An environment in which a person encounters only beliefs or opinions that coincide with their own, especially in social media.
Thus, an echo chamber is an environment where a person only encounters information or opinions that reflect and reinforce their own. Echo chambers can create misinformation and distort a person’s perspective so they have difficulty considering opposing viewpoints and discussing complicated topics. They’re fueled in part by confirmation bias, which is the tendency to favor info that reinforces existing beliefs.
Echo chambers can happen anywhere information is exchanged, whether it’s online or in real life. But on the Internet, almost anyone can quickly find like-minded people and perspectives via social media and countless news sources. This has made echo chambers far more numerous and easy to fall into.
Echo chambers can also be tricky to recognize, especially if you’re in one. If you’re ever wondering if a social group or website may be an echo chamber, stop and think about a few questions:
Do they tend to only give one perspective on an issue?
Is that viewpoint mainly supported by rumor or incomplete evidence?
Are facts ignored whenever they go against that viewpoint?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you may have found an echo chamber.
Example
A very popular echo chamber usually used in internet are the filter bubbles. Filter bubbles are created by algorithms that keep track of what you click on. Websites will then use those algorithms to primarily show you content that’s similar to what you’ve already expressed interest in. This can prevent you from finding new ideas and perspectives online.