Filter bubbles, echo chambers, online communities

2021 ◽  
pp. 192-202
Author(s):  
Hanna Kiri Gunn
Keyword(s):  
Online Communities ◽  
Echo Chambers ◽  
Filter Bubbles

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 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

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

scholarly journals «Third Space», «Echo-Cameras» and Online-Communities: Reproduction of Political Ideologies in Social Media

2021 ◽  
pp. 183-204
Author(s):  
Timur Badmatsyrenov ◽  
Fedor Khandarov ◽  
Alexander Tsydenov
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Social Interaction ◽  
Online Communities ◽  
Third Space ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Political Ideas ◽  
Political Ideologies ◽  
Echo Chambers

The study of the features of the reproduction of political ideologies in social networks and the formation of user communities united by adherence to some political ideas is an urgent problem of contemporary political science. Social media has become an agent for the development of new forms of political activity, providing unprecedented opportunities for transferring and exchanging information, broadcasting political ideas, and involving people in virtual and real communities. Today, social media have become not just a means of transmitting information and a form of entertainment, but a special global form of social political interaction, increasingly penetrating into the most diverse aspects of society. In political interactions, the online services of new media can be described as a “third space”, a development of Ray Oldenburg's concept, in which he singles out a part of the social space not related to housing (“first place”) and work (“second place”). Online communities on social networks have become a mixed form of institutionalized political and informal non-political interactions, as exemplified by ideologically based social media groups. The transformations caused by the rapid development of the Internet and “new social media” are giving rise to a fundamentally new reality of social interaction, which combines two contradictory trends. On the one hand, the Internet and social media have expanded people's access to information and significantly increased the field of social interaction and communication, thereby creating the basis for uniting users on various grounds, including political and ideological views. On the other hand, such changes led to a crisis of trust between the participants. Users belonging to different political ideologies form stable “echo chambers” in their Internet environment, rigidly filtering the information they receive, locking themselves in and reproducing the attributes of only their political ideology and not allowing outsiders there. In our opinion, this requires a study that provides for a close study of ideological “echo chambers”, which seems necessary for understanding the processes of political communication and ways of reproducing political and ideological views in the online sphere.

scholarly journals The Issue of Proxies, And why EU law matters for recommender systems

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mireille Hildebrandt
Keyword(s):  
High Risk ◽  
Recommender Systems ◽  
Economic Incentive ◽  
Feedback Loops ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
Computing Systems ◽  
Design Decisions ◽  
Incentive Structures ◽  
Echo Chambers ◽  
Filter Bubbles

Recommendations are meant to increase sales or ad revenue, as these are the first priority of those who pay for them. As recommender systems match their recommendations with inferred preferences, we should not be surprised if the algorithm optimises for lucrative preferences and thus co-produces the preferences they mine. This relates to the well-known problem of feedback loops, filter bubbles and echo chambers. In this article I will discuss the implications of the fact that computing systems necessarily work with proxies when inferring recommendations and raise a number of questions about whether recommender systems actually do what they are claimed to do, while also analysing the often perverse economic incentive structures that have a major impact on relevant design decisions. Finally, I will explain how the GDPR and the proposed AI Act will help to break through various vicious circles, by constraining how people may be targeted (GDPR) and by requiring documented evidence of the robustness, resilience, reliability and the responsible design and use of high risk recommender systems (AI Act).

Gated Communities of the Digitised Mind

2020 ◽  
pp. 104-118
Author(s):  
Thorsten Brønholt
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Gated Communities ◽  
Gated Community ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Original Analysis ◽  
Echo Chambers ◽  
Filter Bubbles

Brønholt here introduces the concept of gated communities of the digitised mind. These draw on the notions of echo chambers and filter bubbles to suggest that there are regions for at least some of us that function in the same way as a gated community in which we only mix with those least likely to challenge our views. He supports this argument with original analysis of 15 Danish politicians which summarises the results from semi-structured interviews with the respondents, and an analysis of their personal social media (Facebook and Twitter) feeds, as well as identical Google Searches on their private devices.

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