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Wouldn't it be great to always be right? Errors feel unpleasant and embarrassing at times, you might even be forced to reconsider your actions. Way too much stress! That burden has been lifted thanks to social networks and a wide selection of other media outlets. Even for those who believe that the earth is flat.
True tunnel vision
Naturally, the basic idea behind Facebook and other portals is to show us content we'll like. "Likes" are their basic currency and the whole system is designed to make us feel well and find people that share our hobbies, interests - and opinions. It all sounds very harmonious and helps us discover users and groups that match our interests. Once subscribed to, their content will appear at the top of our news feeds along with suggestions for similar items. This mechanism is perfect to find like-minded people, if you so desire.
But it also hides or censors contrasting opinions to some degree so you'll feel like your opinion is always right, that you're part of a major movement if not the majority, all because of content filtering. Experts call this the echo chamber and believe it can have profound effects on social movements - and voting results.
Though I'm willing to believe a lot of things I read, I prefer first-hand experiences which is why I created a fake account on Facebook (go easy on me). I shaped my profile through my likes and post sharing behavior - and became a rather odd fellow. I was supposed to believe the earth to be flat and that vaccinations are an advertising trick by the pharmaceutical industry. I supposedly despised vegetarians and I was part of a political group whose supporters have done a lot of bad things in the past, especially in Germany. I had already vaguely pictured what would follow from my choices - but I had no idea what I was in for.
Facebook quickly took on a life of its own. Friend requests from allegedly like-minded people (drawn to my ludicrous opinions) began piling up. "Proof" after "proof" and "facts" of the most extreme nature, provided by my Facebook friends but also by Facebook itself, showed up in my profile as recommendations. Even though I took a critical view of everything that poured in, I eventually realized one thing: if your concept of the world is still young and forming, if you do little research on your own and your opinions largely depend on group dynamics, you'll be in serious trouble.
Once Facebook understands your views (in my case my fake profile), you'll get enough material for a diploma in any of the affected areas of information. And the more you read, the more you become entangled in the subject matter. It's both alarming and fascinating. I suddenly understood how Internet-based extremism and radicalization, matters frequently brought up in the media and often related to serious crimes, work. It's a powerful (downward) spiral and it doesn't take much to go from odd behavior to extremism, a single link may be enough - and Youtube also plays a role in that process.
My (also newly created) Youtube account played along nicely with Facebook, constantly displaying new content based on my favorite items on Facebook, including the strangest of videos. If Facebook fails to persuade you - Youtube will do the trick. With continuous playback, it becomes a never ending stream of videos all conveying the same ideas and beliefs without counterarguments on either Facebook or Youtube. And not being limited to similar topics but sharing the same basic statement each time, it's essentially a well-oiled machine that any propaganda department in any well-organized dictatorship would be proud to have. Instead of information, you end up with indoctrination, a form of mild brain washing so to speak.
Even if you stay away from social networks, you won't necessarily be able to escape this spiral. Other information providers have long understood that success will come easier if your material is either particularly pleasing, shocking or touches viewers on an emotional level and their news outlets are already tailored to specific target groups. These programs are designed to make you feel good and to confirm and strengthen your beliefs. A single direction of thought is outlined and then followed while opposing views are either discarded altogether or critically panned. This has nothing to do with professional journalism that tries to look at all sides in an objective manner.
So I've decided to purposefully subscribe to pages that oppose my views. Perhaps they'll help me discover new ideas and approaches? Or I might enter a dialog and start talking with others instead of over them? Sure, having your own opinions confirmed constantly feels great but that won't get you very far. That's why I had to leave the echo chamber however cozy it my have been. I will still skip the folks who believe the earth is flat though because that's just nonsense.
This blog thread appears at a very appropriate moment, Sven, given the events across the Atlantic.
The White House Press Secretary's tirade against the Press for reporting smaller crowds at Trump's inauguration, as compared with Obama's, drags to new depths the concept of "alternative facts" (which in less enlightened times used to be called "lies").
By the way, if you want to know how it feels always to be right, just have a chat with my wife.
And if she sees this post, I'm a dead man. ;-)
We share the same destiny. :)
I know that a lot of people do live in such bubbles, but It definitely does not apply to all. Not to me or most intelligent people I know.
I do love that Internet allows me to find friends who think alike, sure, but I always sought out people who think differently as well, because that's where the most interesting debates happen.
And interestingly, over time, many former opponents - especially the smartest and most confrontational ones - became friends.
A famous example was my visit to a Facebook "Philosophical Debating group" of university of Geneva, which happens to be my corner of the world.
I quickly discovered that their main "philosophical" topic was Marxism. I engaged them in debates, which was rather memorable. After 2 weeks, their main topic was to decide whether or not to kick me out of the group (presumably because they preferred their safe bubble).
They held a final vote, which led to my exclusion. But 10 members decided to leave with me. One of them became my friend immediately.
3 years later, the founder of the forum contacted me and told me that he had been thinking a lot about our conversations and had read some of the books I recommended.
He now runs a real-life club at the university, dedicated to Classical Liberalism. He organizes conferences and debates.
Debating flat earthers has so far proven far less successful. They are not even remotely rational. Reading their posts is like a dive into the deep end of human mental aberration.
Like religious fanatics from a cult that shall not be named. The most frightening part is the discovery that they all think exactly alike and believe their religious texts to the letter, no matter how absurd.
But it's still a good idea to listen to both, as they increase our understanding of just how diverse human thinking (or apparent absence of thinking) can be.
I fully agree. But I’m uncertain as to how many users really know the extent to which their timeline is tailored and filtered. I have met smart people that drifted off into unpleasantness Facebooks. Open discussions were no longer possible with them.
I agree with Doug below (especially even more after reading your experiment) that I am not missing out on anything at all by not using social media of any kind.
How easy it is to fool people these days.
Hi Sven, once again, thank you. You continue to be a voice of knowledge and wisdom in an insane age (although, was the world ever sane?). How old are you? 150? (Rhetorical, but your comon sense is almost profound and such sensible thinking is not heard often enough.)
Like Andew, below, I have refused to succumb to social media, and you confirm suspicions I have that keep me away. I know this will be treading on toes, but Mr. [er.... Pres] Trump's use of Twitter shows how social media can have exactly the effect you describe.
Many thanks! I’m 43 but I look a lot older. :)
Hello Sven,
Congratulations on a fantastic experiment on social media and its effect on "silo" thinking!!
When I take train journeys to town and see 99% of other passengers engaged on their mobiles/tablets that very thought has occurred to me. I wonder what the upcoming generation will be like when they 'take over' the administration of the world!
I believe it takes time for people to get used to new technologies. That’s why I enjoy writing about these topics. Once you realize there’s an algorithm behind the news you may assume a more critical view.
Greetings Sven; From Toronto Canada. Been reading each of your BLOGS from the beginning. Love your insight and humour.
Keep up the great work.
Look forward to your next blog.
George.
I like Andrew do not have a Face Chat account or watch You Tube on any sort of regularity. I do read and subscribe to the Ashampoo Blog and some of his products. I hope this does not make me a Flatliner or some other sort of Red democrat.
Our customers are even free to believe the earth to be in the shape of a banana. You earned it. :)
Ein Vergnuegen, so etwas Intelligentes zu dieser Massenepidemie zu lesen! G.R.
Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and in fact ALL social media are based on the concept that the louder you shout, the more you'll be heard and believed and joined by your fellow believers. The focus is on low intelligence people who are easily swayed by huge volumes of similar posts.
As a famous propagandist once said:
"Tell a lie. Make it big. Repeat it often."
I have NO social media accounts despite exhortations by friends and family that "You're missing an awful lot, you know!"
It's clear what I'm 'missing', and I don't miss any of it at all.
The Earth is Flat ...well yes it is ..kind of ...but not perfectly flat is it so it's all a matter of scale, to see the earth as being round is to make a small scale project more complex than it needs to be ...Wrongness ...it works ....unless you need to be ....ex...act!
As for round .. what happens then - if this Universe is composed of eleven dimensions with seven surprises all wrapped around inside each other just wailting to pop out and really surprise us one day when exactness is no longer exactly - or perfectly ....right?
Newtons laws are ignorant of quantum effects and they work very well till pinpoint exactness is required so what is wrong can be presented as being fundamentally right and it will appear so to even smart people like Mr Isaac Newton ...and Mr Albert Einstein too. So what chnce have we got to be right enough ...for our own good time?
As for Democracy ..do your representatives actively represent you or do they actively represent parliament too you, because a Democracy turned upside down is no Democracy at all. Perhaps I should get angry and violent about some of my conclusions but how do I know what is right anymore... and round is just a word in a dictionary that maybe isn't right at ....all.... just a fragment of validity in a see of infinity! Welcome to The 21st Century ...
Ever since “alternative facts” appeared, discussions have become superfluous. :)
I have a facebook account but never use it. I do realize the problem with the web; as far as the indoctrination concept. Even as an adult I must continue to monitor my input so as not to be too one-sided when it comes to the issues that matter; political or otherwise. I subscribe to Andrew's below quote about the number of asses versus horses. I am also a fix it guy. My main vehicle is 33 yrs. old I do all the repairs myself. In fact, I fix pretty much everything that breaks. This is the very reason I use Ashampoo. I am the resident IT guru as well. Ashampoo makes me look good.
I’ve switched jobs because I was the IT nerd in my residential hostel. And we’re always at your service to make somebody look better. :)
The most difficult part of Facebook is finding what my friends are doing. I stop by for no more than 30 minutes a day and refuse to put the app on my mobile. It's all about collecting information for the advertising sponsors. I do get some joy out of posting opposite opinions on any topic.
One day soon a bright engineering company is going to look at MySpace. The current owner chased everyone away and made life easy for Facebook. It's back to full profile customization although no one is going back there until a new owner takes control. I would bet Facebook would vanish within a few months. When Facebook made it nearly impossible to talk with friends, I only have 200 listed, they took the word "social" out of networking. Game over.
Lol!...Love it....ABSOLUTELY Love it...my friends couldn't understand why I deleted my Facebook account....your blog just sums it up!!.....This is why I love ashampoo & your blogs....your a genius man
Thank you! I wish my girlfriend would think that way of me, life would be so much easier! :)
Thanks.
..." if your concept of the world is still young and forming, if you do little research on your own and your opinions largely depend on group dynamics, you'll be in serious trouble. ..."
Now if you can just get those in that category to read and understand this...
NR
I don't have a fake profile, but I come from a very red state, and am a democrat. So I have never experienced the facebook echo chamber. Since all of my friends and family are die hard in the red, I only see all the stuff telling me how bad democrats are. So I guess it also looks at the associations you have and what their interests are.
That’s the exact opposite of an echo chamber. I’d call it the elephant house.:)
I'd stick with the Flat Earthers. At least they are unlikely to kill you over their beliefs - I suppose that they think that when you fall over the edge - then you will believe.
I am not now and never have been a member of Facebook … I have not signed up to any of the social media feeds because I have always had serious doubts about the veracity of the stuff posted there.
I pick and choose on You Tube but even then I sometimes snort with derision over some of the opinions expressed there. My interests are pretty mundane - DIY and woodwork are high on my list and how to fix things without ruining them altogether.
To quote a famous American politician - can't remember which - " There are a lot more horses asses than there are horses."
Thanks for the quote, I’ll keep it in mind! :)