The way we get information has changed a lot in the past few years. Most people find out what’s going on in the world nowadays through social media or online news sources. I personally don’t have any social media, so I get my news intake through various websites like KSL, and especially from family and friends. In this way, I can see how I can be very biased. If what my friends are sharing with me is just what they’ve seen on social media, how reliable can it be? We tend to gravitate towards people whose views we agree with, so I’m likely to like what my friends are telling me about, or at least agree with their viewpoint on them.
If this is true for me offline, how does reflect in the online community?
I know my views tend to be in the middle, just slightly more liberal than conservative. Most of my friends are the same. Online, this means that the things they like and the people they choose to follow tend to be a mixture of conservative and liberal viewpoints. This is not true for most people, however; I know people who are extremely conservative and all they see on social media is liberal propaganda and other things that support their point of view.
Looking at two different News Sites, The Huffington Post, which is more left winged, and The Washington Times, which is more right winged, it’s very interesting to see how they portray the same things so differently. Scrolling through the Huffington Post, it’s clear to see based on titles like “All of the Bizarre Things Trump has done Post-Midterms” where they stand on issues. They are clearly trying to sway the readers against Trump. On the other hand, The Washington Times uses titles like “Democrats complain about stale House Leadership” to make us think that democrats complain and don’t get anything done. On the other hand, The Washington Times has headlines like “What is Jim Acosta’s job, anyway?” to make us biased against the left wing reporter.
I find this very interesting. Before I learned about this “filter bubble”, I naively assumed that all new sources were doing their best to put out the truth, but in comparing these two websites and others, it is clear that nearly all news sources have an agenda, or their own viewpoints on what the truth should be.
Knowing this, how can we use it to pop the filter bubble that so many people find themselves trapped inside, most of the time without even knowing? I think we can start by being aware of what news sources we’re reading. We need to recognize where we are getting our information to realize if it is reliable, and what its stance is on issues. Once we have done this, I think it’s important to expand our intake of news sources to both ends of the spectrum, so we are getting both sides of the story. Finally, I think the best way to get out of the bubble is to simply go to the least biased news sources possible and keep an open mind. If we use our brains instead of our emotions I think we’ll develop a better perspective and be able to respond more intelligently to what’s happening in the world today.
So what can you do to pop the bubble?
Out On The Lake 