The Filter Bubble

I think we can all agree that we love to be comfortable. Whether it be with the clothes we wear, car we drive, or the bed we sleep in. Being comfortable is something that we all understand and that is a high priority to us. We hold comfort to a high standard, so much so, that the news outlets we watch, the accounts we follow on social media, and the people we decide to talk with, are all dictated my this thing called a "filter bubble".

You and I have both fallen victim to this cozy and easy-going life where we choose to block out what we do not like, and only follow the things we can reside with and agree upon. Personally, my filter bubble on social media was very lop-sided during this years presidential elections. I did not realize it until it got to a point where I did not even know what the other parties arguments, policies, etc. were about, and I only had knowledge of a construed view of the other side, based solely on the accounts I chose to follow during that time. I finally came to a point where I had to unfollow some of those people that were on the extreme end of one party, and follow people who sided with the other party, just so I could make sense of what was actually happening during the election. I fell into the trap of being in an echo chamber. Where I hear the things I say that affirm my beliefs, instead of engaging with those who do not always agree with me.

Through this class, and a political science class I took last semester, I am learning that I need to engage more with those I am do not agree with sometimes, so that I can make sense of why they are on the side they chose. It is so hard to pop your own filter bubble, because most of the time, we tend to lean to what is more comfortable, instead of what is more logical and that can create some constructive dialogue.