Echo Chambers

There is a prevalent volume of misinformation present on social media and the presence of echo chambers and closed-off online communities strengthen and fuel the spread of such. There is no room for improvement and growth as there is only a limited number and scope of opinions and perspectives that lack the diversity and differences for users to enable critical thinking skills. This also strengthens the existence of a “mob mentality.” 

But, how exactly do echo chambers cause misinformation?

Due to social media algorithms showing us our shared interests with other users, we are more prone to seeing misinformation as there are limited perspectives that are only similar to us, and if our beliefs are somehow incorrect, this may be a form of misinformation being displayed. In other words, echo chambers lead to these closed-off communities called “filter bubbles,” which then lead to misinformation.

In turn, echo chambers would lessen the capability of social media users to be equipped with critical thinking skills and the right discernment to be able to distinguish between dis-, mis-, and mal- information that they consume.

With limited perspectives and opinions being displayed to us on our social media platforms, we tend to follow these and sort of follow a “mob mentality,” wherein there is no room for your own stance, since there is a strong tendency for us to be ostracized for having a differing opinion. 

You may be thinking, how is any of this beneficial to me? Well, this sensation of "echo chambers" can happen right under your nose. Especially under the Philippine context of social media, Facebook is a large contributor to the existence of echo chambers.

It is one of the most well-known and oldest social media platforms. On this platform, there is the option to create or join groups, which can be indicated as “filter bubbles,” wherein information in these may not be thoroughly fact-checked and may contain heavy bias to support their personal interests.  

Still not convinced and still not believing in the role of echo chambers in the channeling and spread of misinformation on various social media platforms? This is a harmful idea since it perpetuates that a unified thinking or mob mentality is healthy, when it isn’t. 

There are several factors as to why echo chambers contribute to the spread of misinformation including filter bubbles or the social media algorithm, as well as the lack of proper fact-checking. This argument lacks concrete evidence as there is already concrete evidence to back this claim of the role of echo chamber playing into dis-, mis, and mal-information spread.

The online communities, personalities, and people we surround ourselves with in the digital world play a large role in the information we consume, as well as the viewpoints and perspectives we gain from these. 

As much as possible, we should not limit ourselves to a unified opinion or general idea but be open to healthy discourse and discussions concerning different points of view about several topics and issues.