Breaking out of the information bubbles is essential for maintaining a healthy public discourse and democracy. It is important to raise public awareness about the algorithms used by search engines and social media platforms and their impact on our lives. Public debates on issues like censorship, personal data protection, and ethical platform design are necessary to reach a solution that benefits all stakeholders. However, it is important to keep in mind that sudden and rapid attempts to break information bubbles may backfire and lead to even greater polarisation. It is very difficult to break down an information bubble from the outside.
There are several proposed methods for breaking information bubbles. Users could be offered the option to switch from personalised to non-personalised search results or use algorithm-free search engines like duckduckgo.com. Adding serendipity to web-searches, which introduces an element of luck into the search results, can increase the user’s exposure to diverse perspectives. Additionally, search engines and social media platforms could provide information on how search results are produced, helping users understand the algorithms used and the potential biases inherent in their results.
Want to find out more? Read the Critical Balance e-book for youth workers on critical thinking and conspiracy theories!
