Social Bots as Agenda-Builders: Evaluating the Impact of Algorithmic Amplification on Organizational Messaging

This study quantifies the agenda-building impact of social bots via algorithmic amplification. Through an automated content analysis, the data suggest that social bots significantly transferred object, attribute, and network salience to campaign communications during Ohio’s 2022 midterm election, and to a lesser degree, to press and public discourse. Social bots were the strongest influencer of attribute saliency, driving primarily negative sentiment. They were also mild influencers of object salience, leading five issue categories. This contributes to public relations by addressing how agenda-building theory evolves under artificial amplification, empirically illustrating how machines interfere with organizational news and strategic issues management efforts.