Filter Bubbles, Echo Chambers, and Online News Consumption
2016/01/01 by Seth Flaxman, Sharad Goel, Justin M. Rao · 87 citations
Social Sciences · Physics and Astronomy · #Media Influence and Politics #Social Media and Politics #Opinion Dynamics and Social Influence
paper · doi:10.1093/poq/nfw006
Abstract
Online publishing, social networks, and web search have dramatically lowered the costs of producing, distributing, and discovering news articles. Some scholars argue that such technological changes increase exposure to diverse perspectives, while others worry that they increase ideological segregation. We address the issue by examining web-browsing histories for 50,000 US-located users who regularly read online news. We find that social networks and search engines are associated with an increase in the mean ideological distance between individuals. However, somewhat counterintuitively, these same channels also are associated with an increase in an individual’s exposure to material from his or her less preferred side of the political spectrum. Finally, the vast majority of online news consumption is accounted for by individuals simply visiting the home pages of their favorite, typically mainstream, news outlets, tempering the consequences—both positive and negative—of recent technological changes. We thus uncover evidence for both sides of the debate, while also finding that the magnitude of the effects is relatively modest.
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