Blog #9

An Echo Chamber is an environment where a group that agrees on ideals share their thoughts. However, they do not allow others with different points of view to join them. They isolate themselves from others, to protect their thoughts. These do not necessarily have to be in person, as echo chambers can be created anywhere, online and offline.

Honestly, the effects it has on people depend on the issue entirely. If it is a small, trivial issue, you may not see a problem at all, and the chamber will slowly deteriorate as others lose interest. However, when it’s an issue that you are very adamant about and you know you have to do something, you may feel compelled to confide in others and share your viewpoints. 

A common example of where an echo chamber can generate is at the dinner table with family members. Parents are likely to push their ideals onto others present, so the three options listeners have are to agree, disagree or ignore. The latter is the best, as changing the subject can save the mood. 

When speaking about anything related to politics, echo chambers have a very high chance of growing and dividing friend groups. With the most recent issues in the political world, our population feels more spaced out than ever. This does not limit the topic to only government policies. Echo chambers can interfere over any disagreement, which is why people must learn how to defuse and dismiss them.

To avoid these sorts of spaces, simply listen. Allow others to share their thoughts on a matter and give your reasonings for whether you agree or disagree. Everyone deserves the right to have an opinion in this world. No matter the problem, there will always be those who choose one answer over the other, so we must respect people for their choices. 

Also, never glance over social media to see if things are actually true. Find multiple sources that you can rely on as fallback points. Misinformation is a huge problem in today’s society, as we tend to believe anything on sight with how fast news can circulate online. This is why it is important to watch your local news channel or find a well written article about the issue you are researching. Just because one twitter user states that a major historical event has occurred doesn’t mean that it should be documented and studied immediately. 

Finally, as stated before with the dinner table example, do not push your beliefs onto others. We may all be on different sides sometimes, but at the end of the day, we’re just human. We all will ultimately reach our limits when it comes to arguing, and there’s no need to tire ourselves out over these issues.

All in all, Echo chambers serve very little purpose on the positive side, and are most commonly known for their negative effects on others. The healthiest option is to ignore these spaces at all costs, while remaining active to ward off any oncoming storms that may try to sneak their way into an innocent conversation.