I keep having interesting debates with people here on Mastodon, disproving the idea that it's an "echo chamber." But a few days ago, someone insisted to me that social media was obviously a net negative on society, and when someone else asked him to back that up, the user indicated that it had created echo chambers, and pointed to a short list of studies. I pointed out that the actual research did not support his conclusions, and he told me I had not read far enough... (continued...)

... I responded by highlighting the summary of one of the links *he* posted (a meta study of many studies), saying... the opposite. That research said: "In summary, the work reviewed here suggests echo chambers are much less widespread than is commonly assumed, finds no support for the filter bubble hypothesis..."

In response... that user blocked me.

So, yeah, I mean, I guess sometimes it does create echo chambers & filter bubbles. If you choose to respond that way...

@mmasnick I’ve always felt that “echo chambers“ and “filter bubbles” only happen if you *let* them, or especially if you actively seek them out. I’ve only had my own experience to base that on, but it’s been nice to see it bolstered by actual research.

@mmasnick

PERSON: <deliberately only follows people they agree with and blocks everyone who even slightly challenges them>

SAME PERSON: Social media turns us all into same-minded echo-chamber-dwellers! This is Facebook/Twitter’s fault!