A novel study has found that you create your own echo chamber , not algorithms from Google Search . The research found that individuals actively sought out information that fits their beliefs , not search engine algorithms , burst the melodic theme that Google is actively exacerbate a specific notion system .
Since the speedy emergence of social medium and hunting engines that collect user data , there have been business concern that algorithm are put us into “ echo chambers ” , where users ' political leanings of either focusing are amplified by technology only show cognitive content that affirms them . These echo chambers supposedly downrank subject that challenges our worldview and promotes content that match with it , forcing each person more and more toward the uttermost ends of the scale .
But is it really tech company doing it , or do we do it to ourselves ? The internet offer us with any info we wish well to see , so are we simply seeking out the content that is agreeable ?
To name which one it is , a team from Stanford University conducted a two - moving ridge study over two US election cycles on the browsing habits of participants . The first wafture in 2018 had 262 - 333 multitude , and the second had a large sample of 459 - 688 people in 2020 . They each install a custom web browser app extension that go after what URLs were evidence to them by Google , what uniform resource locator they interact with , and what other people were interact with at the time .
Once collected , the researchers looked to see whether the participants were being push partisan contentedness , or if they were look for it out .
In both waves , the results usher that people were interact with more partisan URLs than the amount being shown to them by Google . They conclude that Google search was not drive the sound reflection chambers , but rather user choice , with people seek out far more URLs than submit by Google . They also found that the information was generally of good quality when found from Google search compared to other sources that the participants found independently , suggesting it may be doing more good than bad .
While the study may free Google from blame , it does n’t necessarily intend all echo chamber are entirely drug user - make . citizenry find oneself sources from social media , news program tabs , and many other office that may be politically biased , so it is still possible that the person is n’t exclusively to blame . However , it does seem likely that the great unwashed are more potential to seek for content that agrees with their beliefs – which is something we believably already knew .
The study is published in the journalNature .
