Not To Burst Your Bubble

18/11/2022

We have now reached the end of our 4 week campaign! 🫧

From all of us at the Not To Burst Your Bubble team, thank you for your support and engagement in our content over the last 4 weeks!🫧

We hope you have all managed to learn something from our posts and now feel like you have the knowledge to confidently Burst Your Filter Bubbles! 🫧

18/11/2022

FILTER BUBBLE BOOK CLUB

3/3

The article continues and eventually concludes that personalisation on news sites is still at an infant stage, and personalised content does not constitute a substantial information source for most citizens. However, if personalisation technology improves, and personalised news content becomes people’s main information source, problems for our democracy could indeed arise (Bourgesius et al. 2016). We have found that throughout this campaign, the majority of followers do use social media as their primary source of news. In tandem with this, what with technological advancements and the prominence of platforms such as Twitter under Elon Musk and of course the use of applications such as TikTok by young people, trends of polarisation created by political social media use, are only likely to continue.

Moreover, the article suggests that in the light of the rapidly changing media landscape, many studies become out-dated rapidly. In addition, existing studies mainly cover the US situation with its two-party political system, which means that the studies are only partly relevant for countries with multiparty systems. (Bourgesius et al. 2016). We have found throughout our research of Filter Bubbles that there is little to no research on how Filter Bubbles operate in multi-party systems, as such, all of our content has been related to either the UK or the USA, therefore we would be inclined to agree with Bourgesius et al. in that more research on other systems should be conducted.

Overall, this Article is from 2016, which, given the speed technology has advanced in recent years, can be seen as outdated. While the article does contend that Filter Bubbles are something to be aware of, it highlights that the effect of Filter Bubbles is perhaps overstated. Therefore, it can be suggested that, while Filter Bubbles are something to be aware of, they may not be as threating to democracy as once was believed. Much like our first blog post this week, you could say that Filter Bubbles are normal, and as long as users are aware of their existence and the potential dangers of Bubbles, and if necessary, how-to Burt Their Bubbles, Filter Bubbles may not be something that requires urgent legislation to tackle. Furthermore, we agree with the articles view that more research must be conducted to accurately analyse the effect of Filter Bubbles on other democratic systems, such as multi-party systems that are seen elsewhere in Europe, as research so far is too reliant on the UK and USA’s two-party systems.

18/11/2022

FILTER BUBBLE BOOK CLUB

2/3

The article begins with several defining points. What filter bubbles are and what they look like, and how they work. These are all aspects we have covered throughout this campaign. One point worth mentioning however is the articles reference to comments made by the High-Level Expert Group on Media Diversity and Pluralism, which is an independent group advising the European Commission.

This group warned for the impact of personalised communication on our democratic society. They suggest that increasing filtering mechanisms make it more likely for people to only get news on subjects they are interested in, and with the perspective they identify with. There are benefits in empowering individuals to choose what information they want to obtain, and by whom. But there are also risks. This new reality will decrease the role of media as editors and interpreters of information. It will also tend to create more insulated communities as isolated subsets within the overall public sphere. (...) Such developments undoubtedly have a potentially negative impact on democracy (Bourgesius et al. 2016).

This statement itself, highlights that there are benefits to allowing users to choose the information they want to obtain and by whom. It can be argued though that this only works if users are aware of filter bubbles and how they operate.

18/11/2022

FILTER BUBBLE BOOK CLUB

1/3

The article, ‘Should we worry about filter bubbles?’ by Frederik J. Zuiderveen Borgesius, Damian Trilling, Judith Möller, Balázs Bodó, Claes H. de Vreese, Natali Helberger (hereafter referred to as Bourgesius et al.), written in 2016, offers a different view on the effect of Filter Bubbles on Politics and Democracy. The article researches the extent and effects of self-selected personalisation, where people actively choose which content they receive and pre-selected personalisation, where people actively choose which content they receive and pre-selected personalisation, where algorithms personalise content for users without any deliberate user choice. Overall, the article concludes that at present, there is little empirical evidence that warrants any worries about filter bubbles (Bourgesius et al. 2016).

17/11/2022

Following on from our last post, which shared the article featured in tomorrows Filter Bubble Book Club, here is our latest blog post which touches on similar topics. Are Filter Bubbles normal? 🫧🫧

‘Not to Burst Your Bubble’ has deconstructed why we should react to ‘filter bubbles’ online with caution. Evidently, a democracy can s...

17/11/2022

Ahead of tomorrow's Filter Bubble Book Club review, here is the article we have assessed. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/307963319_Should_we_worry_about_filter_bubbles

This article is slightly different from those we have reviewed in the past. This paper takes a different approach to the view that Filter Bubbles are a major threat to democracy suggesting that there is not enough evidence to draw such conclusions.

Have a look for yourself and see if you agree with our assessment tomorrow!

PDF | Some fear that personalised communication can lead to information cocoons or filter bubbles. For instance, a personalised news website could give... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate

16/11/2022

⚠️ SURVEY ⚠️

Our latest survey is still available for you all to complete! 🫧

Your feedback on our campaign is of the upmost importance to us as a team, and the results will be used for us to critically analyse the effectiveness of our campaign overall! 🫧

Here’s the link if you haven’t already completed the form:

Web survey powered by SurveyMonkey.com. Create your own online survey now with SurveyMonkey's expert certified FREE templates.

16/11/2022

If readings articles aren’t really your thing, here’s a great wee video that explains the differences between Filter Bubbles and Echo Chambers! This video gives examples of how the two may have been at play in recent years in the US, specifically during the 2016 US Presidential Elections!

Another example of the two at play in the UK would be the shock that was felt when Corbyn didn’t win the 2017 General Election and when the UK voted to leave the EU. Corbyn supporters and Remainers were so vocal both on and offline, it was presumed that they had won their respective elections comfortably. As we know now, this was not the case!

You've probably heard the term Filter Bubble and/or Echo Chamber at least once or twice in the past few months. It's a term that has been circling the media ...

16/11/2022

Throughout this campaign, you may have been thinking to yourself, ‘I know what an echo chamber is! Is it the same as a Filter Bubble?’ While the two are very similar, there are small differences worth noting.

“More and more specialists and researchers are using the phrase ‘filter bubble’ to describe only online mechanisms of information polarisation, like the algorithms you find on social media and search engines. In contrast, ‘echo chamber’ refers to both online and offline mechanisms, like algorithms plus pub culture, that act simultaneously. Echo chambers have therefore existed since the birth of humanity and communities. Filter bubbles have not.”

Before the digital age, echo chambers would have been the most prominent cause of political polarisation. If a person was heavily involved in for example a religious organisation, or attended sport meets regularly or even went to the pub at the same time every week with the same people, they would likely be trapped in an echo chamber.

Because these individuals surrounded themselves with the same people, who shared a common interest on such a regular basis, they would likely find that their knowledge on for example, other religions or matters that go against their religion, or other sports or sports news unrelated to that of their preferred sport would be limited.

To find out more, check out this article that briefly explains the differences between Filter Bubbles and Echo Chambers!

What is the difference between an echo chamber and a filter bubble? An echo chamber refers to both offline and online polarisation of information [cont.]

15/11/2022

Much like we did at the beginning of our campaign, we want to hear what you think!

Our first survey highlighted that not many of our followers were aware of filter bubbles at all in their day to day lives!

Now that you have followed along with us over the past 3 weeks, we want to see how your awareness has changed!

We would LOVE if you could spare 2 minutes this week, to fill out our second and last survey, telling us all you have learned since following our platforms!

THANK YOU!🫧

Web survey powered by SurveyMonkey.com. Create your own online survey now with SurveyMonkey's expert certified FREE templates.

15/11/2022

Our latest blog post is available now! 🫧

We’ve spent a lot of time over the last 3 weeks telling you why you should be aware of finger bubbles, and ultimately how you can burst them!

For some however, filter bubbles are totally normal, and may actually be necessary for healthy political discussions in democracies function.

To find out more, click the link below! 🫧

‘Not to Burst Your Bubble’ has spent a great portion of our campaign deconstructing what ‘filter bubbles’ and ‘political polarisation’ are o...

15/11/2022

This week we will be concluding our campaign by reflecting on everything we have covered so far!

We have bombarded you with all the information you could possibly want to know about filter bubbles. What they are, what they look like, how they are formed, why they are considered a threat to democracy and what is being done to tackle them. In tandem with this, we’ve shared a variety of views on all of the above.

Now we want to know what you think! Our aim at the beginning of this process was to inform and raise awareness of filter bubbles, and their dangers.

During week 1 of this campaign, we posted a survey for you all to complete. When asked 'Had you heard of Filter Bubbles before following this page?' a staggering 83% of you answered no. To those respondents then, do you feel that you could now not only describe a filter bubble but also, explain to someone else their dangers?

Have a think, and stay tuned for lots more content this week that will recap and conclude everything we have covered over the last 3 weeks!