The media environment has changed drastically since the turn of the century. The internet, along with social media and online news outlets such as CNN and Fox News, has completely altered the way we consume media. The current 24-hour news cycle we know today is practically unrecognizable from that of even four years ago. With our world in a precarious position not seen for decades, the question must be asked: are the technologies intended to bring us together actually serving to divide us further?
A recent study by Flaxman, Goel, and Rao aims to answer that question and more. In their paper, they state the case for two opposing sides—the first being that recent technological changes would lead to “echo chambers” and “filter bubbles,” and the second asserting that these changes would instead increase exposure to diverse perspectives. Their study addressed the debate head-on, examining “web-browsing histories for 50,000 US-located users who regularly read online news.” Their findings, as they put it, were rather counterintuitive. They found that “social networks and search engines are associated with an increase in the mean ideological distance between individuals. However, 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.”
These findings don’t exactly counteract each other, rather, they may imply an unaccounted force driving the polarization of our media and individuals. While we may not yet know what that force is, the havoc it wreaks will surely be felt for years to come. Click here to read the study.
LIS 4022 Spring 2020 