It has happened to all of us at some point. We’re thinking about something, we open TikTok or Instagram, and a video appears that seems to talk about exactly that same topic. It can be a reflection, a song, a phrase, or even someone that tells a story about an experience very similar to ours.

The comments are often accompanied by phrases such as: “I needed to hear this,” “God knew I had to see this video,” or simply “this can’t be a coincidence.” And there, for a second, the question arises: was it the algorithm or a sign?

When the “for your page” seems too precise

Social networks know a lot about us. Which videos do we finish, which ones do we pass quickly, what do we search for, what do we share, and what do we interact with? With all that information, the appearance of content related to something that interests us shouldn’t be a surprise. But sometimes the match seems a little too perfect.

The phenomenon even caught the attention of researchers. In 2022, a group of academics used the concept of “algorithmic conspirituality” to study situations in which users found very personal connections with content recommended by algorithms and interpreted them as a kind of intervention of fate or a higher power.

Subsequent research found something similar: people who feel that the algorithm knows them intimately and delivers a meaningful message just at the right time.

Algorithm or providence?

For a Christian, the question becomes even more interesting. The Catholic faith recognizes God’s Providence, but that doesn’t necessarily imply interpreting every coincidence as a message sent especially for us.

A video can appear because an algorithm did its job very well. And at the same time, what we find there can make us think, help us, or lead us to ask ourselves a question we had not asked before. Perhaps we do not always need to solve the question of where it came from.

The Internet has a remarkable ability to show us what we want to see. Faith, on the other hand, also invites us to ask ourselves about what we perhaps did not want to hear.

So, the next time that video appears at exactly the right time, perhaps the question will not be just “why did this appear on my feed?” but “what do I do with this information?”