Abstract:
The existence of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit has allowed for increasing and global interconnectivity of both social interaction and news consumption. This thesis explores the formation of self-segregation ideological communities online called echo chambers, and their potential role in worsening elite polarization in modern American politics. Through a literature review concerning the role of expanding media choice, media effects, and social pressures in shaping political behavior, and a multi-month case study of an online echo chamber, this thesis concludes that social media websites are an influence worth consideration.
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