Ideology Bubbles: Applying Network Theory
One of the most discussed phenomena coming out of the 2016 Presidential Election is the filter bubbles that exist in the American ideological landscape. Due to confirmation bias and our ability to select what information to consume, Americans are increasingly ‘protecting’ themselves from news reports that do not align with their views (Facebook coming under fire for their role in propagating fake news is evidence of this). Of course, this filtering also (and perhaps even primarily) applies to who we interact with. Apart from shaping the outcome of the election, our bubbles can also explain the shock with which the outcome of the election was met with among many liberals and progressives.
Our discussion in class on the uptake of a new technology in evoked this filtering phenomenon for me. A Game Theory approach can be used to explain the beliefs we hold, and whether we can spread them along.
Treating a political opinion like a new technology, the chances of adopting a certain ideology/stance depends on how many of one’s neighbors believe in it and the rewards for also having that stance. If the fraction of one’s friends and family members that hold a certain opinion is equal to, or exceeds, the pay-off they receive for also holding the same opinion as a fraction of total pay-offs [b/(a+b)] then we can expect that they will conform and also hold that belief.
Based on this framework, what is happening in the United States, is that people’s neighbors in the social structure are increasingly holding the same beliefs such that people have no incentives to switch to ideas that might be better. If everyone around you believes in a certain idea, however false and even harmful, the best response is also to fall in line and also take the stance. The level of ’embeddedness’ makes it hard to reach the threshold required for better, more productive ideas to spread.
Any effort to reduce filter bubbles therefore calls for either reducing one’s embeddedness in a group holding the same beliefs, or, reducing the rewards and incentives for holding the same beliefs. A campaign to address stigma around holding alternative beliefs could be a good way to start.
Link to article:
http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2016/11/how-facebook-and-the-filter-bubble-pushed-trump-to-victory.html