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Kamala Harris explains social media algorithms with flower analogy

The former vice president discussed AI and algorithms during a podcast appearance.

AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made

Published
Kamala Harris explains social media algorithms with flower analogy

What this story says

  • Former Vice President Kamala Harris explained social media algorithms using a flower analogy on a podcast.
  • She discussed artificial intelligence and algorithms during her appearance on 'Off Air with Big Boy'.
  • Some reports indicated Harris warned that algorithms are 'trying to dumb people down'.
  • Digests of the story appeared across 15 outlets, with 14 rated right and one rated left.

Who covered it

Left 7%(1)Centre 0%(0)Right 93%(13)

Percentages are shares of the 14 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 2 of the 16 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .

Trust

30/100

Craft

57/100

Hype

68/100

16 sources · methodology

Missing from the left

Only 1 of the 14 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.

A reader who follows the left would not have seen this. We report the absence rather than explain it: outlets choose what to cover for many reasons, and we have no evidence about which one applies here.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris discussed artificial intelligence and social media algorithms during a recent podcast appearance. She used a flower analogy to explain how algorithms target users and shape the content they see. Harris appeared on the podcast 'Off Air with Big Boy'.

During the discussion, Harris reportedly warned that algorithms are 'trying to dumb people down' by repeatedly showing users content based on their past clicks. Some digests stated she used pink and yellow flowers as examples in her analogy.

Coverage disagreement

Reports differed on the specific details of the flower analogy. Some digests stated Kamala Harris used pink and yellow flowers as examples, while others did not specify the colours. One digest from The Daily Bo Snerdley mentioned yellow and pink flowers, and noted Harris warned repeated recommendations can 'dumb people down' by assuming their interests do not extend beyond what they have already clicked.

What the coverage left out

None of the right-rated digests mentioned the specific podcast, 'Off Air with Big Boy,' where the remarks were made. The left-rated digest from Mediaite did name the podcast. No digests mentioned any specific details about artificial intelligence beyond its connection to social media algorithms.

Coverage settled. We checked this 47 times and stopped on 2 Oct 2026, 15:30. The figures above are what it finished at.

How each side covered it

Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.

Left

1 rated outlet

  • The left-rated digest from Mediaite focused on Kamala Harris's attempt to explain algorithms using flowers. It noted her appearance on 'Off Air with Big Boy' and mentioned her past role as 'AI Czar'. The digest stated she used flowers as an example to explain how social media algorithms work.

Centre

0 rated outlets

No outlet rated centre ran this story. We watched the coverage until it stopped changing, and none appeared.

Right

13 rated outlets

  • Right-rated digests frequently characterised Kamala Harris's explanation as a "blunder," "misstep," or "word salad." Many highlighted her use of a flower analogy, with some specifying pink and yellow flowers. Several digests reported Harris warned algorithms are 'trying to dumb people down.' Headlines and digests from outlets including Next News Network, Breitbart, and The Gateway Pundit framed the discussion as evidence of incompetence or a broader "Democrat control agenda."

Questions about this coverage

How did the left and right cover Kamala Harris explains social media algorithms with flower analogy?
Of the 14 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 7% are rated left, 0% are rated centre, 93% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 16. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
Is Kamala Harris explains social media algorithms with flower analogy left or right?
The story itself is neither. What can be counted is who has covered it, and 93% of the 14 rated outlets on it are rated right — so far this is a story carried mostly by the right. Coverage of this one has settled, so that is unlikely to move much now.
Is the coverage of Kamala Harris explains social media algorithms with flower analogy biased?
Kamala Harris explains social media algorithms with flower analogy is one event reported by 16 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
Which side is not reporting Kamala Harris explains social media algorithms with flower analogy?
When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
Which outlets covered Kamala Harris explains social media algorithms with flower analogy?
16 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
What did Kamala Harris use to explain social media algorithms?
Former Vice President Kamala Harris used a flower analogy to explain social media algorithms during a podcast appearance. Some reports indicated she used pink and yellow flowers as examples in her explanation.
What did Kamala Harris say about algorithms?
Kamala Harris discussed artificial intelligence and algorithms on the podcast 'Off Air with Big Boy'. Some reports stated she warned that algorithms are 'trying to dumb people down' by targeting users with repetitive content.
Which outlets reported on Kamala Harris's comments?
Fifteen outlets reported on Kamala Harris's comments. Of these, one was rated left and fourteen were rated right. No centre-rated outlets covered the story.

Read it at the source

16 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.

Left

1

Centre

0

No outlet in this group ran the story.

Right

13
Show 5 more

Not rated

2

How did this read?

About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.

Kamala Harris on algorithms | MediaBias News