FB, Twitter users likely to interact with info disseminated by users with similar views

Facebook and Twitter users were more likely to interact with information disseminated by users with similar viewpoints, according to a study titled The echo chamber effect on social media. This research work published by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), was conducted by Matteo Cinelli, Gianmarco De Francisci Morales, Alessandro Galeazzi, Walter Quattrociocchi, and Michele Starnini. 

More than 100 million posts, collected between 2010 and 2018 from Facebook, Gab, Reddit and Twitter about controversial topics such as abortion, gun control, and vaccination, were analyzed by the researchers. They found that compared with Reddit users, Facebook and Twitter users were more likely to interact with information disseminated by users with similar viewpoints.

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According to the authors, with an overall stronger polarization, 'Gab' users displayed similarities with Reddit. Users aggregated in like-minded clusters dominated the online dynamics of Facebook and were segregated from opposing views. On Reddit, users can modify their feed algorithms, suggesting that both platform dynamics and user attitude influence information dissemination on social media

"We explore the key differences between the main social media platforms and how they are likely to influence information spreading and the formation of echo chambers," stated the study.

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Comparative analysis

In order to assess the different dynamics, the researchers performed comparative analysis on more than 100 million pieces of content concerning controversial topics (e.g. gun control, vaccination, abortion) from Gab, Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter). The analysis focuses on two main dimensions:

• homophily in the interaction networks; and
• bias in the information diffusion toward like-minded peers.
  Results show that the aggregation in homophilic clusters of users dominates online dynamics.

Direct comparison of news consumption on Facebook and Reddit shows higher segregation on Facebook. 

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"Our work provides important insights into the understanding of social dynamics and information consumption on social media. The next envisioned step addresses the temporal dimension of echo chambers, to understand better how different social feedback mechanisms, specific to distinct platforms, can impact their formation,"  stated the study.

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(With ANI Inputs)