Do you use social media apps such as Twitter or Tik Tok? Modern youth are exposed to information and news on social media every day at the touch of a fingertip. Whilst this access to news may appear as a positive effect on society, it has introduced political polarisation in viewers. Social media application “Tik Tok” exploits this concept as it enhances the echo chamber effect. This unseen effect has a drastic impact on the users, communities and even political events. Because of this, Tik Tok has helped deepen the world’s ideological divide, with communities splitting in 2020 at the rise of the United States presidential election and Black Lives Matter movement. The question is, “how can we as a community halt this echo chamber effect?”
Tik Tok has employed confirmation and social media bias to gain popularity and increase the echo chamber effect. Social media bias is when an application uses their algorithm to box you into a positive feedback loop which reflects your pre-existing beliefs rather than opposing values. Consequently, the notion of confirmation bias is upheld, where people tend to look for and understand information that encourages their previous beliefs. Search engines and social media platforms use these forms of bias to select engaging content for the users and gain popularity in their applications.
Chinese company Bytedance’s social media application Tik Tok has taken the world by storm, influencing many things such as reputation, music, trends and even political events. Because of their acute algorithm, which tailors a user’s feed to their interests, Tik Tok has gained popularity internationally. In their 2020 blog post, Tik Tok shares what factors determine a consumer’s feed and algorithm. “Recommendations are based on a number of factors including things like user interactions… video information… and account settings…”(Tik Tok, 2020). Increased political polarisation and echo chambers stem from this algorithm, reflecting a user's pre-existing beliefs rather than exposing them to opposing values.
Christopher Bail explores how “there is mounting concern that social media sites contribute to political polarisation by creating “echo chambers” that insulate people from conflicting views about current events”(Bail, 2018). Aware of the issue, Tik Tok explored the "risk of presenting an increasingly homogenous stream of videos"(Tik Tok, 2020). Tik Tok has explained that this is a concern that they take seriously as they uphold their algorithm. Nevertheless, their recommendation system has continued to increase political polarisation in young viewers to this day.
Tik Tok’s prejudiced ‘For You’ Page and echo chamber effect is shaping politics and large events such as the Black Lives Matter protests. Sophia Galer explores how digital activism has propelled the Black Lives Matter movement. During a global pandemic that is keeping society indoors, “people are finding innovative new ways of demonstrating their solidarity from the comfort of their screens”(Galer, 2020). Users have been employing their understanding of Tik Tok’s algorithm and positive feedback loop effect to “catapult content onto other people’s feeds (by) commenting or sharing the (video)”(Galer, 2020). As a result, the hashtag “Black Lives Matter” gained 26 billion views as the word of the protest swept across the platform, spreading the message both domestically and internationally.
Tik Tok and its echo chamber effect have shaped politics with users intercepting events and calling for change. Tik Tok is known worldwide to influence the turnout at Donald Trump’s rally in Tulsa. In a venue that can seat up to 19,000 people, only 6,000 made an appearance. The Guardian reported that this scheme arose from a “tweet from the Trump campaign promoting free registration online and via cell phones”(Grimes, 2017). As a result of their knowledge of the algorithm and the echo chamber effect, Tik Tok users boosted videos that spread the idea of false registering to the event. Consequently, a dismal turnout occurred, with Trump supporters and his administration incredibly disappointed. The influence of Tik Tok’s algorithm on political events over the world is distinct, as users exploited the echo chamber effect to support political stances.
Similar to the mass false registration drive in Tulsa, Tik Tok greatly influenced one-star rating reviews of the Official Trump 2020 App. As a reaction to Donald Trump threatening to take down Tik Tok for national security, users fought back and attempted to remove his app. In July 2020, Tik Tok activists flocked to Trump’s app and flooded it with negative reviews with the intent to get the app taken down. By July 9th, there were 216,500 one-star ratings, resulting in Trump’s administration resetting the application and its reviews. Whilst officials reported that Tik Tok was to be dismantled for national security, users believed otherwise. Darius Jackson, a Tik Tok user, stated, "I don't believe Trump is trying to take Tik Tok away because of national security, but more to retaliate against activism on the app"(Banjo, 2020). Furthermore, Jackson was one of many who used the algorithm to promote the new protest against Donald Trump. The negative reviews of the Official Trump 2020 app depict how Tik Tok’s algorithm and echo chamber effect can apply to political events across the world.
It cannot be discounted that social media is crucial in political and social justice movements. Pew Research shows that 80% of US adults believe social media platforms are effective at raising public awareness about political issues. Nevertheless, we should be wary and anxious about the negative uses of this effect. This closed-loop of information has been proven to lead to political and social polarisation, confirmation bias and in some circumstances, radicalism. Pew Research has also found that 61% of millennials receive their news through social media. This is a staggering statistic as people begin to worry about the spread of fake news and the effect of echo chambers on the public. This has even gone to the extent where Republican extremists refuse the fact that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election because their social media feed ricochets their opinions rather than exploring the opposite argument. This distortion from reality can have disastrous effects on the community and as such is a prime example of why we should perform as an active audience and be wary of media bias.
Society has to perform as an active audience who interprets the daily media to overcome echo chambers and their consequential political polarisation. Jess Davis explores how “if the companies and algorithms aren’t doing it for us… it’s up to us to regulate ourselves”(Seneca, 2020). This proves difficult though, as there is little personal incentive to seek opposing views, “other than the notion that they are poisonous to a countries democracy”(Weston, 2020). Christopher Seneca explores many ways to overcome our social media echo chamber stating that “once we acknowledge its presence, we can take steps to diminish the hold it has on our thinking”(Seneca, 2020).
Multiple methods can become mainstream to avoid positive feedback loops. The first and most important of which is to educate yourself and others about what an echo chamber is and its effects on society. It is with community engagement in which we may overcome the positive feedback loop that we experience in social media. Although it sounds easy enough to expose the public to this notion, no one enjoys having their views challenged, making it difficult to make the public aware of media outlets that show political bias and polarisation.
Consumers are also recommended to “seek disconfirmation, a term for information that actively contradicts preconceived opinions”(Seneca, 2020). It would be worthwhile to actively search for media and alternate sources which challenge your views. Consumers should also avoid fake news and instead become aware of media outlets that are not meant to have a political bias such as the ABC. Muting accounts that reflect their opinion and stopping interaction with content on social media may also assist users to block themselves from the echo chamber effect.
Although it is suggested that you follow these strategies to avoid being boxed into a positive feedback loop, “only through rigorous auditing can it be ensured that Tik Tok represents an open and unbiased arena for political communication”(Serrano, 2020). Unfortunately, Tik Tok is a very new media source and consequently, there is very little research available to understand their program, algorithm and how it induces an echo chamber effect. Additionally, the programming that leads to the echo chamber is covered by intellectual property and therefore isn’t available for public analysis.
Despite multiple strategies proposed to diminish echo chambers internationally, lack of community engagement and intellectual property will always be an issue that will halt progress from being made. Subsequently, this area requires further research to understand and prevent the positive feedback loops and their consequential political polarisation.
Tik Tok has been proven to enhance the echo chamber effect and increase political polarisation in young viewers. Tik Tok’s prejudiced algorithm has amplified this effect and confirmation bias on its users. Additionally, Tik Tok’s influence on social protest movements such as ‘Black Lives Matter’ and political events like Donald Trump’s rallies show the drastic effects of positive feedback loops. These events have not only revealed the extent of echo chambers but heightened the effects in younger viewers. As society embraces the implementation of social media applications and their underlying algorithms, we should be wary of their negative effects. Tik Tok’s echo chamber has the potential to implement drastic effects on society and as a result, the community should be aware of what it is and how they can prevent it.
