What is The Impathy Project
The Impathy Project is an independent research initiative examining how digitally curated systems present different information to different individuals. By enabling structured observation of multiple users’ feeds on the same digital platforms over the same period of time, Impathy documents observable variation in content exposure that is otherwise experienced in isolation by individual users.
The project focuses on what users are shown and how exposure differs across perspectives, not on how algorithms function internally or why differences occur.
Why this matters
Digital platforms increasingly utilize algorithms to shape how people encounter information, culture, and public discourse. Yet these systems are typically experienced individually, making it difficult to observe or compare how exposure varies across users in practice. As a result, public understanding of algorithmic influence is often driven by anecdote, simulation, or platform-provided data rather than direct empirical observation of lived experience.
This project exists to make these differences observable under controlled, consent-based conditions, without modifying platforms, assuming intent, or asserting evaluative claims.
Approach
The Impathy Project uses consent-based perspective observation to compare how the same platform presents content to different users during defined observation windows.
Observation sessions are:
• Explicitly opt-in and time-bounded
• Conducted using participants’ own accounts
• Limited to content already viewable under platform rules
During these sessions, The project records only high-level, session-level interaction metadata such as duration and engagement patterns. No content payloads, private communications, ranking signals, or inferred attributes are collected.
The methodology is observational and descriptive. It captures experienced outputs as they occur in practice and compares patterns across perspectives without inspecting algorithms or asserting causality.
Positioning
The Impathy Project is not a social platform, product, engagement tool, or intervention.
It does not:
• Evaluate algorithmic fairness, bias, or harm
• Explain system mechanisms or ranking logic
• Assess compliance or policy adherence
• Recommend changes to platforms or user behavior
The project documents difference without interpretation.
It creates empirical visibility, not judgment.
The project does not assume platform intent or malfeasance and does not evaluate individual platforms.
This project is intended to support researchers, educators, journalists, and civil society organizations by providing neutral, reproducible methods and empirical artifacts, not conclusions or recommendations.
Ethics and responsibility
The Impathy Project is designed with privacy, consent, and non-interference as core principles.
• Participation is voluntary and revocable
• Perspective access requires explicit approval
• Sessions are limited in duration and scope
• Private or restricted content is excluded by design
Data is minimized, stored securely, and analyzed only in aggregate or de-identified form. No personal data is sold or shared, and no user identities are published.
The project is intentionally conservative. If an observation mode introduces ethical ambiguity, it is excluded.
Current status
Research design and observation protocol defined
Methodology documentation and safeguards finalized
Research tooling development underway to support controlled observation sessions
Initial testing planned within defined research contexts