How Can We Square the Filter Bubble?

• In Event: Filter Bubbles: From Academic Debate to Robust Empirical Analysis

Abstract

The personalisation of media content is already an important characteristic of digital media interfaces, and is likely to grow in importance in the future. However, audiences’ concerns about the consequences of more personalized news are relatively poorly understood. This study analyses data from a survey of online news consumers in 26 countries (N=53,330) to reveal how audiences across the world feel about the classic filter bubble concerns. The results show consistently high levels of concern about the possibility of missing out on important information and missing challenging viewpoints. The study also delves into the drivers of those concerns at an individual level using multi-level regression analysis. The study contributes to ongoing efforts to square the filter bubble by helping to explain why it is that online news consumers simultaneously value algorithmic news selection while worrying about its consequences.

Authors

• Neil Thurman, IfKW / LMU Munich

• Judith Moeller, U of Amsterdam

• Natali Helberger, Institute for Information Law (IViR), U of Amsterdam

• Damian Trilling, U of Amsterdam