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When you visit a website, it is easy to assume that you're seeing the same information as everyone else who visits the same website. Algorithms online track what you like to click on. Algorithms run on almost all websites. These algorithms provide you with information it believes you will like with the intent to eventually show mainly content that you will consume, and thus, creating a filter bubble. Filter bubbles prevent you from receiving information and perspectives that you haven't previously shown interest in, and therefore, prevent you from reading multiple sides of an issue. (GCF Global, N.D.)

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When you only see information in your social media feeds that support your perspective and opinions, and not those of opposing perspectives and opinions, you may be experiencing an echo chamber. Echo Chambers are environments where people only encounter information or opinions that reflect and reinforce their own. (PBS, 2022)

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Downloadable Lesson Documents

Key Vocabulary

1. Echo chamber - an environment where a person only encounters information or opinions that reflect and reinforce their own

2. Algorithm - set of rules used to rank, filter and organize the content for users within certain social media platforms.

3. Confirmation Bias - the tendency to seek out or give greater weight to information that supports our pre-existing beliefs and expectations.

Before You Watch

Why is it often important to listen to more than one side of an issue?

While You Watch

Preview the questions. Then answer them while you watch the MediaWise Teen-Fact Checking Network (TFCN) video. According to the video...

1. The main goals of social media algorithms are to keep you _______________ so you stay on the platform for as long as possible, _______________ with the content by sharing or commenting and come _______________ to it later.

2. What are the positive aspects of social media echo chambers?

3. What are some negative aspects of echo chambers that can lead to bad consequences?

4. How can you avoid echo chambers on social media?

Follow left and right-leaning information sources to _____________ your news sources.

_______________ interacting with controversial posts-the algorithm will stop feeding them to you

_______________ political, scientific or conspiratorial posts

_______________ everything to confuse the algorithm

After You Watch

Watch this teen CBC reporter explain how algorithms work . Use the words provided to fill in the blanks on the " Student Handout".

Coming Up Next

Be MediaWise Lesson 7: Evaluating a scientific claim-Students will learn how to combat online science misinformation using lateral reading by investigating a post about an NFL football player's collapse on the field.

Standards

Common Core ELA CC.8.5.6-8; CC.8.5.9-10.A; CC.8.5.11-12.A
Citing informational text.

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) D3.1.6-12

Gather relevant information from multiple sources while using the origin, authority, structure, context, and corroborative value of the sources to guide the selection.

ISTE 6-12.1.4.a
Students: know and use a deliberate design process for generating ideas, testing theories, creating innovative artifacts or solving authentic problems.

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Be MediaWise lesson 6: How social media algorithms create echo chambers

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Learn how algorithms work and how they can create echo chambers

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How Do We Escape FIlter Bubbles and Echo Chambers? Mismatch by Allsides Can Help! 

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How Do We Escape FIlter Bubbles and Echo Chambers? Mismatch by Allsides Can Help! 

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Mismatch makes it easy for educators to schedule virtual dialogue between students. This platform allows students from opposite political, racial, geographical and socio-economic statuses to converse and find commonalities. The purpose of Mismatch is not to get different groups to agree but to get different groups to appreciate opinions different than their own. (Mismatch, N.D.)

Mismatch can make it easy for teachers to use to prevent their classrooms from turning into a filter bubble or an echo chamber.

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With Mismatch, students talk to other students across the country, inspiring them to connect beyond their immediate world and build a healthy democracy - without leaving the classroom.

Dialogue is essential to democracy. With Mismatch, students learn to humanize the "other."

of students from the Mismatch pilot reported better understanding the other perspective or the other person after just one conversation.

of students found the conversation somewhat or extremely valuable.

I'm overhearing some of the conversations ... awesome! This is civil discourse!!

Deb S, High School Librarian, New Jersey

mismatch (n.) - A virtual dialogue between students that are the political, racial, geographical, and socio-economic opposite of another.

I like Mismatch because I was informed of how different some places can be, compared to where we live. I was so accustomed to seeing certain things here, that I had not imagined the possibility of different things happening in other areas.

11th Grade Student

California

I would say that the main thing that I liked about it was getting the opportunity to have an actual conversation with people, without any distractions. Especially because many teenagers who live in this generation often prefer to use their phones instead of talking to people around them.

9th Grade Student

North Carolina

They were all researching [the other students' hometown] after the call ended because they were curious to learn more about the area the students live in.

Jessica M, 11th Grade Teacher

New York

Build a better world one conversation at a time.

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With Mismatch, students talk to other students across the country, inspiring them to connect beyond their immediate world and build a healthy democracy - without leaving the classroom.

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To help middle school or high school students better understand algorithms, I would pair students up and have them use their own devices, preferably their Smartphones, to research an assigned topic on Google. I would have students compare and contrast their search results. I would then show students the attached video from PBS to help them better understand algorithms

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How Much Do Social Media Algorithms Control You? | Above the Noise | PBS LearningMedia

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The content you see on a given social media app isn't random - it's curated content specifically made for you. And it is curated by recommendation algorithms. These algorithms are designed to keep you on the social media app you are using for as long as possible and they do that by learning what you like and showing you more of that type of content.

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To help students understand confirmation bias, I recommend showing students the attached video.

Confirmation bias often means people ignore or leave out information that doesn't support their own thoughts or perspectives. Confirmation bias can also cause people to discredit any information or sources that support different perspectives than their own. This can lead to narrowed perspectives, preventing people from seeing the issue as a whole. It can also lead to poor decision-making. Confirmation bias may lead people to ignore available evidence which can lead to inaccurate assumptions. It can also cause polarized views, where issues are viewed as one extreme verses another, without any room for overlap. Confirmation bias can also lead to increased hostility as people become less willing to hear or understand opposing viewpoints. (Linkedin, 2023)

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#7 Why Do We Tend To Seek Out Information That Confirms Our Beliefs? #cognitivebiases

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How to Prevent Confirmation Bias Culture in Your Classroom 

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How to Prevent Confirmation Bias Culture in Your Classroom 

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It is important for teachers to avoid their own confirmation biases when instructing students, as students learn not only from what we say, but also from what we do. Below are tips from LinkedIn for teachers to use inside and outside their classrooms to avoid confirmation bias.

1. Seek out diverse perspectives- Actively seek out diverse perspectives from multiple sources. Have conversations with people who have differing opinions than you do. Confirmation bias thrives when we only subscribe to information that confirms our existing beliefs.

2. Challenge your assumptions- Everyone has assumptions that they bring to the table. To prevent confirmation bias, it is important to be aware of these assumptions and to remember to ask yourself the following questions: "What evidence do I have to support this assumption?" and " What evidence do I have that contradicts this assumption?"

3. Gather all evidence available- Make an effort to read all available evidence, especially that of thinking that doesn't agree with your existing thinking.

4. Be open-minded- Confirmation bias relies on ignoring beliefs/perspectives that differ from yours. Be open when hearing differing ways of thought and consider all new information- even information that doesn't confirm your existing beliefs.

5. Engage in critical thinking- Look at evidence objectively and consider differing explanations for encountered information. Question all information and consider all possible explanations without taking information at surface value.

(LinkedIn, 2023)

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To get staff talking about confirmation bias, filter bubbles and echo chambers, consider modifying talking points from Living Room Conversations. A staff that is aware of and examines their own confirmation biases, filter bubbles and echo chambers are better prepared to help students examine their own confirmation bias, filter bubbles and echo chambers. The organization supports consumers changing questions to fit their needs as long as credit is given to Living Room Conversations. " Living Room Conversations works to heal society by connecting people across divides - politics, age, gender, race, nationality, and more – through guided conversations proven to build understanding and transform communities." (Living Room Conversations, 2023) See the attached question guide.

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Filter Bubble Lesson from Commonsense Education 

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Filter Bubble Lesson from Commonsense Education 

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This lesson shows students that their social media feeds and friends' posts tend to show them information that they already agree with. This lesson helps students understand filter bubbles and algorithms and how to see beyond them.

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Filter Bubble Trouble | Common Sense Education

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How can filter bubbles limit the information we’re exposed to? Check out Filter Bubble Trouble, a free digital citizenship lesson plan from Common Sense Education, to get your grade 12 students thinking critically and using technology responsibly to learn, create, and participate.

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Lesson on Confirmation Bias from Commonsense Education

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Lesson on Confirmation Bias from Commonsense Education

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This lesson helps students to recognize when they use their confirmation bias when reading news articles to seek out information that we already think we know. This lesson will teach students to explore opposing opinions and ideas and to avoid coming to questionable conclusions.

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Our brains are great at using past experiences to make quick decisions on the fly, but these shortcuts can also lead to bias. "Confirmation bias" is our brain's tendency to seek out information that confirms things we already think we know. Help your students learn to recognize this when they encounter news online, as a way to examine competing opinions and ideas and to avoid drawing questionable conclusions.

Define confirmation bias and identify why it occurs.

Explore examples of confirmation bias, particularly related to news and online information.

Identify strategies for challenging their own confirmation biases.

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Challenging Confirmation Bias | Common Sense Education

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How can we challenge our own confirmation bias? Check out Challenging Confirmation Bias, a free digital citizenship lesson plan from Common Sense Education, to get your grade 10 students thinking critically and using technology responsibly to learn, create, and participate.

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There is more content online than any one person can consume. One of the reasons AI algorithms were created was to filter information to you that will appeal to you. While this can be helpful, it can also be just as harmful. Only receiving one side of a story puts people in filter bubbles and supports confirmation bias. This can lead to one-sided thinking and beliefs. This lesson helps students to think critically on how AI algorithms are both helpful and and harmful.

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In a world filled with more content than we could ever possibly consume, recommendation algorithms have long been a necessary part of the internet. This type of AI helps determine what we see (and don't see) online. But while that can be helpful, these algorithms can have unintended consequences, like creating filter bubbles, perpetuating bias, and undermining our creativity, choices, and opportunities. Use this lesson to help your students think critically about how AI is shaping their experiences online in both helpful and harmful ways.

For more AI-related lessons, check out the AI Literacy lesson collection.

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AI Algorithms: How Well Do They Know You? | Common Sense Education

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How does artificial intelligence influence what we see online? Check out AI Algorithms: How Well Do They Know You?, a free digital citizenship lesson plan from Common Sense Education, to get your grade 6,7,8,9,10,11,12 students thinking critically and using technology responsibly to learn, create, and participate.

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If you are looking to educate yourself more on filter bubbles and how they are impacting the way modern-day people think, or perhaps even to start a book club with other teachers, consider reading The Filter Bubble: How the New Personalized Web is Changing What We Read and How We Think by Eli Pariser. Pariser's book looks at how algorithms can defeat the free flow of ideas that the Internet was created to provide. This book can be purchased from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. The audiobook may be purchased from Audible or Apple Books.

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Drawing on interviews with both cyber-skeptics and cyber-optimists, from the co-founder of OK Cupid, an algorithmically-driven dating website, to one of the chief visionaries of U.S. information warfare, THE FILTER BUBBLE tells the story of how the Internet, a medium built around the open flow of ideas, is closing in on itself under the pressure of commerce and "monetization." It peeks behind the curtain at the server farms, algorithms, and geeky entrepreneurs that have given us this new reality, and investigates the consequences of corporate power in the digital age.

THE FILTER BUBBLE reveals how personalization could undermine the internet's original purpose as an open platform for the spread of ideas, and leave us all in an isolated, echoing world. But it is not too late to change course. Pariser lays out a new vision for the web, one that embraces the benefits of technology without turning a blind eye to its negative consequences, and will ensure that the Internet lives up to its transformative promise.

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Drawing on interviews with both cyber-skeptics and cyber-optimists, from the co-founder of OK Cupid, an algorithmically-driven dating website, to one of the chief visionaries of U.S. information warfare, THE FILTER BUBBLE tells the story of how the Internet, a medium built around the open flow of ideas, is closing in on itself under the pressure of commerce and "monetization."

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Check out the Unlearning Playground's episode about confirmation bias. The podcast is hosted by Chetan Narang, who has a degree in software engineering but considers himself as a life coach, teacher and philosopher.

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‎The Unlearning Playground: 0025 - 3 ways to be less biased in your daily life | Understanding and correcting confirmation bias on Apple Podcasts

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‎Show The Unlearning Playground, Ep 0025 - 3 ways to be less biased in your daily life | Understanding and correcting confirmation bias - Jan 12, 2023

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Wishing you had learned media literacy skills in school? If you do, give this podcast a listen! Leading experts and teachers explain and discuss media literacy and give suggestions on how it should be taught.

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Earlier this year, we asked you what you wish you'd learned in school, but didn't.

Our series, "In Case You Missed It," dives into these topics with leading experts and educators so we can help catch you up. As part of the series, we'll talk about civics and finance and nutrition.

But today, we're getting into all that you didn't learn in school about media literacy and critical thinking.

Here's how Tammy from Minnesota put it:

"I think they need to teach critical thinking in school and it should be a separate unit but it should be applied throughout all the other classes in history and science and it applies to everything. Part of the problem we have I think in society, in general, is people accept what they're told without questioning it and that's a problem because clearly, people are told lies."

Critical thinking skills are at the heart of media literacy - and there's a movement to make media literacy a requirement in schools across the country. Last year, Illinois became the first state to pass a law requiring it in all high schools.

We discuss media literacy and how it should be taught. We also discuss what you need to know if you didn't learn about it in school.
Like what you hear? Find more of our programs.

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In Case You Missed It: Media Literacy 101 : 1A

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Our series, "In Case You Missed It," dives into topics you maybe wish you'd learned in school. We speak with leading experts and educators so we can help catch you up. In this episode, we're getting into all that you didn't learn in school about media literacy and critical thinking.

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National Association for Media Literacy Education,  or NAMLE, and a Podcast

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National Association for Media Literacy Education,  or NAMLE, and a Podcast

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Matt Jordan, from the podcast, News Over Noise, speaks with NAMLE executive director Michelle Ciulla Lipkin and Education Manager Megan Fromm about media literacy education.

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U.S. Media Literacy Week Special Edition - News Literacy Initiative

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In this special U.S. Media Literacy Week edition of News Over Noise, Matt Jordan speaks with NAMLE Executive Director Michelle Ciulla Lipkin and Education Manag

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The resources on this page can be used by teachers and/or students. Curated by Media Smarts, and organization out of Canada, there are resources for learning how to think critically, spotting fake news, suggestions to follow when spotting fake news and so much more.

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We've released three new videos and tip sheets to help you Break the Fake. These new resources share tips on:

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Learn the difference between these two important vocabulary terms and learn how to spot each!

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The real ‘fake news’: how to spot misinformation and disinformation online | CBC News

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So you think a story or photo you’ve seen online might be fake - or exaggerated. Here’s what you need to know about fake news online. First tip - stop calling it fake news.

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Classroom Lesson: Help Students Determine if Something Online is Really Worth Sharing

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Classroom Lesson: Help Students Determine if Something Online is Really Worth Sharing

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In this lesson, students are provided with a variety of news articles, some real, some fake. Students use a flow chart to determine which of the articles are worth sharing via their social media feeds and which are not.

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Students answer questions in an informational poster to gauge the value of a news story and decide whether it deserves to be linked, shared or retweeted. (Poster also available for download in Spanish, Japanese and Ukrainian.)

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Classroom Lesson: How to Spot Breaking News and Missing Information 

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Classroom Lesson: How to Spot Breaking News and Missing Information 

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This lesson from Common Sense Education helps students understand what they're seeing when they receive a notification on their device of breaking news. This lesson helps students develop a critical eye that can detect incorrect and/or incomplete information.

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With mobile phone alerts, social media updates, and 24/7 news cycles, it's hard to escape the daily flood of breaking news. But do kids really understand what they're seeing when stories first break? Help students analyze breaking news with a critical eye for false or incomplete information, and discuss the downsides of our "always-on" news media culture.

Define breaking news, and understand why individuals and news outlets want to be first to report a story.

Analyze breaking news alerts to identify clues of false or incomplete information.

Reflect on the consequences of reacting right away to breaking news alerts.

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How should we react to breaking news? Check out This Just In!, a free digital citizenship lesson plan from Common Sense Education, to get your grade 8 students thinking critically and using technology responsibly to learn, create, and participate.