What is an echo-chamber, are they really an issue and how can I stop them becoming one?

An echo chamber has been defined to be ‘…an environment where a person only encounters information or opinions that reflect and reinforce their own’[1]. This blog post seeks to educate people on what an echo chamber is, and how to avoid them in the future.

The problem with echo chambers can be argued to be seen from the outset; it stops people from learning more about different political opinions, it can be said to encourage racial bias, increase the amount of discrimination, and cause misinformation because people are not exploring other opinions that may challenge their own views, and is thus stopping people from being educated on topics. This is not all bad, however, as this is what allowed the Exeter Media Watch Society to exist today. I joke of course; echo chambers are not good, and aside from having me rant on about them, I think it is best to put some references to wider research on this matter.

To begin, the Elizabeth Dubois has suggested that echo chambers may not be as big as a problem as the media likes to suggest, suggesting that ‘…the high-choice environment also allows individuals, including those who are politically interested, to consume a wide variety of media’[2]. Dubois then backed this up with their study finding of 8% of 148 respondents having media diversity scores of 10 or less (out of 48)[3].

Not to say that Dubois research is not valid, but one must be aware that this study that Dubois focuses their findings on is based on a very small fraction of the population – with Facebook suggesting that they alone have 2.85 billion users a year[4]. This brings us to the main issue here; it is very difficult to accurately quantify how many people are in an echo chamber due to the vast amount of people online far beyond the reach of any one study, and who may even lie when being studied for the fear of exposing their own less politically correct views. Alternatively, people may not even know they are in an echo chamber.

It is for this reason why societies like Exeter Media Watch exist; to teach people about these things to best avoid them in the future.

Therefore, I suggest these things to do just that:

- Check multiple news sources and read up on anything you are unsure about before you discuss it with anyone – unless you think that person can help you better understand it.

- Read every party’s manifesto when elections come along, as they are the source of political information and will allow you to form your own opinion on a political party before someone else tells you what to think.

- Dispute with people on topics you know a lot about. I use the word ‘dispute’ here as this can be calm and constructive, whereas an argument is not – usually.

- Read different news sources, and do not shut out opinions that you have not learned about before. It is better to understand someone’s viewpoint first and respect it before disagreeing with it, than it is to disregard it immediately.

- Do not share information that you do not know to be true.

- Allow people to disagree with you and learn from their sources.

These are just some ways to help reduce the potential of being stuck in an echo chamber. But don’t just rely on this blog post for that! Do further research on what an echo chamber is, some interesting websites I found are here: Digital Media Literacy: What is an Echo Chamber? (gcfglobal.org), The myth of the online echo chamber - BBC Future, Full article: The echo chamber is overstated: the moderating effect of political interest and diverse media (tandfonline.com), The problem of living inside echo chambers (theconversation.com). Furthermore, feel free to challenge me also as I may not be correct on some of these points too. I, as well as you, am learning and trying my best to become better at understanding what makes up fake news and how to reduce the impact of it and by reading this blog post, so are you!

Ethan O’Gor This blog post seeks to educate people on what an echo chamber is, and how to avoid them in the future.

Bibliography:

1) “Digital Media Literacy: What Is an Echo Chamber?” [n.d.]. Gcfglobal.Org <https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/digital-media-literacy/what-is-an-echo-chamber/1/> [accessed 12 October 2021].

2) Dubois, Elizabeth, and Grant Blank. 2018. “The Echo Chamber Is Overstated: The Moderating Effect of Political Interest and Diverse Media,” Information, Communication and Society, 21.5: 729–45.

3) “Facebook Reports First Quarter 2021 Results.” [n.d.]. Investor.Fb.Com <https://investor.fb.com/investor-news/press-release-details/2021/Facebook-Reports-First-Quarter-2021-Results/default.aspx> [accessed 12 October 2021].

[1] “Digital Media Literacy: What Is an Echo Chamber?” [n.d.]. Gcfglobal.Org <https://edu.gcfglobal.org/en/digital-media-literacy/what-is-an-echo-chamber/1/> [accessed 12 October 2021]. [2] Dubois, Elizabeth, and Grant Blank. 2018. “The Echo Chamber Is Overstated: The Moderating Effect of Political Interest and Diverse Media,” Information, Communication and Society, 21.5: 729–45. [3] Dubois, Elizabeth, and Grant Blank. 2018. “The Echo Chamber Is Overstated: The Moderating Effect of Political Interest and Diverse Media,” Information, Communication and Society, 21.5: 729–45. [4] “Facebook Reports First Quarter 2021 Results.” [n.d.]. Investor.Fb.Com <https://investor.fb.com/investor-news/press-release-details/2021/Facebook-Reports-First-Quarter-2021-Results/default.aspx> [accessed 12 October 2021].