![]() Social media, however, is governed by complex algorithms that subsequently dictate what feeds and news items appear as we scroll through our social media channels. One recent study by the Pew Research Center found that an estimated 61 percent of Millennials gather their news principally through their social media feeds. This closed loop system of information not only reinforces existing views and ideas, but can also lead to confirmation bias, social polarization, and unfortunate examples of extremism. For example, while a simple Google search related to a hot button topic such as Central American migration might allow people to explore a diversity of viewpoints that consider this issue from a variety of angles, the internet also allows people to bunker down and only seek out information that coincides or overlaps with their own belief patterns on any given issue. While the internet opened up seemingly limitless opportunities for wider access to news and information, it also allowed individuals and groups to select which information they would access. The term “echo chamber” was originally coined as a figurative description of what happens when an individual or group´s belief systems were reinforced and buttressed by continued communication and repetition within a closed system. While the internet was originally heralded as the “great unifier” of humanity, today the proliferation of echo chambers has perhaps diminished our collective ability to relate with people whose beliefs and ideologies differ from our own. This need for uniformity and homogeneity is a fitting description of modern-day society, and is exacerbated by the connectedness that internet technology offers. One of the primary characteristics of autism, which is caused by a surplus of synapses between brain cells, is the need for sameness. The recently deceased scientist and cosmologist, Stephen Hawking, once said ( via Twitter, appropriately), that “we are all now connected by the internet, like neurons in a giant brain.” What he didn’t mention, however, is what type of brain connected us all. ![]()
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