scholarly journals Age, gender, personality, ideological attitudes and individual differences in a person's news spectrum: how many and who might be prone to “filter bubbles” and “echo chambers” online?

Heliyon ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. e03214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cornelia Sindermann ◽  
Jon D. Elhai ◽  
Morten Moshagen ◽  
Christian Montag
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Echo Chambers ◽  
Filter Bubbles ◽  
Ideological Attitudes

scholarly journals Age, gender, personality, ideological attitudes and individual differences in a person’s news spectrum: How many and who might be prone to “filter bubbles” and “echo chambers” online?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cornelia Sindermann ◽  
Jon D. Elhai ◽  
morten moshagen ◽  
Christian Montag
Keyword(s):  
Big Five ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Demographic Variables ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Online Groups ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
News Sources ◽  
Echo Chambers ◽  
Filter Bubbles ◽  
Ideological Attitudes

Potential effects of demographics, personality, and ideological attitudes on one’s news spectrum, and as a consequence, the susceptibility to be caught in “filter bubbles” and/or “echo chambers” online, should be investigated.A sample of 1,681 (n=557 males) participants provided data on demographic variables, the Big Five as well as Right Wing Authoritarianism (RWA) alongside the number of different news sources consumed and current voting preferences.Results showed that age (positively), gender (higher in males), Openness (positively), and RWA (negatively) predicted the number of different news sources consumed. The group of participants consuming news exclusively offline showed highest scores in Conscientiousness and lowest scores in Neuroticism compared the “newsfeeds only” and the “newsfeeds and online” groups. However, less than 5% of the participants exclusively consumed news via newsfeeds of social networking sites. Participants who stated that they would not vote reported the lowest number of different news sources consumed.

Epilogue

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert E. Goodin ◽  
Kai Spiekermann
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
European Union ◽  
Majority Rule ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Donald Trump ◽  
Epistemic Democracy ◽  
The Core ◽  
Echo Chambers ◽  
Filter Bubbles

This chapter reflects on the election of Donald Trump and the vote of the British electorate in favour of ‘Brexit’ from the European Union. While we refrain from judging the outcomes of these votes, we do discuss concerns pertaining to the lack of truthfulness in both campaigns. After rehearsing the lies on which the Trump and Brexit campaigns were based, we consider different explanations as to why these campaigns were nevertheless successful, and where this leaves the argument for epistemic democracy. Particularly worrisome are tendencies towards ‘epistemic insouciance’, ‘epistemic malevolence’, and ‘epistemic agnosticism’. We also consider the problematic influence of social media in terms of echo chambers and filter bubbles. The core argument in favour of epistemic democracy is that the pooling of votes by majority rule has epistemically beneficial properties, assuming certain conditions. If these assumptions are not met, or are systematically corrupted, then epistemic democracy is under threat.

The paradox of pluralism: A key to interpreting the online public sphere in the time of ‘encastellation’

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriele Giacomini
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Political System ◽  
Selective Exposure ◽  
The Internet ◽  
New Concepts ◽  
Echo Chambers ◽  
Filter Bubbles

This viewpoint makes a theoretical effort to label the organization of the virtual sphere under new concepts: ‘encastellation’ and the ‘paradox of pluralism’. The former is a metaphorical synthesis of already-known concepts (selective exposure, polarization, homophily, echo chambers and filter bubbles). In the second case, we emphasize the existence of a ‘paradox of online pluralism’: the internet has increased the possibility for everyone to make their voice heard (in quantitative terms), but at the same time it appears to also be increasing the distance between voices, putting in jeopardy the achievement of the aims of the pluralist political system (in qualitative terms). In conclusion, we express doubts about the feasibility of the deliberative vision of democracy in the current virtual sphere.

scholarly journals Cascades across networks are sufficient for the formation of echo chambers: An agent-based model

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan-Philipp Fränken ◽  
Toby Pilditch
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Peer To Peer ◽  
Psychological Explanation ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Echo Chambers ◽  
Core Components ◽  
Echo Chamber

Investigating how echo chambers emerge in social networks is increasingly crucial, given their role in facilitating the retention of misinformation, inducing intolerance towards opposing views, and misleading public and political discourse (e.g., disbelief in climate change). Previously, the emergence of echo chambers has been attributed to psychological biases and inter-individual differences, requiring repeated interactions among network-users. In the present work we show that two core components of social networks—users self-select their networks, and information is shared laterally (i.e. peer-to-peer)—are causally sufficient to produce echo chambers. Crucially, we show that this requires neither special psychological explanation (e.g., bias or individual differences), nor repeated interactions—though these may be exacerbating factors. In fact, this effect is made increasingly worse the more generations of peer-to-peer transmissions it takes for information to permeate a network. This raises important questions for social network architects, if truly opposed to the increasing prevalence of deleterious societal trends that stem from echo chamber formation.

The Internet and Epistemic Agency

2021 ◽  
pp. 389-409
Author(s):  
Hanna Gunn ◽  
Michael Patrick Lynch
Keyword(s):  
The Internet ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Epistemic Agency ◽  
Epistemic Virtues ◽  
Echo Chambers ◽  
Online Spaces ◽  
Lead Users ◽  
Filter Bubbles

In this chapter, Hanna Gunn and Michael Patrick Lynch examine the connection between epistemic agency and the internet. They identify two conditions that are true of responsible epistemic agency: first, responsible epistemic agents aim to develop epistemic virtues, merit, and capacities that help them to responsibly change their epistemic environment, as well as the capacities that enable them to recognize and respect these epistemic traits in others. Second, responsible epistemic agents treat other epistemic agents with a form of respect that demonstrates a willingness to learn from them. Gunn and Lynch then show that the ways in which the internet makes information more widely available can also undermine our ability to be responsible epistemic agents. For instance, the personalization of online spaces can unwittingly lead users into echo chambers and filter-bubbles and away from a diverse range of perspectives, and fake news and information pollution can make for a hostile online epistemic environment.

Filter Bubbles, Echo Chambers, and Online News Consumption

2016 ◽  
Vol 80 (S1) ◽  
pp. 298-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seth Flaxman ◽  
Sharad Goel ◽  
Justin M. Rao
Keyword(s):  
Online News ◽  
News Consumption ◽  
Echo Chambers ◽  
Filter Bubbles

Individual differences in ideological attitudes and prejudice: Evidence from peer-report data.

2012 ◽  
Vol 103 (2) ◽  
pp. 343-361 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Christopher Cohrs ◽  
Nicole Kämpfe-Hargrave ◽  
Rainer Riemann
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Report Data ◽  
Peer Report ◽  
Ideological Attitudes
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