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Alexander J. Stewart

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    Civic Ed

    Here’s what happens when political bubbles collide

    Alexander J. Stewart
    Joshua B. Plotkin
    September 16, 2019
    Image of echo chambers and information gerrymandering.

    Information gerrymandering occurs when there is asymmetry in how bubbles collide. In the example shown at the bottom, the blue party has split its influence, so that some members are open to persuasion from the red party.

    Image courtesy: Alexander J. Stewart and Joshua B. Plotkin

    Stewart is an assistant professor of Mathematical Biology at the University of Houston. Plotkin is a professor of Biology at the University of Pennsylvania.

    Social media has transformed how people talk to each other. But social media platforms are not shaping up to be the utopian spaces for human connection their founders hoped.

    Instead, the internet has introduced phenomena that can influence national elections and maybe even threaten democracy.

    Echo chambers or "bubbles" – in which people interact mainly with others who share their political views – arise from the way communities organize themselves online.

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