Echo Chambers In American Politics

Echo chambers are another source of polarization in American politics. In mass media, an echo chamber is defined as a “closed, non-interacting [community] centered around different narratives” (Emba). These communities are often used by “like-minded” people who have similar beliefs across different issues. (Emba). Members of these communities often “seek out information that [strengthen] their preferred narratives and [reject] information that [undermine] it” (Emba). The information that these users are likely to seek out often aligns with their political beliefs, while the information of opposing political beliefs is likely to be rejected. This is comparable to confirmation bias which is the tendency “to seek out information that confirms

This creates not only a political gap between conservatives and liberals, but also a geographical gap where demands and attitudes differ and people of both parties do not understand each other. As a consequence, political compromise becomes more difficult since conservatives and liberals do not understand the needs and problems of others with conflicting political views, and they become less willing to negotiate since they cannot comprehend why others believe in certain things (Pew Research, Political Polarization in the American Public). Consistent liberals believe that their political leaders should “get what they want” 62% of the time and consistent conservatives believe that their leaders should “get what they want” 57% of the time (Pew Research, Political Polarization in the American Public). Hence, echo chambers have increased polarization in American politics by creating social and geological differences between liberals and conservatives and by making users more likely to only observe information that aligns with their