Blog #10: EOTO 2 Reflection - Echo Chamber

 What is the Echo Chamber?

During EOTO presentations, one term that I found to be very interesting was the Echo chamber. An Echo chamber is defined as “ an environment where a person only encounters information or opinions that reflect their own”. This is also why they are prone to create misinformation and has the ability to challenge or distort an individual's perspective, so they have “difficulty considering opposing viewpoints and discussing complicated topics”.

The psychology behind the echo chamber is fueled mostly by confirmation bias. Whether we realize it or not, echo chambers can happen around us anywhere or anytime information is exchanged. This can happen in person or online but is more prone on the internet because of the different perspectives and sources.

There is one certain type of echo chamber that is known as the filter bubble. These filter bubbles are created by algorithms that can keep track of what we click on, and once you click on one specific thing, you will begin to see similar things that you were interested in, which prevents you from being able to find new things.

You may not even realize that you are in an echo chamber because they are hard to recognize. A few questions that you can ask yourself if you use a website that could possibly be an echo chamber are;

Do they tend to only give one perspective on an issue?

Is that viewpoint mainly supported by rumor or incomplete evidence?

Are facts ignored whenever they go against that viewpoint?

I found that to be very interesting because this information is new to me, and it makes me wonder what websites or social media groups I use could be an echo chamber. It is very intriguing to know that the viewpoints/ perspectives that we have created about different things could have been formed by an echo chamber, and we do not even know. We like to tell ourselves that we have our own viewpoints on things, but do we really? or did we watch, read, or listen to something else that helped spark our thoughts.

Once we begin to hear things consistently, we start to believe them because of the repeated exposure, and this is known as the Illusory Truth Effect. The worst thing about this phenomenon is that it can happen even when we know the information we are given is false.

A couple of ways that we can avoid echo chambers are; 

Check multiple news sources to ensure you are getting the correct information

Interact with individuals who have different perspectives

You have to remember that just because you want something to be true doesn’t make it true.

I think that much of society has been caught in an Echo Chamber, especially now with everything going on in the world. I wonder how long it will take us to realize that your viewpoint may very well not be your own.