(Anti-)Echo Chamber Participation: Examing Contributor Activity Beyond the Chamber

The existence of echo chambers as a phenomenon in social media has been widely debated in recent years. This research examines the social news website Reddit, where users engage with each other indirectly as part of topic-based communities. These discrete communities are free to define their own rules for contributor behaviour within the community. In this paper we examine two communities: r/The_Donald, which demands echo chamber behaviour, and r/changemyview which discourages it. We seek to determine whether contributors to the opposing types of chambers behave differently beyond their respective chambers.We find evidence that participants of both the echo chamber and the anti-echo chamber are more active across the platform than the average Reddit user.

Navigating Social Media in #Ophthalmology

In order to capture the value of cultural creativity, this study explored regional cultural creativities with different creative forms to understand how people interpret and interact with various regional cultural creative images. This was done by analyzing the abstract (performance) type of cultural creativity and the figurative (commodity) type of cultural creativity, in order to understand how existing regional cultural creativities operate information threads in social media, and how the different forms of content may lead to different levels of participation and feedback. The Cloud Gate Dance Theater can be taken as an example of an abstract cultural creation (performance type), and Green-in-hand as an example of a figurative cultural creativity (commodity type). In this study, all user page content for the period 1 January 2011, to 31 December 2018, and the number of user comments for each post were analyzed, for a total of 4784 posts. Computer science, data mining, big data, and social network analysis were combined to verify the findings of the analyses. Through an application programming interface (API), data and information in social media is extracted. Then data filtering, storage, and analysis is performed with meaningful information extracted for interpretation and for use in text mining to explore the relationship with the public based on content attributes. This study first verifies that the regional image is consistent with the social image location. Second, the information cues results found that information cues could be organized into region personality through any direct or indirect contact. Third, emotional clues can evoke emotions and self-expression, which is seen as an important clue to region emotions. In addition, this study also provides a conceptual framework for understanding how different forms of information, in regards to social management of existing regional cultural creativities, leads to varying levels of participation. Understanding the form of information is a key factor in the acceptance of information by the public. It is a reminder for cultural and creative institutions of the importance of text and images, and of figurative and abstract information planning in social content. In order to improve the competitiveness of the destination, using content interaction through social media to create and enhance a strong brand image is important.

and other types of social media such as wikis and social networking sites have transformed the way we use the internet in recent years. It is a transformation that business is eager to exploit. In order to do so, a clear commercial strategy needs to be established; does your organization wish to use the media actively as a business tool, or do you need to respond to the use of social media by others? Blogging and Other Social Media will address this question with practical guidance on using social media as well as the risks associated with it.A collaboration by leading thinkers and business users of social media, the book contains detailed and practical advice on the various forms of social media - their applications, advantages and disadvantages, how these technologies are evolving, and whether or not their use will benefit your business. The section covering social media and the law explains the risks and remedies related to abuse of copyright, defamation, privacy, data protection and user contracts as well as the opportunities and threats for online reputation.If you are looking to encourage your employees but want to protect your business from the threats this emerging media presents, get a copy of this practical guide and study it before you start including social media as part of your corporate marketing or communications strategy.

The echo chamber effect on social media has attracted attention due to its potentially disruptive consequences on society. This study presents a framework to evaluate the impact of personality traits on the formation of echo chambers. Using Weibo and Twitter as platforms, we first define an echo chamber as a network where users interact solely with those sharing their opinions, and quantify echo chamber effects through selective exposure and homophily. We then employ an unsupervised personality recognition method to assign a personality model to each user, and compare the distribution differences of echo chambers and personality traits across platforms and topics. Our findings show that, although user personality trait models exhibit similar distributions between topics, differences exist between platforms. Among 243 personality model combinations, over 20% of Weibo echo chamber members are “ynynn” models, while over 15% of Twitter echo chamber members are “nnnny” models. This indicates significant differences in personality traits among echo chamber members between platforms. Specific personality traits attract like-minded individuals to engage in discussions on particular topics, ultimately forming homogeneous communities. These insights are valuable for developing targeted management strategies to prevent the spread of fake news or rumors.

BackgroundThe dissemination of rumor rebuttal content on social media is vital for rumor control and disease containment during public health crises. Previous research on the effectiveness of rumor rebuttal, to a certain extent, ignored or simplified the structure of dissemination networks and users’ cognition as well as decision-making and interaction behaviors.ObjectiveThis study aimed to roughly evaluate the effectiveness of rumor rebuttal; dig deeply into the attitude-based echo chamber effect on users’ responses to rumor rebuttal under multiple topics on Weibo, a Chinese social media platform, in the early stage of the COVID-19 epidemic; and evaluate the echo chamber’s impact on the information characteristics of user interaction content.MethodsWe used Sina Weibo’s application programming interface to crawl rumor rebuttal content related to COVID-19 from 10 AM on January 23, 2020, to midnight on April 8, 2020. Using content analysis, sentiment analysis, social network analysis, and statistical analysis, we first analyzed whether and to what extent there was an echo chamber effect on the shaping of individuals’ attitudes when retweeting or commenting on others’ tweets. Then, we tested the heterogeneity of attitude distribution within communities and the homophily of interactions between communities. Based on the results at user and community levels, we made comprehensive judgments. Finally, we examined users’ interaction content from three dimensions—sentiment expression, information seeking and sharing, and civility—to test the impact of the echo chamber effect.ResultsOur results indicated that the retweeting mechanism played an essential role in promoting polarization, and the commenting mechanism played a role in consensus building. Our results showed that there might not be a significant echo chamber effect on community interactions and verified that, compared to like-minded interactions, cross-cutting interactions contained significantly more negative sentiment, information seeking and sharing, and incivility. We found that online users’ information-seeking behavior was accompanied by incivility, and information-sharing behavior was accompanied by more negative sentiment, which was often accompanied by incivility.ConclusionsOur findings revealed the existence and degree of an echo chamber effect from multiple dimensions, such as topic, interaction mechanism, and interaction level, and its impact on interaction content. Based on these findings, we provide several suggestions for preventing or alleviating group polarization to achieve better rumor rebuttal.

This study aims to understand the determinants of escape from echo chambers. Social media users can control the content to which they are exposed by confining their contacts to like-minded individuals. The resulting echo chamber effect can reinforce existing views and discourage rational discussion. We conducted a survey with a representative sample of 1969 respondents in 2020. Contrary to common expectation, a liberal political orientation was insignificant in predicting reference to differing views, but political partisanship, media trust, time spent on social media, education levels, and gender were significant. Those who spent more time on social media and had lower trust in media were found to refer to other views more frequently and were less susceptible to the echo chamber effect. The results of this study suggest that open-mindedness, independence, critical scepticism, and social activeness are significant resources for one to escape from the echo chamber.

Câmaras de eco são tanto espaços onde os sons refletem até perderem seus limites claros como maneiras pelas quais os cidadãos perdem a perspectiva, até que apenas um ponto de vista é refletido de volta. Câmaras de eco e seus equivalentes têm sido usadas em música há décadas. Em nossos meios de comunicação de massa e mídias sociais, câmaras de eco só recentemente têm ocupado as manchetes, particularmente no que antecedeu e sucedeu a eleição presidencial de 2016 nos Estados Unidos. Essas câmaras de eco físicas e culturais podem ser apreendidas e estudadas, mas e quanto aquelas câmaras de eco encontradas nas paisagens sonoras das ruas das cidades? O processo e criação da Biblioteca de Respostas Impulsivas do Cidadão tem conectado as câmaras de eco da política, democracia, mídias e das ruas da capital estadunidense. Trata-se de uma coleção de arquivos de respostas impulsivas criadas a partir de gravações dos protestos em Washington, D. C. Essa resultante tangível, apesar de conceitual, emergiu da história dos efeitos sônicos espaciais, urbanos e paisagens sonoras democráticas.

Since 2016, online social networks (OSNs), especially their “big data” algorithms, have been intensively blamed in popular news discourse for acting as echo chambers. These chambers entrap like-minded voters in closed ideological circles that cause serious damage to democratic processes. This study examines this “echo chamber” argument through the rather divisive case of EU politics among EU citizens. Based on an exploratory secondary analysis of the Eurobarometer 86.2 survey dataset, we investigate whether the reliance on OSNs as a primary EU political news source can lead people to more polarisation in EU-related political beliefs and attitudes than a reliance on traditional media. We found little evidence for this polarisation, lending credence to a rejection of social media’s “echo chamber” effect.

This study examines how social media algorithms influence news consumption patterns and perceptions of bias within the Indian digital context, marked by mobile-first access, high social media penetration, and widespread reliance on messaging apps. As news consumption has shifted from editorially gatekept legacy media to algorithmically curated platforms, concerns surrounding echo chambers, misinformation, and algorithmic bias have intensified. The study investigates the relationship between public perceptions of social media algorithms and their perceived impact on news consumption, echo chambers, and the spread of biased content, testing the hypothesis that algorithms significantly shape news habits and introduce bias. Using a quantitative, cross-sectional design, data were collected through a structured questionnaire from a stratified sample of 406 media professionals and general news consumers in urban India. Four constructs were measured: algorithmic prioritization, echo chambers, personalized consumption, and biased news spread. Bayesian correlation analysis using posterior means and 95% Highest Density Credible Intervals revealed a statistically credible positive relationship between perceived algorithmic prioritization and echo chambers (Posterior Mean=0.151, 95% CI [0.055, 0.244]) and a stronger relationship between personalized consumption and perceived biased news spread (Posterior Mean=0.219, 95% CI [0.127, 0.309]). Other hypothesized relationships were not credible. The findings partially support the hypothesis, indicating that while algorithms shape the structural information environment and bias exposure, individual news choice continues to reflect user agency.

Echo chambers are widely acknowledged as a feature of online discourse and current politics: a phenomenon arising when people selectively engage with like-minded others and are shielded from opposing ideas. Various studies have operationalized the concept through studying opinions, interactions, reinforcement or group identity. Echo chambers both feed and are fed by the false consensus effect, whereby people overestimate the degree to which others share their views, with algorithmic filtering of social media also a contributing factor. Although there is strong evidence that meta-opinions - that is, people’s perceptions of others’ opinions - often fail to reflect reality, no attempt has been made to explore the space of meta-opinions, or detect echo chambers within this space. We created a new, information-theoretic method for directly quantifying the information content of meta-opinions, allowing detailed exploratory analysis of their relationships with demographic factors and underlying opinions. In a gamified survey (presented as a quiz) of 476 UK respondents, we found both the liberal left, and also people at both extremes of the left/right scale, to have more accurate knowledge of others’ opinions. Surprisingly however, we found that meta-opinions, although displaying significant false consensus effects, were not divided into any strong clusters representative of echo chambers. We suggest that the metaphor of discrete echo chambers may be inappropriate for meta-opinions: while measures of meta-opinion accuracy and its influences can reveal echo chamber characteristics where other metrics confirm their presence, the presence or absence of meta-opinion clusters is not itself sufficient to define an echo chamber. We publish both data and analysis code as supplementary material.

This article examines the legal questions and problems raised by the increasing use of artificial intelligence tools on social media services, in particular from the perspective of the regulations specifically governing (electronic) media. For this purpose, the main characteristics of social media services are described, and the typical forms of AI applications on social media services are briefly categorized. The analysis of the legal framework starts with the introduction of ‘protective’ and ‘facilitative’ media regulation as the two basic concepts and functions of media law in general and of the law governing information society services in particular. Against this background, the major legal challenges associated with the use of AI on social media services for both protective and facilitative media regulation are presented. With respect to protective media regulation, these challenges include the fundamental rights protection of AI-based communication on social media services, legal options to restrict such forms of communication and the responsibilities of social media providers in view of unwanted content and unwanted blocking of content. As a major objective of facilitative regulation of social media AI, the regulatory handling of potential bias effects of AI-based content filtering on social media users is discussed, including phenomena commonly referred to as ‘filter bubble’ and ‘echo chamber’ effects.

Athletes competing at the highest level, should optimally balance training and competition stress with adequate recovery. However, athletes are not always aware of the available recovery options. This study investigated the recovery modalities currently used by elite South African sports persons. Research questions focused on types and frequency of recovery strategies used by players from four different sport codes (hockey, netball, rugby and soccer), as well as from different levels of participation. A total of 890 elite South African team sport players (507 males; 383 females) completed a questionnaire, specifically designed for the study. Results showed that recovery modalities are used to varying degrees by players from the four different sport codes, as well as from different levels of participation. The postmatch recovery modality used the most by hockey, netball and soccer players was an active cool-down. Rugby players used a strategy for rehydration the most. The frequency of using an active cool-down and rehydration was not affected by level of participation. There seems to be an increased need for player and coach education regarding recovery modalities.Key words: Recovery modalities; Elite team athletes; Hockey; Netball; Rugby; Soccer

Tsunami Waves of Destruction: The Creation of the “New Australian Catastrophe”

As scientists, we are proud of our role in developing the current digital age that enables billions of people to communicate rapidly with others via social media. However, when things go wrong, we are also responsible for taking an ethical stand and trying to solve problems, and this work aims to take a step in this direction. Our goal is to set the foundation for a mathematically formal study of how we might regulate social media and, in particular, address the problem of the echo chamber effect. An echo chamber is a closed system where other voices are excluded by omission, causing your beliefs to become amplified or reinforced. In turn, these bubbles can boost social polarization and extreme political views, and, unfortunately, there is strong evidence that echo chambers exist in social media. The fundamental question we try to answer is: how and can a regulation “break” or reduce the echo chamber effect in social media? Sadly, the paper’s main result is an impossibility result: a general regulation function that achieves this goal (on our social media model) while obeying the core values of democratic societies (freedom of expression and user privacy) does not exist. This result leaves us with hard future choices to make.