Burst Your Bubble: An Introduction

Are you a frequent social media user?

Do you use social media as one of your main sources of news?

Have you ever then watched mainstream news channels (or read newspapers) and realised you haven’t actually been as up to date with current affairs as you thought?

Or have only actually heard one side of a debate?

Maybe you find that mainstream news content is different from your social media news content or challenges your viewpoints more than usual.

Do you feel slightly distant from mainstream news content? Almost in your own, unchallenged bubble?

If so, you’re not alone! This is very common! But sadly, it also means that you are most likely experiencing a filter bubble and are therefore consuming a very niche, similar range of news content and viewpoints. This is an issue which concerns scholars across the globe, especially since the increasing use of social media as a main news source. It is also an issue which you too, should be concerned about and should attempt to combat in order to allow yourself to consume a healthily diverse range of news content.

Our campaign, Burst Your Bubble, is run by a group of fourth year students at the University of Glasgow. Our campaign deals with the issues of Filter Bubbles and Polarization on social media and aims to try and help spread awareness of these phenomena. We understand that it’s a difficult concept to wrap your head around, but fret no more, we’re here to help!

As well as helping you understand what these concepts mean, we also aim to help you understand:

·       Where these concepts come from.

·       Why and how they exist.

·       What they mean.

·       The different debates and opinions surrounding this issue.

·       How you yourself can recognise when you are in a filter bubble.

·       How to avoid this.

·       How to remove yourself if you find yourself in this position!

It all sounds a bit complicated, and it is! But that’s where we come in. If you are interested in learning more about this, keep up to date with our weekly blogs right here, and give us a follow on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @burstbubble.

Let’s get into it! The use of algorithms and personal feeds created by social media platforms, has meant that the content which we often find on our social media pages, is often based on what we engage with most, and so caters to what we would like to see the most. This leads to selective exposure, where we only tend to be exposed to content which our platforms think we like or agree with the most. This is where we find ourselves falling into filter bubbles, consuming and engaging in content that tends to complement our pre-existing opinions, beliefs and interests. Over the course of this campaign, you will hear the words filter bubbles, polarization, echo chambers, selective exposure, algorithms and fragmentation a lot. That is because all of these can be linked when using social media.

This is only the beginning! Tune into our next blog post to find out more.