The Problem with the Filter Bubble

            I never realized what a filter bubble was until I was in class during lecture. I never would of thought about the algorithm that was placed inside the social media context. To recap, a filter bubble is your own social unique filter for information. Facebook will notice what we click on or like on the newsfeed, for example, I would of clicked more conservative post than liberal posts. So what the algorithm will do is filter the post that is more conservative on my newsfeed, and the more liberal post will not show up. Every once in awhile I will see one of my liberal friends post something with a liberal topic, but I notice that it’s with friends that I am somewhat close with and keep in touch. I look on Facebook and see how many friends I have, but I honestly only see post from ¼ of them.  On twitter, I will un-follow people that will post so much about opinions that I don’t agree with. I have never done that with Facebook though. Having the Internet come into the world may have ruined our way of communicating with one another through dissoi logoi, and has started this polarization against everyone. With politics, it’s either you’re a republican that is not willing to listen to the democrats or it the democrats that won’t listen to what the republicans are saying. It is nice to see what everyone is up to on social media, but when it comes to speaking out what we feel is a good idea or how we feel about a conservational thing, social media and the internet has ruined the conversation for that. If we want to overcome this polarization, we need to put down the devices, and have a conversation. We should listen to what the opposing person is saying instead of arguing right off the bat, making sure your statement is the right statement. Sometimes, we must admit that we are wrong but in today's world, people struggle with that. 

-Hailey Storer