How to Escape Online Echo Chambers in 4 Not-So-Easy-Very-Intentional Steps
How to Escape Online Echo Chambers in 4 Not-So-Easy-Very-Intentional Steps
June 4, 2021 by Bethany Graburn, Strategic Director at GOODWORK
Understand the echo chambers we exist within and how to create habits to escape them in pursuit of a more equitable society. Not a light read; sexism, racism, health, and threats to humanity.
For the skim readers (and pasta lovers) in the crowd, I’ll simmer this sauce right down for you, toss it on a bed of rigatoni, shave on some parmesan and serve it up hot. After three months of research, I have discovered that when it comes to echo chambers; we know we are in them and acknowledge their impact, but we don’t actively try to break out of them. I say this without judgment because - I hear you. I like getting served ads that fit my perfectly predictable taste, and curated playlists that fit that “rainy-day-sad-girl-working-from-home” vibe I want. But seriously, why don’t we work to create an online world that is more equitable and allows for the consideration of different perspectives? Spoiler alert, I don’t answer that question. That is one I will leave for you to consider and enact my 4 tips for rebuilding your algorithm to escape the online echo chambers you exist within. Did I get you with the click-bait-y title?
Rewind. Let’s talk about one of the worst collabs to occur (yes - even worse than Crocs x KFC, Gucci x Fiat, Olympic Games x McDonalds, Kendall Jenner x Pepsi). YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA HABITS X PLATFORM ALGORITHM = ECHO CHAMBERS. Echo chambers are what we each exist within online, specifically within our social media platforms; customized just for you, delivering the information you agree with, products you like, and keeping oppositional views out. Unlike a misaligned partnership between fast food and fashion brands; this collaboration shapes how we form opinions, interact with one another, and - it needs to change.
Maybe you don’t believe me yet. Let’s talk echo chambers with a little help from the scientists and academia who know far better than I. An echo chamber is an environment created where you only encounter beliefs or opinions that coincide with your own, causing the reinforcement of existing views without considering alternate ideas. Social media is complex; it has the potential to connect us and build communities as well as to divide, reinforce biases and spread misinformation. After the 2016 US election, the World Economic Forum has considered the spread of digital misinformation to be among the main threats to human society. A few key characteristics of the echo chambers we exist within (a little amuse-bouche to convince you to break out). Echo Chambers:
Create network segregation. Echo chambers cluster us into communities that reinforce our opinions. Social platforms that were created to foster connection have arranged us into social groups with separate world-views.
Increase virality thanks to network homophily. Without indulging myself with a rant about every brand's desire to “go viral”, echo chambers allow messaging to be spread faster and further within a network that believes the same thing. This is not a new notion; we form, validate, AND SHARE opinions based on the opinions of those closest to us.
Polarize opinions thanks to social influence. Social influence is when we buy, eat, dress like, and talk like those we interact with and it drives polarization. Examples that are much more scathing than showing up in the same outfit as your friend to a dinner party include; “cancel culture”, COVID-19 low vaccine confidence debates, and US politics. Our opinions become extreme because we believe everyone either agrees with us or thinks the polar opposite. We don’t need to always land in the middle, lessen an emotion or be agreeable, but how do we hold it well? The last year and a half of lockdowns have taken away face-to-face conversation, but maybe we were losing the ability to have hard, meaningful, and open conversations with those who have a different opinion from us.
Designed as much by what you like as what you DON’T like. These mechanisms of selective unfollowing are unlike, unfollow, mute and they accelerate and tighten echo chambers. Algorithms trade viewpoint diversity and quality for engagement by favoring content that you are more likely to engage with, based on past engagement. Friendship recommendation engines suggest new ties based on common interests, beliefs, and friends. This empowers users to dissolve ties that, although not by design, often tend to be the ones connecting them with those with whom they disagree.
Uses algorithms to segregate and polarize. Where once social media was praised for its collective intelligence that aggregates a diverse group of people to solve problems, the very mechanisms that create these platforms and flow of information make segregation and polarization inevitable.
Have been around forever. Their appearance on our social platforms is new - yes, but haven’t we always been congregating with those we align with? Echo chambers are the continuation of a trend: amplifying divisions that already existed and accelerating tension. Can we blame the enforcers of online echo chambers for the division that currently exists? Can it truly be all Zuckerberg’s fault? Consider historical examples that predate social media: Gerrymandering, Redlining, and School Segregation; and those that have played out during the digital age: the #MeToo Movement and Black Lives Matter.
Speaking of Zukerberg, what about social media platforms’ obligation to self-regulate? The debate about whether social media platforms have an obligation to regulate and even design against echo chambers is ongoing. Recently Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have all taken steps to “fix” their platforms (you’ve seen the banners) but is this enough when their algorithms are created and thrive on the creation of echo chambers tailored to each user's literal likes and dislikes. The issue of responsibility to diffuse the impact of echo chambers must at least, in part, fall on the creators of these mechanisms and algorithms. After all, algorithms are non-human actors created by, and programmed by, humans. We enjoy the ability to curate and control the information we receive with a simple opt-in or out and this is the behavior we have the ability to change, with or without Zuckerberg’s help.
I completed some primary research (call me Ms.Frizzle) because I wanted to understand why we still contribute to creating these online spaces and my research revealed that participants describe themselves as open to opposing views, but are not actively taking steps to seek out opinions that contradict their own, which is a necessary step to begin the process of escaping. In fact, 98% of respondents unfollow those with contradicting opinions. There could be many explanations for this apparent disconnect; perhaps people are underestimating the impact of echo chambers on them, maybe they are not as open to opposing views as they think, or maybe they believe they can research their way out of them. It is also possible that people believe that the responsibility for managing echo chambers rests with the platforms, or that users are disconnected from the cause and effect relationship their actions have on solidifying their echo chambers. It is clear that the connection between the conscious and concerted effort users have to take in order to escape echo chambers seems to be missing. Call this the “Pinterest Fail”, the “How It Started vs. The How It’s Going” meme, or the equivalent to knowing exercise is good for us but snoozing through your gym time. The action of seeking out others’ opinions or merely being exposed to a viewpoint “in the middle” is lost on social media platforms, so much so that we as users are disconnected from our own habits.
How to rebuild your algorithm in 4 not- so-easy-very-intentional steps:
①
Follow 20 new accounts.
Actively read news sources you disagree with or that provide an alternative perspective. The top advice on how to “rebalance your online yin and yang” is to check multiple news sources to ensure you can form a complete opinion. In order to escape an echo chamber, you need to be exposed to and open to hearing or receiving competing viewpoints. Barack Obama warned that “if we choose only to expose ourselves to opinions and viewpoints that are in line with our own, we become more polarized, more set in our ways”. He argued that this trend doesn’t just fracture society, it also prevents learning. This is how we break out of the echo chambers we exist within, especially when they are determined based on sex, age, socioeconomic status, income, or race. Without delving too deep into the psychological realm; I understand that we are creatures of confirmation bias. We form our beliefs first and then look for evidence in support of them afterward. It is difficult to change our beliefs because they are intertwined with how we see ourselves and it’s easier to double down on our existing beliefs to resolve discomfort by ignoring contradictory information.
②
Pause before you tap.
Be careful who you mute and unfollow. The conversation around self-care is a complex one and while I am a proponent of unsubscribing from content that is anxiety or FOMO-inducing, I would push you to ask yourself “why” when you “opt-out” of communication with someone. Is it because their opinion differs from yours? Is it because they are racist, sexist, or support a different political party? If we all continue to surround ourselves with people who are like us, where will change, innovation, and empathy evolve?
③
Look inward.
Consider what protest on social media looks like for you. What is your version of active protest against echo chambers? Bold the word active, because I don’t believe being a passive scroller nor deleting and reinstalling the app weekly is the way forward. We need to go one level deeper and understand why we need to do that to take care of ourselves? It is my observation that society, and specifically those with power, continue to create systems that cause polarization and segregation to the disadvantage of anyone who is not a white rich man. A certain level of uprising is required to make a change at the legislative level and even then, can take decades to enforce or see real change in society. How can we use the virality of social media to cause positive impacts? We saw this with the recent Black Lives Matter movement as 93% of George Floyd protests were peaceful and millions participated. Protest has the ability to cross boundaries of race, sex, and ultimately bias. The George Floyd protests also gave rise to counter-protests like “Blue Lives Matter'' and “All Lives Matter”, in support of police and alt-right causes, respectively. The existence of such counter-protests shows that complete value alignment is not possible. Still, promoting empathy and a conscious effort to end discrimination is more than worthwhile.
④
Talk to someone you know who has a different opinion than you and actually listen.
Address the biases that exist by taking them off the platform. Social media is not set up to express and discuss the nuance these topics deserve. So take the conversations, discussion, and questions into the real world. Talk to friends, family, and most importantly someone with an opposing viewpoint. I can only speak for myself, but am so thankful for the hard, intense, and constructive conversations that have shaped what I believe. We are all, always changing, learning, and growing - let’s give permission to ourselves and others to adjust their positions.
We must recognize that the people that make up these platforms are not homogeneous; they are comprised of people with diverse race, orientation, genders, ages and have their own views to express, so if we hope to really have connectivity, learn and advance as a society, we cannot afford to exclude views that do not match our own. And to be blunt; we must be open to views that challenge us and come from people who do not look like us and are not in our own echo chambers. Let’s prioritize connection over convenience and comfortability; connect the dots between our online interactions and the world surrounding us. We don’t all need to agree, but let’s come to the table and listen well. Dinner is served.
GLOSSARY
Echo Chamber: An environment in which a person encounters only beliefs or opinions that coincide with their own.
Algorithm: A way of sorting content based on relevancy. Social media networks prioritize which content a user sees by the likelihood that they'll actually want to see it.
Homophily: A human factor that is the tendency to form ties with similar people.
Social Influence: The tendency of becoming more similar to somebody as a result of social interaction.
Social Media Mechanisms: Actions we as users take on social media platforms; like, follow, unfollow, mute, comment.