Reading: The echo chamber is overstated: the moderating effect of political interest and diverse media

echochamber

a metaphorical description of a situation in which beliefs are amplified or reinforced by communication and repetition inside a closed system
- some believe that this is due to the emergence of the internet and that it will happen more and more
- others fear that there will be further segregation by interest/ opinion and increase political polarisation
=> homophily

two methodological issues

1. many studies only focus on one single platform, thus limiting generalisability
- users tend to use multiple platforms
- the entire range of social media has to be taken into consideration bc it is a high-choice media environment

2. measurement of echo chambers has been inconsistent/ insufficient for the complex ways individuals use the vast array of media choices

echochamber

a metaphorical description of a situation in which beliefs are amplified or reinforced by communication and repetition inside a closed system
- some believe that this is due to the emergence of the internet and that it will happen more and more
- others fear that there will be further segregation by interest/ opinion and increase political polarisation
=> homophily

two methodological issues

1. many studies only focus on one single platform, thus limiting generalisability
- users tend to use multiple platforms
- the entire range of social media has to be taken into consideration bc it is a high-choice media environment

2. measurement of echo chambers has been inconsistent/ insufficient for the complex ways individuals use the vast array of media choices

two ways in which the internet might support development of echo chambers

1. allowing individuals to make choices that reinforce existing preferences
2. algorithmic filter bubbles
=> filter bubble suggests algorithmic filtering that personalises content present on social media and can be reinforced by people that keep selecting content that satisfies their preferences

reinforcing existing preferences

key features of audiences :
1. fragmentation
2. polarisation
- high-choice media landscape allows individuals to choose media and content based on their preferences => cause more fragmentation and potentially polarisation

reinforcing existing preferences - fragmentation

process by which the mass audience, once concentrated on 3 or 4 viewing points, becomes more widely distributed

reinforcing existing preferences - polarisation

audiences diverge and and are segmented based on an issue or interest

two concerns about segmentation when talking about political information and news

1. there is a division between those informed about politics and those not informed
2. political polarisation among individuals that exhibit minimal political interest/ awareness

media diets in a high-choice environment

- individuals can access political information through various channels (e.g., TV/ radio/ social media/ search) and may be combined
- individuals tend to develop media habits/ news or political information media repertoires
- the media that individuals select is usually related to their political engagement/ partisan preferences
- some media have more value/ are more trusted than orthers

media habits

repeated media consumption behaviours

news or political information media repertoires

the collection of media an individual uses to access news and political information regularly

media diversity

- the number of media in a person's repertoire
=> the greater the number, the bigger the opportunity that an individual is exposed to different political opinions and news

cross-platform echo chambers are unlikely:
1. media diets between US republicans and democrats are quite similar
2. the possibility of incidental exposure to political information and news that does not peak interest is there
3. not all media are used in the same way and for the same content

political interest

- associated with higher than average news and political information consumption
- political "junkies" are more likely to consume a lot of info and may encounter more perspectives and arguments
- conflicting opinions and information are less likely avoided when value is seen during the exposure to the information

interacting in the environment in ways that avoid echo chambers

people have a hard time recalling when they have been exposed to different ideas => surveys are flawed