In the realm of music production, an echo chamber is a room acoustically treated to create a reverberation effect akin to that of a concert hall or cathedral. The room creates a strong echo that makes a small room in a recording studio seem exponentially larger. This term has been applied metaphorically to media, specifically news and social media. In these contexts, it is when one subscribes to sources of information that only confirm what they already believe and hold to be true. These chambers do not solely exist on one side of the political spectrum. All people are subject to the effect of echo chambers. Echo chambers are destroying the process of discourse and discussion of ideas, especially in America. People have become so entrenched in their beliefs because of echo chambers the refuse to accept the notion that someone may disagree with. Echo chambers are breeding grounds for hate and intolerance in the news and source of potential false information and biased opinions on social media.

Cable news was introduced to America in the 1980’s. This not only introduced the twenty four hour news cycle it also polarized the news. Stations no longer had to present to the public so instead of just stating facts, newscasters could present opinions, whether they were their own or those of the company that ran the station. The issue arises when consumers receive the same biased information from the same source for an extended period. Years of watch MSNBC cloud ones view of the political climate. One may begin to believe that all conservatives are either wealthy and selfish, or poor and uneducated. They will be led believe the only reason people oppose liberals in power is because they believe that liberals are weak. They could go as far as to believe that all conservatives hate all minorities of all kinds from racial to genderqueer groups. These are all stereotypes of conservatives. Stereotypes that are projected by liberal news media sources. This is not an accurate view of many members of the conservative party and it is ignorant to believe this. The same happens to conservative when they solely subscribe to sources like FOX News. Cable news channels are known for their biases, in fact many schoolteachers do not recommend their students use cable news for assignments because the prejudices are so eminent. The fact that these news sources are so biased is wrong. Much like doctors and surgeons take the Hippocratic Oath, journalists believe in the Journalist’s Creed. This creed, created by Walter Williams circa 1908, holds journalists to a certain standard of integrity. It promotes truth be the first thing presented in the news. The news, regardless of whether it comes from a paid cable source or a complimentary one, should be unbiased and present the facts first. This would allow for the consumers of the information to decide what they agree with and learn how to view the world more accurately and fairly. 

In the Journalist’s Creed, Williams states, “I believe that advertising, news and editorial columns should alike serve the best interests of readers; that a single standard of helpful truth and cleanness should prevail for all,”. Williams believed that the truth should be present in all forms of media that were present in the early 20th century. This standard should still be held today for these mediums. News, editorial columns and advertisements all have a duty to present the truth to consumers. These mediums, unlike most social media, represent companies and brands rather than individuals. Companies and brands should hold themselves to higher standard of truth simply because of the purpose the serve. Social media is an outlet for user to express their opinions and thoughts. Advertisements and the news are platforms for brands, companies, and/or networks to inform consumers and viewers on products and what is going on in the world. This responsibility is what holds them to a higher standard; social media will never be held to the exact same standard. This creates an issue in that many social media platforms are also sources of news. According to Ben Gilbert’s Business Insider article, “Facebook Refuses to Accept It's a Media Company”, the 1.7 billion people on Facebook use the network as a significant source for news. These news source vary from local news station pages to those that report straight to the internet like All Def Digital and Buzzfeed. These domains rely strongly on internet/social media based platforms to deliver to their audiences.

While echo chambers do exist, there are those that do not believe they are an issue. They would argue that people choose what to subscribe to and can remove themselves from these situations. There is a plethora of information and opinions in the world, and these are all easily accessible with tools like cable news media, and even more so with the internet. If people want a different viewpoint they can simply use varying sources for their information. People believe this is especially true of echo chambers in social media. If one, simply deletes their social media accounts then they will not be forced to subscribe to these echo chambers. It is true that one of the best ways to meet new people that have new opinions is in person. There is a much higher chance of meeting someone with a completely different outlook in person than it is online because of the filters that exist in social media. Those that argue this are typically advocates against social media.

There is an argument against social media and thusly an argument against the existence of echo chambers in social media. This argument may have served well in the past when social media was a smaller part of day to day life but now an online presence is practically required. As was previously mentioned in this essay, Facebook has 1.7 billion users. Some scholarship funds and colleges use social media as inspiration for their application processes. Many companies want their employees to have a good online presence for their brands to be recognized by more people. Employers also use social media to find and filter potential employees, and while without a social media presence the chance for a negative image is avoided in the information age no social media presence is not ideal. It is comparable to credit, it is better to have a little bit than to not have any at all. Thus, the argument of staying offline to avoid echo chambers in social media is rendered null. Echo chambers in social media differ from those in the other mediums discussed mainly in their composition. Whereas everything else is, or at least should be, factual and evidence based, social media can be whatever it wants. A casual user is not held to the same standard as a business, firm, or network. The casual user can post whatever they want with little to no consequences because they have the freedom of expression and being incorrect does no do any long-term damage. Other mediums suffer from being vindictive, bigoted, or biased, but people do not. But social media is not made completely of individuals, companies, brands, and other large groups have social media campaigns to reach aforementioned individuals. These two main components make the effect of echo chambers different on social media.

People gravitate towards things that appeal to them, this is a main topic of discussion in Anjana Susarla’s article “Social Networks and the Diffusion of User-Generated Content”.  Most interactions on social media platforms happen among equal individuals. An example of such is posting a picture from an event and a friend of the poster commenting on the post. Susarla describes interactions between two individual users as an undirected network. Both users can interact with each other and if one comments on the others post a reply is highly likely and will generally happen quickly. It is unlikely that one individual influences the other heavily, but it is likely that their opinions and taste complement each other. It is human nature to be attracted to those that agree with you in some regard. This agreement can vary from favorite color to political alignment. Herein lies the issue, while on an individual basis this may not have a strong impact on ones’ choices, imagine the influences of all the relationships people typically have. Social media is constantly surrounding people regardless of whatever opinions and friends they may have. Add the opinions they have and multiply it by their friends that likely have the same opinions and the result is a fortress constructed of Facebook posts, tweets, and Instagram comments that is nigh impregnable. The foundation of said “fortress” is already strong because of the nature of beliefs, this strength is only multiplied on social media.

These “fortresses” of opinion scattered throughout the internet lead to “wars” between opposing opinions. People find the beliefs of others so deplorable they cannot possibly grasp the possibility of someone giving something any merit. These cause two issues, people become immovable in their opinions, and people shy away from open discourse about said opinions. Christopher Hooton addresses this in his article aptly titled “Social Media Echo Chambers Gifted Donald Trump the Presidency”. This article addresses the liberal voter and how their social media echo chambers affected the outcome of elections. Hooton believes that liberals and those that did not support Trump spent too much time telling their like-minded social media friends/followers why, according to them, Trump was ill suited to be president of the United States. They spent too much time trying to attack conservative voters for even thinking about supporting Trump rather than seeking to understand conservative points of view. This did nothing but breed contempt from conservative voters. Constantly feeling attacked and belittle by liberals they no longer cared about the opinions of liberals. This is a war that only exists because of the polarizing nature of echo chambers.

Social media is a wonderful innovation. It has the potential to bring people closer than ever before despite many different circumstances. It also has the potential to divide people further than ever thought possible, due to echo chambers. The same goes for the news. In the age of information people have access to a greater variety of news outlets than ever before, making it possible to spread many different beliefs and opinions. This plethora of news sources also has different ways of projecting the same information thus causing an echo chamber to be created. These chambers lead to people hating people they have never even met and refusing opinions they’ve never heard. They breed ignorance, hate, and contempt for no reason. They may even be unavoidable because of the nature of the media, both social and news. However, people can be more aware of their surroundings and conscience of the information they are taking in. This would lead to a less polarizing outlook on the world and help foster healthy discourse between opposing viewpoints.
