Abstract
Online social networks provide users with unprecedented opportunities to engage with diverse opinions. At the same time, they enable confirmation bias on large scales by empowering individuals to self-select narratives they want to be exposed to. A precise understanding of such tradeoffs is still largely missing. We introduce a social learning model where most participants in a network update their beliefs unbiasedly based on new information, while a minority of participants reject information that is incongruent with their preexisting beliefs. This simple mechanism generates permanent opinion polarization and cascade dynamics, and accounts for the aforementioned tradeoff between confirmation bias and social connectivity through analytic results. We investigate the model’s predictions empirically using US county-level data on the impact of Internet access on the formation of beliefs about global warming. We conclude by discussing policy implications of our model, highlighting the downsides of debunking and suggesting alternative strategies to contrast misinformation.
Highlights
Online social networks provide users with unprecedented opportunities to engage with diverse opinions
The purpose of the present paper is to develop a framework that naturally captures the effect of large-scale confirmation bias on social learning, and to examine how it can drastically change the way a networked, decentralized, society processes information
We introduced a model of social learning in networked societies where only a fraction of the agents update beliefs unbiasedly based on the arrival of new information
Summary
Online social networks provide users with unprecedented opportunities to engage with diverse opinions. We introduce a social learning model where most participants in a network update their beliefs unbiasedly based on new information, while a minority of participants reject information that is incongruent with their preexisting beliefs This simple mechanism generates permanent opinion polarization and cascade dynamics, and accounts for the aforementioned tradeoff between confirmation bias and social connectivity through analytic results. Over two-thirds of US adults get information from online and social media, with the proportion growing annually[3,4] The impact such media have in shaping societal narratives cannot be understated. Confirmation bias[10,11] is enabled at unprecedented scales[12] Another major impact of digital technologies has been the increase in connectivity fostered by the growth of online social networks, which plays a double-edged role. While there exist a plethora of models related to information diffusion and opinion formation in social networks, a sound theoretical framework accounting for the emergence of the phenomena that are relevant to modern information consumption (rather than explicitly introducing them ad hoc), is still largely lacking
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
