Bias significantly impacts reasoning. It can alter how we process information and result in beliefs that do not align with evidence or logical thinking. Consequently, bias is expected to affect a person’s vulnerability to misinformation online. For example, if you strongly (the bias) believe that the Earth is flat and enclosed by a dome, you will likely remain unconvinced that the Earth is a sphere orbiting the sun, regardless of how strong the evidence for this idea is. Furthermore, you’re probably going to find plenty of ‘support’ for your belief online. Thus, bias can hinder the ability to make accurate conclusions from the information available.
Where does bias come from? It begins in the brain as we encounter information daily. In this era of constant screens and easy access to nearly everything, information overload is common. To manage this, the brain has built-in ‘guards’ to prevent being overwhelmed. Bias is one of these guards: it is a way of processing information that supports our current beliefs, expectations, or goals. This helps our brains avoid dealing with too much new information and reshaping our understanding and belief systems. Most of the time, this happens without us realizing it. As a result, bias can serve as a strong filter that skews the accuracy of incoming information. In fact, we can be so certain about some of our beliefs that we struggle to accept evidence that contradicts them.
So where does social media fit into this? Bias can filter information as well from social media channels. Social media, by its nature, has the potential to promote exposure to ideas outside these filters that people might not otherwise regularly be exposed to. When we are faced with this new information, we will many times filter it out, respond negatively, or find others that agree with our positions. This would be fine in almost any other setting. This is how humans have survived for thousands of years. But, social media is not a passive platform. It has algorithmic programming that interfaces with, analyzes, and reinforces your position on a given subject. My social media feed looks very different than most other people. In other words, the medium becomes one with you and your thoughts and opinions. It gives you more of what you talk about, what you watch, and ultimately what you want. This further confirms daily what you are so ‘certain’ about, because there is so much ‘proof’ that is ‘easily’ seen online, and its obvious to you how ‘clear’ it is. Why can’t everyone see it?
Because they don’t. They are too busy taking in their own curated feed of what they see as the real world to them. See how this works? Try swapping your phone with someone and swipe thru their social media feeds. It will look very different than yours most likely in terms of content, ads, and the videos that are fed in.
Here are a few tips that can help with being aware of your own bias, and working toward a more helpful and ethical online experience.
1– Like things more generously. The more varied the content and perspectives you like, the more variety and color will show up in your own feed.
2– Pay attention to the amount and type of followers people have when you follow them. Do they have a small amount of ‘like-minded’ followers? Or do they have a varied amount and types of followers from different places and perspectives?
3– Change feeds to focus on recency rather than personalization. Facebook and Twitter allow users to view the most recent posts first. However, this particular setting is difficult to find and often reverts without warning to the default view. Changing this setting is worth the effort. It’s amazing how you can then see posts from accounts that have been hidden for years.
To wrap up, I want to be clear, bias is normal. We have all experienced it and live with it, including me. I see it daily. But that is the point. Let’s notice it in ourselves.
Originally published here.