Our paper Some People Are Worth Recommending For: Twenty Years of Progress, Gaps, and Opportunities For and With Children at RecSys has been accepted to RecSys 2026!

Abstract

Recommender systems play a pivotal role in shaping children’s digital ecosystems. Despite substantial progress in recommender systems research over the past two decades, work that considers children as the main stakeholder, or even acknowledges them as a user group, remains in its infancy. Taking the 20𝑡ℎ anniversary of the ACM RecSys conference as a milestone for reflection, we present a comprehensive review of 19 years of research published at RecSys and its co - located workshops, mapping the evolution of this field related to children. Through this historical lens, we take inventory of the community’s contributions and identify unique challenges that emerge when designing, evaluating, and deploying recommenders for young people. Drawing on these insights, we outline critical gaps in the current landscape and propose research priorities for advancing child - aware recommender system research.