Social media amplifies polarization by reinforcing group identity and preconceptions

Evidence

Social media has been shown to act as an echo chamber for the emergence and dissemination of alternative narratives, amplifying these viewpoints in order to perpetuate preconceptions and prejudices. Group identification lowers ambiguity and increases a person’s sense of self, according to Zollo et al. (2015) Discussions on social media have a detrimental effect on users’ emotions and exacerbate polarization. — Muhammad Asad Latif, The Identity of Religion Always Comes Up, 28

Categorization

• XREF: Echoes Marshall McLuhan’s media-as-environment argument and contemporary work on filter bubbles and group-identity cognition. — connects to: Mediated rather than face-to-face deliberation tends to polarize groups — Didier Caluwaerts et al., Deliberation and Polarization: A…, 123