Thursday, August 25, 2016

Users Polarization on Facebook and Youtube.

Social media users tend to select information and contacts that support their beliefs, creating polarized echo chambers. Computer automated customized content drives the emergence of echo chambers. PLoS One. 2016 Aug 23;11(8):e0159641.

Comment: The lesson here seems to be that on social media platforms, in order to be exposed to diverse views and ideas, we need to intentionally follow or become friends with people that think differently than us. Simply having a diverse group of friends or followers based upon gender, sexual orientation, or skin color is not enough. We need to seek out diverse opinions and contrarian views in order to avoid getting caught up in a self-imposed echo chamber.