Facebook filter bubble study: Here’s what it says

FiltreBubble author on Facebook's study in Science: "Facebook’s data science team has put part of the “filter bubble” theory to the test ... Upshot: here is a real and scientifically significant “filter bubble effect” — the Facebook news feed algorithm in particular will tend to amplify news that your political compadres favor... For self-described liberals on Facebook, for example, the algorithm plays a slightly larger role in what they see than their own choices about what to click on. There’s an 8% decrease in cross-cutting content from the algorithm vs. a 6% decrease from liberals’ own choices on what to click. For conservatives, the filter bubble effect is about 5%, and the click effect is about 17% ... In its press outreach, Facebook has emphasized that “individual choice” matters more than algorithms do... I think that’s an overstatement. ... the algorithm’s narrowing effect is nearly as strong as our own avoidance of views we disagree with suggests that it’s actually a pretty big deal.... Only 7% of the content folks click on on Facebook is “hard news.” " - Facebook published a big new study on the filter bubble. Here’s what it says. — Medium