Internet’s Echo chambers 101
@eaplmx@twtxt.net And the algorithms that take advantage of this human “flaw”? 😆
@abucci@anthony.buc.ci That’s a joke right? 😆
@abucci@anthony.buc.ci I think saying “There is no such thing as an echo chamber” is an example of the image. Are you open to a different opinion? And obviously, to different evidence?
@thecanine@twtxt.net I’ve found that many disagreements start with definitions.
What’s an echo chamber for each one of us? (Or any polemic topic)
We are often talking about different things using the same name.
@abucci@anthony.buc.ci Is it about ‘winning’? Or is it about getting closer to the truth?
@thecanine@twtxt.net Yeah. I find that definition too broad and ambiguous (Is it only the same opinions? There are no opposing views, at all?). And I think that leaving a subjective metric, on when it is and is not, won’t help.
How about?
An echo chamber refers to situations in which beliefs are amplified or reinforced by communication and repetition inside a closed system and insulated from rebuttal. By participating in an echo chamber, people are able to seek out information that supports their existing views diminishing opposing views, potentially resulting in an unintended exercise of confirmation bias.
An echo chamber is an epistemic construct in which voices are actively excluded and discredited. It does not suffer from a lack of connectivity; rather it depends on the manipulation of trust by methodically denying all outside sources.
And we would need to go deeper on understanding what an epistemic construct is, but I think that’s too long for a twt.
Disclaimer to my friends, and not-so-friends: I posted a comic about a controversial topic. The conversation could go on a ‘memeistic’ side, or extremely deep, philosophical, intellectual, and rational. Usually, I like both approaches.
I don’t want to win any argument. I’m not in the mood to show “You are wrong” (something I do at work, why should I do that here?), although I’m almost always open to learning something new.
If instead of being humorous, is striking a sensitive chord, well, it wasn’t targeted for you. And that’s OK. If you want to hear different opinions, nice! You want to keep your beliefs, even better. What to have a clash of scientific evidence? Well, we can do that another day.
Love you gals/guys.
Oof let’s remember that textual forms of communication sometimes don’t carry intent very well let alone emotion 🤗
Okay… So @abucci@anthony.buc.ci @eaplmx@twtxt.net and @justamoment@twtxt.net … Here’s what I know and have experienced first-hand… – When I worked at Facebook™ (now called Meta™ but still own and operate this horrible thing called “Facebook”), we had inside information on how the company (used to be, now just a product) “operate” and “function”. The core idea behind Facebook was not about connecting people together (like they claim publicly), or to produce feed Internet services (like they did over in Africa and other poorer nations) – No sir 😅 – The whole point of Facebook™? Simple.
To increase engagement.
How? Simple. Powerful (lots) of algorithms ate place build huge “graphs” of information about people, relationships and interactions. Huge powerful multi-Gigawatt sized data centres used to run massive machine learning models to “learn” and “understand” every aspect of its users base (you know, the same users that believe that Facebook™ was/is FREE 🤣)
That is whats I always thought of as an Echo Chamber – a system designed to take advantage of human frailty, designed to entrap people and influence and shape the way they think and believe.
But maybe it might be better to call this something else, a better more descriptive name for this system?
I believe its called called a “Skinner’s box” or what apparently Wikipedia calls a Operant conditioning chamber
🤷♂️ Just my $0.02 worth 😅
I personally prefer to avoid sharing my view on certain topics, not because I’m better than others, but because I often notice my opinion on the matter is different and what I might say could change my relationship (friends, family, etc.) with the other party, maybe all without any gained value on mine or their side.
As for my opinion on the topic of echo chambers, what I and others can do to share their point of view without hurting others in a discussion is to also tell your personal experience on the matter, if you add context to why your own statement is “correct” to you (not to be confused with “right” or “truth”), than the other party can interpret the reasoning behind it and come to understand the “gap” in opinions on the same subject.
I often try to start topics by sharing my life experience on the matter which allows others to add to the table rather than fight each other. 🤗
@prologic@twtxt.net Thanks for the insight 😊 on Meta/Facebook, that’s exactly what I’m thinking when sharing your view to others.
@justamoment@twtxt.net No worries 🤗 – But I should point out that @abucci@anthony.buc.ci might be right and that this is called something else entirely and not an “echo chamber” 😆
@prologic@twtxt.net whoops… 🤭
Well, echo chambers are fun to sing duets with yourself. 🎺 🕺🕺 🎻
@abucci@anthony.buc.ci I see… This is quite interesting then 👌 My experiences at Facebook™ are arguably called something entirely different (said I said). – One thing that strikes me in reading this stuff is “diverse media diet” and “consulting more than one source”. – I can tell you without a doubt, having access to a diverse media or access to different sources of information in Australia especially is becoming increasingly more and more difficult as the media is almost entirely owned and operated by Rupert Murdock’s media empire. – We have the ABC as the only remaining independent media source and has been receiving fewer and fewer funds over the years to the point where its barely functional 😢 – Or so I am lead to believe / Or so I am told 🤣
@abucci@anthony.buc.ci Well… All I can say is, that’s what been great about this Yarn. It turns out its a rather interesting topic of conversation with such diverse views, opinions and sources of information. It’s really made me rethink thinks a bit 👌