A new study of online communities suggests that their interaction dynamics can amplify small, local imbalances in opinions, rapidly turning initially mixed-opinion communities into highly-polarized ones—even without the algorithms and homogeneity-seeking behaviors typically blamed for sculpting echo chambers. Petter Törnberg of the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands, presents these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One.
Online echo chambers can arise even without algorithmic nudges or seeking like-minded people
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