What is an echo chamber?

If you shout loudly in a tunnel, you will hear an echo. The tunnel walls throw the word you shout back at you. This is also the case in an echo chamber. You only hear what you expect to hear without discussion with those who hold different views. But is this so dangerous?

Person står med armene strukket i været ved åpningen av en tunnel med grønne trær på utsiden.
Person står med armene strukket i været ved åpningen av en tunnel med grønne trær på utsiden.

The Internet remembers you

When you sit and search the Internet, it’s a bit like shouting in a tunnel. All the information you provide will come back to you in the form of personalized search results. This means that the search engine often shows you content that it thinks you like and agree with, and not things that might influence you to believe otherwise.

Pop-up ads

The Internet is also full of advertising. When you visit various websites, advertisements will “pop up”. Often without you having asked for it, and it often matches your interests and online shopping habits. If you have shopped online, the websites will “remember” that and try to convince you to buy more.

Cookies

Information cookies, or cookies, save login details and register where you are and what websites you visit. Then this information will be thrown back at you as an echo the next time you surf the web. Why do you think they are called cookies?

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Tegning av en hånd som klikker på accept cookies på en datamaskin.
Tegning av en hånd som klikker på accept cookies på en datamaskin.

Echo chamber

The same happens in social media. There are digital spaces that often confirm your opinions. Those who are part of various groups on social media often agree quite well, and they have many of the same values and attitudes. Here, the same attitudes are often repeated again and again – just like an echo.

Then you only get confirmation that things are as you think, because everything you read online agrees with what you think. We call this an “echo chamber”. If you are part of an echo chamber, you will also believe that the world is like this. One gets the feeling that “everyone” agrees, but this does not have to be the case after all.

If someone in the group thinks differently, they will often face resistance, and in the worst case they can be excluded from the group.

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En person står i en boble med flere andre bobler rundt seg.
En person står i en boble med flere andre bobler rundt seg.

Be critical of what you read

Being in an echo chamber can really be compared to being exposed to propaganda or censorship, but it’s more dangerous because you don’t really notice it. Propaganda and censorship are calculated manipulation of the truth, and the goal is to get as many people as possible to believe in the same attitudes and values.

Example of an echo chamber

One example of an echo chamber could be the view on weapons in the United States. Americans who believe that everyone should be able to own a gun for self-defense seek sources that confirm this is correct. Those who are against gun laws look for sources that talk about how dangerous guns are.

Both sides believe that they are right, and they point to information that confirms what they themselves believe. It is then difficult to come to an agreement because both parties are firmly against each other.

It is always important to be critical of what you read and hear. Have you actually heard the whole truth, or have you only heard one side of it? Could it be that you are actually in an echo chamber?

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Read more about propaganda here
Det amerikanske flagget formet av ammunisjon
Det amerikanske flagget formet av ammunisjon

This is how extremism comes about

Many communities develop their own values and attitudes that move away from the opinion of the majority. There may be groups that are strongly against democracy, that support racism or that share Nazi views on humanity. These are extreme echo chambers where you are steered into a certain direction – contempt for political systems, races or different types of people. Why do you think people end up in such an environment?

 

Tredukke står på kanten av et bord og trykker en annen tredukke ned fra kanten.
Tredukke står på kanten av et bord og trykker en annen tredukke ned fra kanten.

Sources:

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