The filter bubble in Spain. An empirical verification on Facebook and Instagram

Abstract

Despite the phenomenon of over-information, technological platforms have found a new way for users to access content through personalization. This micro-segmentation or micro-targeting leads to an increasing polarization of politics with ideological positions confronting each other. This is creating resonance chambers that are increasingly difficult to disarticulate. This research aims to link the theory of the filter bubble, enunciated by Eli Pariser (2017), to the Spanish context on Facebook and Instagram, the latter social network being a novelty in research on the subject in Spain. Through an empirical-analytical analysis supported by the creation of three fictitious accounts of right-wing, left-wing and neutral trend on both platforms, and within a period of 6 weeks, we aimed to achieve three objectives: (1) to determine the number of days that are necessary in each account for the algorithms to act and for related content to be perceived first and thus discover which predispositions act before; (2) to observe whether the filter bubble leads to a resonance chamber that enhances political polarization and the exaltation of extremes in these social networks; and (3) to define the news theme that is most repeated in the different accounts of the two social platforms and which media are the issuers. The results and conclusions pointed out that both Facebook and Instagram have algorithms that personalize interactions in a short period of time -although, interestingly, with different dynamics depending on the trends-, which encourage polarization and tension in the political debate with recurring media to enhance it.