Bubble Trouble: Strategies Against Filter Bubbles in Online Social Networks

Abstract

In the recent past, some electoral decisions have gone against the pre-election expectations, what led to greater emphasis on social networking in the creation of filter bubbles. In this article, we examine whether Facebook usage motives, personality traits of Facebook users, and awareness of the filter bubble phenomenon influence whether and how Facebook users take action against filter bubbles. To answer these questions we conducted an online survey with 149 participants in Germany. While we found out that in our sample, the motives for using Facebook and the awareness of the filter bubble have an influence on whether a person consciously takes action against the filter bubble, we found no influence of personality traits. The results show that Facebook users know for the most part that filter bubbles exist, but still do little about them. Therefore it can be concluded that in today’s digital age, it is important not only to inform users about the existence of filter bubbles, but also about various possible strategies for dealing with them.