he said.

“Our youths are increasingly chasing money, material possessions and social validation instead of academic or intellectual recognition.”

His assessment may sound severe, especially because social media has also helped young Nigerians build businesses, develop skills and access opportunities.

However, it raises an important question: when visibility becomes a measure of importance, what happens to knowledge that requires time, patience and serious thought?

The algorithm is not acting alone

Blaming technology alone would be too simple.

Algorithms learn from human behaviour. When users repeatedly watch arguments, share offensive comments or spend hours following celebrity disputes, they send powerful signals about what keeps them engaged.

Even angry engagement can increase a post’s visibility. Commenting to condemn a video may still tell the platform that the content has attracted attention.

A 2026 study in Nature Human Behaviour, involving 15,202 respondents across 30 countries, also found that online hostility cannot be separated entirely from conditions outside social media.

The researchers linked differences in online political hostility to wider social factors, including inequality and the strength of democratic institutions. They concluded that platforms can amplify tension, but they also reflect frustrations that already exist in society. The study shows why the problem cannot be blamed entirely on technology.

In Nigeria, economic pressure, political frustration, unemployment and the pursuit of social status can all shape what people discuss and reward online.

The algorithm may amplify the fire, but it does not always start it.

Software engineer Obadimu Ismail said, “Recommendation systems do not judge social value the way humans do. They respond to measurable signals such as watch time, comments and shares. When users consistently reward outrage with attention, the system learns to recommend more of such content.”

Making valuable content visible

Technology experts consulted for this report said the solution was not to abandon educational content but to package it in ways that recommendation systems could recognise as engaging.

They explained that creators must pay closer attention to the opening seconds of a video, audience retention, clear visuals and relatable storytelling. In their view, good content does not need to become shallow, but it must give users a reason to stop scrolling.

The experts also placed responsibility on social media companies. They called for clearer explanations of why posts are recommended, stronger controls over suggested content and more opportunities for users to choose chronological feeds.

They noted that users were not powerless either. Watching useful videos to the end, saving them, sharing them and selecting “Not Interested” on unwanted posts could influence future recommendations.