Search

Purpose – At the beginning of this year the number of social media user worldwide was recorded to be at 3.80 billion and is estimated to keep rising (Kemp, 2020). Along with this connectivity, new concepts have been acknowledged that have caused some controversy. These concepts have been named echo chambers and filter bubbles. This study investigates how social media users experience personalisation algorithms and the perceived existence of filter bubbles and echo chambers on various social media platforms and channels. Furthermore, it explores to what extent these users make use of strategies when navigating their social media feeds and if they believe that said strategies have any effect on personalisation algorithms, filter bubbles, and echo chambers. Method – Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 participants currently studying at Jönköping University. The interviews were then transcribed and analysed using a thematic approach. Findings – The perception of students at Jönköping University is that filter bubbles and echo chambers exist in a varying degree of visibility and commonality depending on the situation and medium. These are also experienced to be interconnected with personalisation algorithms. The experience of personalisation algorithms is mainly positive, as it allows the users to easily navigate the feed but negative implications are also mentioned. These are isolation, the negative strengthening and creation of filter bubbles or echo chambers. However, the algorithm is not believed to be the only thing responsible for the creation. The users believe that their own navigation and strategies can have such an effect. The strategies that users use are (1) Passive navigation, (2) Source evaluation, (3) Multiple source searching, (4) Responsibility taking, and the (5) Creation of filter bubbles. The effect these have on filter bubbles, personalisation algorithms and echo chambers is helping, to an extent, alleviate some of the negative effects that these are experienced to have. However, the passive navigation and creation of filter bubbles have a somewhat opposite effect as they help the creation or maintaining of filter bubbles and personalisation algorithms. Implications – The findings in this study build on existing evidence of echo chambers being more easily formed when the topic of discussion is of a political nature, as it is described by Barberá, Jost, Nagler, Tucker, and Bonneau (2015) in their research on how echo chambers form on Twitter. Furthermore, these findings could be considered to disagree with the research of Dubois and Blank (2018) who found that people who had a high political interest were less likely of ending up in an echo chamber. Although, due to their research taking all media into account, such as television, radio, newspaper, and so forth, while the current study is focused on social media alone the comparison is a bit more difficult to make. Finally, in the study made by Seargeant and Tagg (2019), it was concluded that the personalisation algorithms are not the sole contributor to filter bubbles forming on Facebook and that the users play a key role in how their online environment is shaped. The results of this study build on their research that the users do use strategies when navigating that affect what is being shown to them on their social media feeds. However, the participants of the current study claimed that the algorithms played a pretty large role too, which is not quite in line with the research conducted by Seargeant and Tagg (2019). Limitations – The generalisability of this study is limited due to the small sample size chosen to conduct this study, although instead, it provides deeper insight into the relationship between humans and their social media platforms and channels. Moreover, a bias that should be acknowledged is that when conducting interviews there is a risk of encountering response bias, which is when the participants assume the purpose of the study and adapt their answers to fit what they believe the researcher(s) want to hear. To avoid this precautions were taken when designing the questions to make sure that they would not lead the participants in any directions.

The paper deals to analyze the transformation of liberal democracy from universalism to sovereignty in terms of changes in political communication that are caused by the emergence of a new form of social interaction defined as a networked society. The author examines the formation and relationship of such basic categories of humanism as sovereignty, liberalism, and democracy. He reveals the role of the media in ensuring the stability of liberal democratic regimes and shows how the dominance of the media controlled by transnational corporations or by the government leads to the universalization of the mass society and the loss of an individual’s sovereignty. The author concludes that the formation of a networked society entails a deepening of sovereignty at the individual, group, and state levels and highlights its main directions: the personalization of politics, the formation of autonomous communication clusters based on the principle of common moral values, and the glocalization of the cultural space. The article highlights the problems associated with the deployment of sovereignization processes at all of these levels.

Während Massenmedien üblicherweise integratives Potenzial zugeschrieben wird, wird dem Internet eher eine schädliche Wirkung auf den gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt unterstellt. Entsprechende Metaphern zu "Filterblasen" und "Echokammern" haben inzwischen auch in den öffentlichen Diskurs Einzug gehalten. Studien, die entsprechende Wirkungen einer digitalen Fragmentierung nachweisen, sind allerdings bisher eher selten. Der empirische Forschungsstand stützt Befürchtungen zu einem deutlichen Verlust an gesellschaftlichem Zusammenhalt durch das Internet somit nicht. Allerdings gibt es bei Extremgruppen am politischen Rand Anzeichen für digitale Fragmentierung. Angesichts des heterogenen Forschungsstands systematisiert der Beitrag theoretische Annahmen und empirische Befunde und argumentiert, dass die Erfassung digitaler Fragmentierung und ihrer Wirkungen weiter notwendig ist., While mass media are generally ascribed integrative potential, scholars assume negative effects on social cohesion for the Internet. Respective metaphors such as "filter bubbles" and "echo chambers" have meanwhile found their way into public discourse. However, empirical research that documents detrimental effects of digital fragmentation remains the exception. The state of research thus does not support fears about a stark loss of social cohesion due to the Internet. Yet there are groups on the fringe of the political spectrum that appear to be digitally fragmented. Given these heterogeneous results, the article systematizes theoretical assumptions and empirical findings and argues that it remains necessary to assess the extent and effects of digital fragmentation., Jahrbuch der Publizistik- und Kommunikationswissenschaft

The filter bubble is an intermediate structure to provoke polarization and echo chambers in social networks, and it has become one of today's most urgent issues for social media. Previous studies usually equated filter bubbles with community structures and emphasized this exogenous isolation effect, but there is a lack of full discussion of the internal organization of filter bubbles. Here, we design an experiment for analysing filter bubbles taking advantage of social bots. We deployed 128 bots to Weibo (the largest microblogging network in China), and each bot consumed a specific topic (entertainment or sci-tech) and ran for at least two months. In total, we recorded about 1.3 million messages exposed to these bots and their social networks. By analysing the text received by the bots and motifs in their social networks, we found that a filter bubble is not only a dense community of users with the same preferences but also presents an endogenetic unidirectional star-like structure. The structure could spontaneously exclude non-preferred information and cause polarization. Moreover, our work proved that the felicitous use of artificial intelligence technology could provide a useful experimental approach that combines privacy protection and controllability in studying social media.

Never before have we had access to as much information as we do today, but how do we avail ourselves of it? In parallel with the increase in the amount of information, we have created means of curating and delivering it in sophisticated ways, through the technologies of algorithms, Big Data and artificial intelligence. I examine how information is curated, and how digital technology has led to the creation of filter bubbles, while simultaneously creating closed online spaces in which people of similar opinions can congregate – echo chambers. These phenomena partly stem from our tendency towards selective exposure – a tendency to seek information that supports pre-existing beliefs, and to avoid unpleasant information. This becomes a problem when the information and the suggestions we receive, and the way we are portrayed creates expectations, and thus becomes leading. When the technologies I discuss are employed as they are today, combined with human nature, they pose a threat to liberty by undermining individuality, autonomy and the very foundation of liberal society. Liberty is an important part of our image of the good society, and this article is an attempt to analyse one way in which applications of technology can be detrimental to our society. While Alexis De Tocqueville feared the tyranny of the majority, we would do well to fear the tyranny of the algorithms and perceived opinion.

Since 2016, online social networks (OSNs), especially their “big data” algorithms, have been intensively blamed in popular news discourse for acting as echo chambers. These chambers entrap like-minded voters in closed ideological circles that cause serious damage to democratic processes. This study examines this “echo chamber” argument through the rather divisive case of EU politics among EU citizens. Based on an exploratory secondary analysis of the Eurobarometer 86.2 survey dataset, we investigate whether the reliance on OSNs as a primary EU political news source can lead people to more polarisation in EU-related political beliefs and attitudes than a reliance on traditional media. We found little evidence for this polarisation, lending credence to a rejection of social media’s “echo chamber” effect.

Studies of political polarization in social media demonstrate mixed evidence for whether discussions necessarily evolve into left and right ideological echo chambers. Recent research shows that, for political and issue-based discussions, patterns of user clusterization may differ significantly, but that cross-cultural evidence of the polarization of users on certain issues is close to non-existent. Furthermore, most of the studies developed network proxies to detect users’ grouping, rarely taking into account the content of the Tweets themselves. Our contribution to this scholarly discussion is founded upon the detection of polarization based on attitudes towards political actors expressed by users in Germany, the USA and Russia within discussions on inter-ethnic conflicts. For this exploratory study, we develop a mixed-method approach to detecting user grouping that includes: crawling for data collection; expert coding of Tweets; user clusterization based on user attitudes; construction of word frequency vocabularies; and graph visualization. Our results show that, in all the three cases, the groups detected are far from being conventionally left or right, but rather that their views combine anti-institutionalism, nationalism, and pro- and anti-minority views in varying degrees. In addition to this, more than two threads of political debate may co-exist in the same discussion. Thus, we show that the debate that sees Twitter as either a platform of ‘echo chambering’ or ‘opinion crossroads’ may be misleading. In our opinion, the role of local political context in shaping (and explaining) user clusterization should not be under-estimated.

Together with the growing connectedness in the progress of globalization, researchers warn about the rise of so-called "filter bubbles" and "echo-chambers" that segregate citizens into comfort zones of self-confirming information and opinions. Regarding the Brexit referendum in 2016, DiFranzo and Gloria-Garcia (2017) blamed social media (e.g. Facebook) for trapping their users in an environment of self-confirming opinions that keeps them away from the political discourse. Besides technological filters, Geschke, Lorenz, and Holtz (2018) regard the mechanisms of filter bubbles on three levels, including technological recommender algorithms, homogeneous social networks, and individual biases. In this essay, I will follow this framework and describe certain filtering effects and deduce contraindications on all three levels. Amongst others, the concepts of social self-categorization (Tajfel, 1974), homogeneous networks (e.g. Bakshy et al., 2015), and self-confirmation biases (see the review from Garrett, 2009) might help un-derstanding filter bubbles. In order to promote public information exchange, we should not only modify filter algorithms but also become aware of our social comfort zone and our cognitive ability to select self-confirming information. Segregated groups must re-define their social identity and enlarge its definition to connect to seems-like-alien people (Pettigrew, 1998; Tajfel, 1974). This way we can promote the intrinsic human drive for curiosity as a counterweight against segregation.

L'emergència de les xarxes socials com a eina per a la protesta, la dissidència i la mobilització ha demostrat la capacitat d'apropiació de nous recursos tecnològics, d'expressió i d'organització de l'activisme clàssic, que n'hauria sortit reforçat. Les comunicacions sense fils van ser un mecanisme d'organització i mobilització eficaç dins les files proreferèndum independentista (de l'1 d'octubre de 2017). Les xarxes es van anar erigint com a altaveus de dues versions oposades de la història: una de negació i l'altra de reafirmació del moviment sobiranista. Tanmateix, les xarxes socials, més que un element veritablement transformador, han servit per amplificar dos relats oposats: un que criminalitza el moviment tractant-lo d'inconstitucional i violent, i l'altre que en defensa la legitimitat i el caràcter no-violent. Assistim al xoc de dues narratives mediatitzades que busquen monopolitzar l'estat d'opinió. La emergencia de las redes sociales como herramienta para la protesta, la disidencia y la movilización ha demostrado la capacidad de apropiación de nuevos recursos tecnológicos, de expresión y de organización del activismo clásico, que habría salido reforzado. Las comunicaciones inalámbricas fueron un mecanismo de organización y movilización eficaz dentro de las hiles pro referéndum independentista (del 1 de octubre de 2017). Las redes se fueron erigiendo como altavoces de dos versiones opuestas de la historia: una de negación y la otra de reafirmación del movimiento soberanista. Aun así, las redes sociales, más que un elemento verdaderamente transformador, han servido para amplificar dos relatos opuestos: uno que criminaliza el movimiento tratándolo de inconstitucional y violento, y el otro que en defensa la legitimidad y el carácter no-violento. Asistimos al choque de dos narrativas mediatizadas que buscan monopolizar el estado de opinión. The emergence of social networks as a tool for protest, dissidence and mobilization has demonstrated the capacity for appropriation of new technological resources, expression and organization of classical activism, which would have been reinforced. Wireless communications were an effective mechanism for organization and mobilization within the pro-independence referendum (of October 1, 2017). The networks became the loudspeakers of two opposing versions of history: one of denial and the other of reaffirmation of the sovereignty movement. Even so, social networks, more than a truly transformative element, have served to amplify two opposing stories: one that criminalizes the movement by treating it as unconstitutional and violent, and the other that defends its legitimacy and non-violent character. We are witnessing the clash of two mediatized narratives that seek to monopolize the state of opinion.

The Internet provides fast and ubiquitous communication that enables all kinds of communities and provides citizens with easy access to vast amounts of information, although the information is not necessarily verified and may present a distorted view of real events or facts. The Internet’s power as an instant source of mass information can be used to influence opinions, which can have far-reaching consequences. This report’s purpose is to provide input into the advisory processes that determine European support for research into the effects and management of Fake News (e.g. deliberate misinformation), Echo Chambers (e.g. closed communities where biases can be reinforced through lack of diversity in opinions), and the Internet’s influence on social and political movements such as Populism; to provide insight into how innovation that takes these aspects into account can be supported. To address this aim, this report concerns socio-technical implications of the Internet related to the impact of closed communities and misinformation and makes recommendations derived from a consultation with domain experts concerning the research needed to address specific challenges. This study has used the Delphi Method, an iterative consultation mechanism aimed at consensus building within a targeted panel of experts. Three rounds of iteration were undertaken and a total of fourteen experts participated in all three rounds. The result of the consultation is 67 assertion statements that reached consensus amongst the experts in five broad themes, and these are presented in this report and summarised into key recommendations. The key overarching recommendation is that we need to understand how opinions are formed and are influenced in the current digital age. Investigations are needed to understand the underlying cognitive and emotional processes that enable peoples’ opinions to be influenced in the context of a hybrid media system that mixes online and offline channels and broadcast and interactive social media.

Each year Forbes bestows a handful of “edu-preneurs” with the 30 Under 30 Award in Education (Under30), designating those individuals as the best hope for revolutionizing and reforming education. Boasting low recipient rates, Forbes elevates the manufactured expertise of awardees and the importance of their organizations and ventures. Further, Forbes employs the language and norms of neoliberalism to articulate a pro-market vision of education reform. This social network analytic (SNA) study seeks to untangle the edu-preneur network and critically examine the connections between awardees, their organizations, judges, and the larger education reform network. To this end, we utilized descriptive analyses and SNA. We find evidence that Under30 serves as a mechanism for promoting social closure and ideological homophily within education reform networks. Further, we consider the policy implications that such awards may have on public discourse and policy creation.

Submitted by Cristiane Chim (cristiane.chim@ucpel.edu.br) on 2018-06-14T12:40:00Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Aline R. da Silveira.pdf: 3230152 bytes, checksum: d6a475a47a49747c52af95d8b5076e61 (MD5) Made available in DSpace on 2018-06-14T12:40:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Aline R. da Silveira.pdf: 3230152 bytes, checksum: d6a475a47a49747c52af95d8b5076e61 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-02-28 This dissertation deals with the governmental divulgation discourse of the secondary educational system reform in Brazil. To do so, it is affiliated with Pêcheux’s Discourse Analysis Theory (AD). Both Archive and corpus were compiled over the “News” section from the Ministry for Education website. The period comprehended by the analysis spans from May 12th, 2016, date of Michel Temer’s taken of government, to the publication of the decree that establishes the reform, in September of the same year. This dissertation is organized in four chapters. The first presents essential notions to an AD analyses, such as subject, meaning and interpretation. The second discusses our analyzed discourse’s production conditions. The third chapter approaches the governmental divulgation discourse, as well as the analytical dispositive construction. The fourth chapter is dedicated to the analysis, by developing a theoretical-analytical gesture. This latter chapter is composed by five analytical gestures, methodologically defined to reckon its specific objectives. This chapter departs from an approximation between journalism and Discourse Analyses. The functioning of: (i) the repeatability, (ii) the exteriority, (iii) the silencing are examined. From this analysis, it was possible to formulate the notion of an echo chamber, as well to comprehend this discourse functioning while propaganda and, therefore, to be constituted as a ‘langue du vent’. Such metaphor, translated as language of wind, describes, in AD, a language use specific to propaganda messages circulation, messages constituted by an emotional appeal and characterized by the ephemerality of the information it publicize. Com filiação na Análise de Discurso pecheuxtiana, a dissertação trata do funcionamento do discurso de divulgação governamental sobre a reforma do Ensino Médio. O arquivo e também o corpus foram constituídos a partir da seção “Notícias” do portal do Ministério da Educação (MEC). O período compreendido pela análise tem início em 12 de maio de 2016, quando da tomada do poder pelo governo de Michel Temer, e vai até o contexto de promulgação da Medida Provisória que instituiu a referida reforma, em setembro do mesmo ano. A dissertação está organizada em quatro capítulos. No primeiro, são apresentadas noções essenciais para uma análise em AD, tais como sujeito, sentido e interpretação. No segundo, são abordadas as condições de produção do discurso em análise. O terceiro capítulo trata do discurso de divulgação governamental (DDG), bem como da construção do dispositivo analítico. O quarto capítulo ocupa-se com a análise, empreendendo um movimento teórico-analítico. Esse capítulo está formado por cinco gestos de análise, metodologicamente definidos de forma a contemplar os objetivos específicos. Nesse capítulo, parte-se de uma aproximação do jornalismo com a análise do discurso; examina-se o funcionamento: (i) da repetibilidade; (ii) da exterioridade; (iii) do silenciamento. A partir dessas análises, foi possível chegar a formular a noção de câmara de eco, bem como entender o funcionamento desse discurso enquanto propaganda e, por conseguinte, constituir-se como uma língua de vento. Tal metáfora, em AD, descreve o uso da linguagem para a circulação de mensagens que sirvam à propaganda de Estado, constituídas pelo apelo emocional e caracterizadas pela efemeridade das informações que veiculam – quando assim o fazem.

Den här studien undersöker hur diskussioner på ekokammare ser ut i sociala medier. Mer specifikt undersöks kommentarsfälten i två olika länkar från den sociala länkaggregatorn Reddit och underforumet /r/Politics. Undersökningen görs i syfte att se hur diskussioner tar form på Reddit för att ge en klarare bild av ekokammare som fenomen på internet. Studiens teoretiska grund ligger i teorierna om selektiv exponering och partisk assimilering, samt i en teoretisering av hur grupper formas på de sociala medierna Twitter och Reddit. Studien använder sig av både en kvantitativ innehållsanalys och en kvalitativ textanalys, vilka främst grundar sig i argumentationsanalysen. Innehållsanalysen används först för att jämföra /r/Politics användares ställningstagande till de länkar som de kommenterar på och sedan för att möjliggöra en korrelationsanalys av arguments styrka och dess användargivna poäng på Reddit. Textanalysen görs med hjälp av begrepp från argumentationsanalysen och används för att sätta in studiens material i fem olika teman. Det mest framträdande temat får namnet Kommentarer av papegojor och beskriver kommentarer som konstrueras likadant som tidigare kommentarer utan försök till att föra något nytt till diskussionen. Överlag visar studiens resultat att responsen ser likadan ut för båda länkarna och att en stor majoritet av kommentarerna är på samma sida i argumentet. Resultatet visar också att argumentens styrka är oberoende av om en kommentar får en positiv respons eller inte. This study explores how discussions in echo chambers take form on social media. More specifically, the study explores the comment section of two different links on the social news-aggregator website Reddit and the sub-forum /r/Politics. The purpose of the aforementioned exploration is to give a clearer picture of echo chambers as a phenomena on the Internet. The study’s theoretical background is based on selective exposure and biased assimilation theory, as well as a theorization of how groups form on Twitter and Reddit. The study uses a quantitative content analysis and a qualitative text analysis, which are both based on argumentation theory. The content analysis is first used to compare the viewpoint of /r/Politics users with the subject of the links they comment on, and then to make a correlation analysis of the strength of arguments and the arguments’ user-given points on Reddit. Last a qualitative text analysis is done using concepts from argumentation theory, which allows for the observation of five different themes. The most prominent of these themes was given the name Comments by parrots and describes comments that are constructed in a similar fashion to older comments, without an attempt to bring something new to the discussion. Overall, the study’s result shows that the response to the two links is similar, and that both have an overwhelming majority of comments supporting one side. The result also shows that a strong argument does not necessarily mean that the comment will get a positive response.

The aim of this thesis is to study how students perceive and handle internet’s continuous flow of information in everyday life, through news report, social media and targeted advertising. By examining the students attitudes and thoughts about the extent to which they find the information they meet relevant this study seeks to understand how they find what is relevant to them and how they limit the intake of information by different combinations of selection processes. For this purpose interviews were carried out with seven university students from different fields and levels. Three categories of theories about selection processes serves as a theoretical framework for the analysis and results. The categories are referred to as external, personalized and personal factors. The external factors include gatekeeping theory, news valuation and agenda theory and the personalized factors include theories about filter bubbles and echo chambers. The personal factors include strategies to avoid information overload such as filtering and withdrawing, it also includes satisficing as a stop rule for information seeking. The study shows that the three categories of selection processes are affected by emotional factors referred to as simplicity, interest and sensation. These drives the student to get more deeply informed. The students attitudes towards personalized information shows to be divided between if it should be more firmly adapted to each individual, or if that would increase the feeling of being monitored. In the students reflections regarding saved information emerges three feelings of negativity described as reluctance, lack of control and unease. Despite these feelings of negativity the phenomenon is accepted. Seeing that the alternative is disconnecting from modern society and life, acceptance shows to be the most reasonable alternative.

In January 2015, German trade and industry announced to support the national animal welfare initiative “Initiative Tierwohl” (ITW) which stands for a more sustainable and animal-friendly meat production. A web content analysis shows that the ITW initiative has been widely picked up and discussed by online media and that user comments are quite heterogeneous. The current study identifies different types of consumers through factor and cluster analysis and is based on an online survey as well as face-to-face interviews. According to our results, the identified consumer groups demonstrate a rather passive comment behaviour on the internet. In fact, the internet was hardly mentioned as an information source for meat production; consumers more frequently referred to brochures, leaflets and personal contacts with sales personnel.

Vår studie undersöker fenomenet ekokammare och hur den manifesterar sig på svenska nyhetsmediers Facebooksidor. Vårt material består av fem opinionsartiklar från fem olika dagstidningar, samt kommentarsfält tillhörande dessa opinionsartiklar. Studiens teoretiska ramverk består av två huvudteorier: selektiv exponering och Faircloughs kritisk diskursanalytiska teori. Faircloughs kritiska diskursanalys utgör också vår huvudmetod, som vi använder för att analysera den diskursiva praktiken som sker i opinionsartiklarna och dess tillhörande kommentarsfält. Resultatet visar att en ekokammare går att tyda på nästan alla kommentarsfält, vilket kan tyda på en politisk polarisering i hur läsare konsumerar svenska nyhetsmedier. Our study examines the phenomenon echo chamber and how it manifests itself on Facebook pages of Swedish news media. Our material consists of five opinion articles from five different Swedish newspapers, as well as the comments section connected to the opinion articles. The study’s theoretical framework consists of two main theories: selective exposure and Fairclough’s theory of critical discourse analysis. Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis also constitute as our main method, which we use to analyse the discursive practice used in opinion articles and comments sections connected to them. The result shows that an echo chamber is observable in almost all of the comment sections, which indicates a political polarization in how readers consume Swedish news media.

The bachelor thesis focuses on negative consequences of personalized social sites called "The Filter Bubble". As for example, bachelor thesis focuses on Facebook, the typical social media platform which tailors its services to our personal preferences. The main question of the bachelor thesis is whether we are aware of negative consequences caused by filter bubble and how filtered information effects our worldview. The aim of this work is to introduces the term "Filter Bubble", evaluate benefits and risks and map awareness of the issue within a specific group of Facebook users using semi-structured interviews. Research uses qualitative method in line with Hendl J. (2005, 2nd ed.). Presented results of the research report how is the issue perceived by respondents and whether they are aware of the Filter Bubble. At the same time, the results present basis for a future research.

In the age of the Internet, extreme groups have seen resurgence in the way they can communicate and recruit through the new medium whether they are white supremacists or hacktivists. Examining the history and modern behaviors of both white supremacy groups and Anonymous, this paper aims to research and answer how the different groups use the Internet to influence identities and if the methods to do so differ from the old ones and through the use of several concepts, mainly the Echo Chamber and the Filter Bubble, narrow down the effects that leads to a person joining an extreme group.

Social media have quickly become a prevalent channel to access information, spread ideas, and influence opinions. However, it has been suggested that social and algorithmic filtering may cause exposure to less diverse points of view, and even foster polarization and misinformation. Here we explore and validate this hypothesis quantitatively for the first time, at the collective and individual levels, by mining three massive datasets of web traffic, search logs, and Twitter posts. Our analysis shows that collectively, people access information from a significantly narrower spectrum of sources through social media and email, compared to search. The significance of this finding for individual exposure is revealed by investigating the relationship between the diversity of information sources experienced by users at the collective and individual level. There is a strong correlation between collective and individual diversity, supporting the notion that when we use social media we find ourselves inside "social bubbles". Our results could lead to a deeper understanding of how technology biases our exposure to new information.

The Internet has become a critical medium for American politics: in 2008, almost half of American adults looked for political information online, and 30 percent of Internet uses contributed to online political discussions. Using the candidacy of Sarah Palin as a case study of a provocative political event, this paper examines the tone, partisan leanings, and referential structure of six elite blogs. First by randomly sampling overall trends of Palin coverage and then by performing a quantitative content analysis of a sub-sample of posts, this paper finds that the valence and stridency of blog posts vary by partisan identification, and that stridency dramatically affects the referential structure of posts. Although the referential structure of blog posts varies significantly by blog, it does not vary along partisan lines. Nonetheless, the relationship between stridency and partisan conformity exposed by this paper illustrates a trend amongst conservative blogs to repeat the allegations of “liberal media bias” often voiced by traditional conservative media outlets, contributing to an “echo chamber” effect in the blogosphere.