Beyond personal anecdotes about being blindsided by Brexit, is there any evidence that echo chambers actually exist? Are echo chambers actually a problem or just a natural extension of a healthy culture?
Others’ stories
The referendum result came as a shock here in Brussels because many of us in the Remain camp probably couldn’t name a single individual who would have voted for Leave. — Erica Lee
Theory
I think, if you take all of these filters together, you take all these algorithms, you get what I call a filter bubble. And your filter bubble is your own personal, unique universe of information that you live in online. And what’s in your filter bubble depends on who you are, and it depends on what you do. But the thing is that you don’t decide what gets in. And more importantly, you don’t actually see what gets edited out. — Eli Pariser
Homophily limits people’s social worlds in a way that has powerful implications for the information they receive, the attitudes they form, and the interactions they experience. — Miller McPherson, Lynn Smith-Lovin and James Cook
Data
Do echo chambers actually exist on social media? By focusing on how both Italian and US Facebook users relate to two distinct narratives (involving conspiracy theories and science), we offer quantitative evidence that they do. — Walter Quattrociocchi, Antonio Scala, Cass Sunstein
Our results show that polarized communities emerge around distinct types of contents and usual consumers of conspiracy news result to be more focused and self-contained on their specific contents — Alessandro Bessi1, Mauro Coletto, George Davidescu, Antonio Scala, Guido Caldarelli, Walter Quattrociocchi
Yes and yes. Echo chambers exist, and they’re a problem. What I still don’t know is what to do about it. Deliberately seeking out people I disagree with sounds exhausting and slightly masochistic.