The Dark Shadow Shrine

embrace the darkness; that you may see the light nestled within it......

Monday, February 22, 2016

Is it just an echo chamber?

Click HERE
the title 'echo chamber' caught my eye....I've discussed it in previous times in the context of the internet where the 'echo chamber effect' gives the illusion of numbers, i.e. actually, it's only a few people saying it, but because what they said went viral (echoed repeatedly online), viewers get the impression that everyone feels this way. The minority's view is thus amplified and given the illusion of being the majority's views.
Rumours which are repeatedly echoed are also given the illusion of truth when people keep encountering it (hear the reverberating echoes)....

But over in this article, it is used to describe an offline phenomenon, where the same kind of views kept being bounced around, such that we don't hear any new stuff. This can happen when it is always the same people speaking in the room, or when the others do not speak (i.e. the silent majority).
This can be a rebuttal of an OV on any organizations (including the govt) gathering feedback....'cos if only the same people are willing to provide feedback, then only the same kind of views will be heard instead of alternative views. Examples of feedback sessions like OSC (Our Singapore Conversation) will then have limited success.

To have a better picture of what people are feeling, feedback must be garnered from beyond a closed chamber where you only hear the same voice being echoed or bounced off the walls of the closed chamber. It may seem like many voices, but they are repetitions/echoes of the same kind of voice. One needs to break out of the chamber to hear different kind of voices outside.

For those who can remember the concept of the filter bubble syndrome (see HERE), it's quite the same manner. If you are constantly visiting the same kind of websites online, or hanging out with the same kind of people offline, you will keep encountering the same kind of views. Staying within the bubble will subject you to the echo-chamber effect where all you hear is the same view echoed repeatedly, hence the need to prick the bubble to be exposed to the myriad of views outside.....

Can also think this way....the internet is a platform (rather like a room) for like-minded people to gather...usually only those who like the same things or have the same views will come into this room. Those who have other views and likings will prefer to go to ANOTHER room. End result, those in the same room will talk about the same views and hear the same views, and think the whole world is like them. The room is the filter bubble. Being in the filter bubble means:
-you will have the mistaken belief that everyone (including those outside the room/bubble)shares your view, that the whole world thinks like you
-you wont have the FULL picture as you cant have access to alternative views outside the room/bubble
-everyone in the room is already a convert, otherwise they wont come into your room in the first place...so whatever you'll be saying, you'll actually be 'preaching to the choir'.



Vocab:
 "The Government has said it doesn't want to just preach to the choir"  (meaning: preaching to the choir means you are trying to make believers out of people who already believe, or convince people who are already convinced)
According to the filter bubble syndrome, the internet operates in such a way that it usually preaches only to the choir. For example, when you put up a Hello-Kitty website online, only Hello Kitty fans will go there (as they are already Hello-Kitty worshippers); fans of arch-rival Garfield will NOT visit your website, so you would have little influence over them. This can be used as a rebuttal of the oft-cited point that the internet has a great influence over the mindset of netizens.