Echo Chamber

Agnieszka Hess, Jagiellonian University, Poland
agnieszka.hess@uj.edu.pl

Agnieszka Stępińska, Adam Mickiewicz University Poznań, Poland
agnieszka.stepinska@amu.edu.pl

A space, including the media space, in which individuals with similar political or social beliefs gather in strongly connected and isolated groups. In such communities, individuals strengthen their beliefs by exchanging information and views only with people who share their position (e.g., people on the right not coming across centrist or left-wing perspectives that challenge their pre-existing opinions). This leads to the mutual reinforcement and maintenance of the same beliefs, regardless of the diversity of the views within the broader society.

The term echo chamber is sometimes used interchangeably with the term filter bubble. However, one needs to distinguish between these two. An echo chamber is a form of bubble, but the term does not prejudge why some people might live in such bubbles. For example, some people actively avoid cross-cutting exposure. Therefore, the situation is a result of demand more than distribution or supply. A filter bubble, on the other hand, is an echo chamber primarily produced by ranking algorithms engaged in passive personalisation without any active choice on the part of the media users. For example, AI-based systems generate content tailored to user preferences (echo chambers), which in turn affects the dynamics of information flow. Hence, it is a possible outcome of specific aspects of how news and information are distributed online. The partisan echo chambers are one of the drivers of both policy and affective polarisation. By surrounding ourselves, both in real life and online, with others who share similar perspectives and opinions about the world, we amplify tribalism and exacerbate societal and political polarisation.

Keywords: filter bubble, news avoidance, polarisation

Related Entries: Algorithmisation, Bias, Social Media

References:
Bruns, A. (2022). Echo chambers? Filter bubbles? The misleading metaphors that obscure the real problem. In M. Pérez-Escolar & J. M. Noguera-Vivo (Eds.), Hate speech and polarisation in participatory society (pp. 33–48). Routledge.
Garrett, R. K. (2009). Echo chambers online? Politically motivated selective exposure among Internet news users. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 14(2), 265–285. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2009.01440.x
Jamieson, K. H., & Cappella, J. N. (2008). Echo chamber: Rush Limbaugh and the conservative media establishment. Oxford University Press.