# Essay Proposal

Lilly D’Italia
March 3, 2023
COMM 1255

Filter bubbles have been a topic of recent discourse due to the lack of variation internet users find on their feeds. Some argue that filter bubbles negatively affect our internet use while others argue that they can easily be avoided with the proper education and background. However, this topic should be discussed, because, as fish are not aware that they are living in water, internet users are usually not aware of when they are in a filter bubble. Therefore, in this essay, I will evaluate the extent of the issues that filter bubbles create and I will argue that they cannot be avoided regardless of your levels of media literacy, but, due to other outside factors, they should not be detrimental to internet or social media use.

I will use the sources we were given in class to provide background information for each topic. First, I will explain the different types of mis/disinformation and how those work with the structure and algorithm of the internet to create filter bubbles. The article we used in class, “Understanding Information Disorder” by Claire Wardle clearly indicates and explains each type of mis/disinformation and their potential impacts. Once they are defined I can explain how this is important to filter bubbles. Next the article “Did Media Literacy Backfire?” by Dhana Boyd and the external source, Eli Pariser’s TED talk, “Beware Online “Filter Bubbles,” will assist in the definition of what a filter bubble is, and will be used to explain the theory that we can use media literacy to remove ourselves from them.

Then, I will use my other external sources to build my argument and support my thesis. The first is a journal written by media and communications scholar Dominic Spohr called, “Fake news and ideological polarization: Filter bubbles and selective exposure on social media” in which he evaluates the extent to which filter bubbles actually affect internet users. He argues that “ideological polarization on Facebook is driven more by selective exposure than by echo chambers or filter bubbles (Fake news and ideological polarization, 2017).” With this claim, I will argue that, if that is the case, it proves that although filter bubbles cannot be avoided they are not the true source of bias on the internet and thus they are not detrimental to internet use. If people changed their behaviors, the filter bubbles would not be as prominent of an issue. Next, I will use the Forbes article, “Why are humans biased against AI?” by Thomas Chamorro-Premuzic to further this argument. His article shares a new perspective on people’s negative reactions to new AI technology, like chatGPT. He argues that these negative reactions are the result of the AI displaying negative human traits, which it learns from interactions with other users. So, how does this relate to filter bubbles? Once we can acknowledge this fact, AI could be used to increase our self-awareness, underlying biases, and filter bubbles that we surround ourselves with on the internet. It demonstrates how internet bias is not made within the technology but formed from the users’ interactions with that technology.

Overall, these sources will assist in my evaluation of what a filter bubble is and the extent of the issues they create. Furthermore, they will support my argument that while filter bubbles are for the most part unavoidable on the internet, they should not be detrimental to internet or social media use if we begin to understand how they are formed and use that to reflect on our own biases.

### Resources

Boyd, D. (2018, March 16). Did media literacy backfire? Retrieved March 2, 2023, from https://points.datasociety.net/did-media-literacy-backfire-7418c084d88d#.d46kox6e1

Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2023, February 28). Why are humans biased against AI? Retrieved March 2, 2023, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/tomaspremuzic/2023/02/27/why-are-humans-biased-against-ai/?sh=409f19c35f5c

Fake news and ideological polarization: Filter bubbles and selective ... (n.d.). (2017) Retrieved March 2, 2023, from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0266382117722446

Pariser, E. [TED]. (2011, May 2). Beware Online “Filter Bubbles” [Video]. YouTube. https://youtube.com/watch?v=B8ofWFx525s&si=EnSIkaIECMiOmarE

Understanding information disorder. (2021, August 03). Retrieved March 2, 2023, from https://firstdraftnews.org/long-form-article/understanding-information-disorder/