Furthermore, users show a tendency to favor information adhering to their beliefs and join groups formed around a shared narrative, that is, echo chambers ( 1, 14– 18). Our attention span remains limited ( 9, 10), and feed algorithms might limit our selection process by suggesting contents similar to the ones we are usually exposed to ( 11– 13). Online polarization, for instance, may foster misinformation spreading ( 1, 8). However, a multitude of factors affects information spreading on social media platforms. A recent study ( 7) limited to Twitter claimed that fake news travels faster than real news. We need to understand how people seek or avoid information and how those decisions affect their behavior ( 6), especially when the news cycle-dominated by the disintermediated diffusion of information-alters the way information is consumed and reported on. Social media radically changed the mechanism by which we access information and form our opinions ( 1– 5). We conclude the paper by directly comparing news consumption on Facebook and Reddit, finding higher segregation on Facebook. Our results show that the aggregation of users in homophilic clusters dominate online interactions on Facebook and Twitter. We quantify echo chambers over social media by two main ingredients: 1) homophily in the interaction networks and 2) bias in the information diffusion toward like-minded peers. We perform a comparative analysis of more than 100 million pieces of content concerning several controversial topics (e.g., gun control, vaccination, abortion) from Gab, Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter.
This paper explores the key differences between the main social media platforms and how they are likely to influence information spreading and echo chambers’ formation. However, the interaction paradigms among users and feed algorithms greatly vary across social media platforms. Social media may limit the exposure to diverse perspectives and favor the formation of groups of like-minded users framing and reinforcing a shared narrative, that is, echo chambers.
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