Should we worry about filter bubbles?

Some fear that personalised communication can lead to information cocoons or filter bubbles. For instance, a personalised news website could give more prominence to conservative or liberal media items, based on the (assumed) political interests of the user. As a result, users may encounter only a li...

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Main Authors: Frederik J. Zuiderveen Borgesius, Damian Trilling, Judith Möller, Balázs Bodó, Claes H. de Vreese, Natali Helberger
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society 2016-03-01
Series:Internet Policy Review
Subjects:
Online Access:https://policyreview.info/node/401
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author Frederik J. Zuiderveen Borgesius
Damian Trilling
Judith Möller
Balázs Bodó
Claes H. de Vreese
Natali Helberger
author_facet Frederik J. Zuiderveen Borgesius
Damian Trilling
Judith Möller
Balázs Bodó
Claes H. de Vreese
Natali Helberger
author_sort Frederik J. Zuiderveen Borgesius
collection DOAJ
description Some fear that personalised communication can lead to information cocoons or filter bubbles. For instance, a personalised news website could give more prominence to conservative or liberal media items, based on the (assumed) political interests of the user. As a result, users may encounter only a limited range of political ideas. We synthesise empirical research on the extent and effects of self-selected personalisation, where people actively choose which content they receive, and pre-selected personalisation, where algorithms personalise content for users without any deliberate user choice. We conclude that at present there is little empirical evidence that warrants any worries about filter bubbles.
format Article
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issn 2197-6775
language English
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publisher Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society
record_format Article
series Internet Policy Review
spelling doaj-art-ce6c796a537d45ccaa76a822d8a87ded2025-08-20T03:16:04ZengAlexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and SocietyInternet Policy Review2197-67752016-03-015110.14763/2016.1.401Should we worry about filter bubbles?Frederik J. Zuiderveen Borgesius0Damian Trilling1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2586-0352Judith Möller2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7491-1155Balázs Bodó3Claes H. de Vreese4Natali Helberger5University of AmsterdamUniversity of AmsterdamUniversity of AmsterdamUniversity of AmsterdamUniversity of AmsterdamUniversity of AmsterdamSome fear that personalised communication can lead to information cocoons or filter bubbles. For instance, a personalised news website could give more prominence to conservative or liberal media items, based on the (assumed) political interests of the user. As a result, users may encounter only a limited range of political ideas. We synthesise empirical research on the extent and effects of self-selected personalisation, where people actively choose which content they receive, and pre-selected personalisation, where algorithms personalise content for users without any deliberate user choice. We conclude that at present there is little empirical evidence that warrants any worries about filter bubbles.https://policyreview.info/node/401Filter bubblePersonalisationSelective exposure
spellingShingle Frederik J. Zuiderveen Borgesius
Damian Trilling
Judith Möller
Balázs Bodó
Claes H. de Vreese
Natali Helberger
Should we worry about filter bubbles?
Internet Policy Review
Filter bubble
Personalisation
Selective exposure
title Should we worry about filter bubbles?
title_full Should we worry about filter bubbles?
title_fullStr Should we worry about filter bubbles?
title_full_unstemmed Should we worry about filter bubbles?
title_short Should we worry about filter bubbles?
title_sort should we worry about filter bubbles
topic Filter bubble
Personalisation
Selective exposure
url https://policyreview.info/node/401
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