Echo Chambers: Independent Judgment Matters More in the Algorithmic Age

It is frightening when a person or group lives entirely in its own world. America’s economy and stock market did well during Trump’s four years, yet the country became more divided. Can it reunite, become great, and keep leading the world? I remain as uncertain as four years ago. Time may be needed to tell. A related aside: my previous post discussed Facebook, a new-generation internet legend, and Zuckerberg (take a look if you are interested). The internet appears to provide freer expression and better information flow, yet algorithms place each group inside its own echo chamber, seeing only desired information and believing only existing beliefs. Algorithms can shape perception. Rather than connecting everyone, have they divided the world further? Information delivered by algorithms demands stronger independent thinking and even the ability to falsify claims. Otherwise algorithms or AI may manipulate you. An echo chamber, often called a 同溫層 in Taiwan, is a phenomenon law professor Cass R. Sunstein has discussed: In a relatively closed environment, similar voices repeat, increasingly exaggerating or distorting their accounts, until most people inside treat the distorted stories as the whole truth. The same voice reverberates, reinforces itself, and becomes more distorted. Get out and see more, consider diverse perspectives, and maintain your own thinking and judgment when receiving information. https://udn.com/news/story/121687/5154248?from=udn_ch2_menu_v2_main_index