A critical review of filter bubbles and a comparison with selective exposure

Abstract

The new high-choice media environment has raised concerns that users of social networking sites primarily select political information that supports their political opinions and avoid information that challenges them. This behaviour is reinforced by personalisation algorithms that create filter bubbles and both narrow the available content and exclude challenging information over time. These concerns have, however, been contested. This article challenges the underlying theoretical assumptions about filter bubbles, and compares filter bubbles to what we already know about selective exposure and human psychology. The article lists nine counterarguments to the filter bubble thesis. In short, I argue that the assumptions of filter bubbles contradict many of the previous findings of selective exposure research. More specifically, when discussing filter bubbles there is a risk of confusing two arguments: one strong – but also trivial – that is about technology (e.g., personalisation leads to different information), and one weak and speculative – but also the most interesting – that is about society (e.g., personalisation increases political polarisation in society).

Keywords

• selective exposure
• echo chambers
• audience fragmentation
• confirmation bias
• personalisation algorithms