The Echo Chamber

 

    The Echo Chamber. A problem that has taken the internet and digital media by storm. The definition of an echo chamber, in this sense, is a social media platform or location where people only interact with/see opinions that reinforce or are the same as their own. These are dangerous places to be and observe on the internet because of the influence they can exert on you or the people within them. Twitter in particular is riddled with echo chambers on all sides of politics. 

    Google and Facebook exacerbate the issue further with their targeted advertising and filtered content. Both of these companies are focused on tailoring an experience that only shows you things you might click on or agree with. The environment that this type of reinforcement can have is frightening when you think about the implications of what echo chambers people can get into. For example, what if there was a neo-Nazi echo chamber that essentially affirms its own beliefs while at the same time making the minority opinion seem like one that is a majority. Our tendency for confirmation bias is another factor which only makes echo chambers harder to avoid. Confirmation bias is our tendency to seek out information that matches our previously held opinions. An example of this would be conservatives only watching Fox news and democrats only watching CNN and no other sources. In both instances, the groups are only watching the news source which is most likely to agree with them and tell them what they want to hear.

    You can recognize an echo chamber, though it can be difficult. Some of the easiest ways are to ask yourself the following questions: Are facts ignored if they go against the viewpoint? Is the viewpoint mainly supported by a rumor or incomplete evidence? Is there only one perspective seen on an issue or topic? Even with the ability to identify the chambers, they can be very difficult to avoid. If you are looking to avoid them, then I would recommend you do some or all of the following: Always check multiple sources to make sure you are getting the whole story. Talk to people with a different perspective, and make sure you actually discuss the issue with them, rather than having a shouting match or other major disagreement because someone does not believe what you believe. Remember that wanting something to be true does not make it true.

    Having places like Twitter and Facebook run rampant with these echo chambers can only do harm to our society as a whole. These places only make it harder for people to look past something as small as a difference of opinion or ideology. Their danger comes from their ability to make people think that their opinion is the only one that matters or is correct, which is inherently flawed in its own way seeing as it is an opinion and NOT a fact. Both people and companies need to be more aware of what can occur and is occurring on their platforms, and do something to curb the creation of these places sooner rather than later, preferably before we become too divided to even debate with facts and logic instead becoming an intense argument of emotion and opinion.