Breaking the Bubble: The Key for Students This Election Season
In a world where we all have unprecedented access to information, isn't it strange that the diversity of opinions that we are exposed to is actually lowerthan it's ever been? This isn't an accident- activist and author Eli Pariser has actually coined a term for it: the "filter bubble."
"Filter bubble" is the term Pariser uses to refer to the unique information bubble we all inhabit online. It's the collection of the people ororganizations we "friend" on Facebook or "follow" on Twitter. Not surprisingly, this doesn't tend to represent the most diverse range of opinions. If I ama Trump supporter, chances are that I am seeing a lot of things online that tell me why Trump is the right candidate for me; and vice versa if I am aHillary supporter. To top it all off, the algorithms that Google, Facebook, and other companies use to personalize my web experience just make this lack ofdiversity worse, e.g. Hillary lovers get more Hillary served into their feed, and Trump lovers get more Trump.
Pariser goes on to refer to this lack of diversity in what we see online as "information junk food", a situation where the internet is giving us what itthinks we want to see, not necessarily what we need to see to be informed and engaged citizens. According to Pariser, we need to balance "informationdessert" (the things that Google and Facebook think is most relevant for us) with "information vegetables" (things that are uncomfortable, challenging, orthat show us an alternate viewpoint.) This is what Pariser refers to as a "balanced information diet."
I'm concerned that increasingly our political viewpoints in this country are falling prey to the "filter bubble". Polarization isn't new in Americanpolitics, but it seems like we used to have more ways to come together with those who had different opinions. As more and more of our conversation movesonline, this isn't necessarily the case any more. If we all live in "filter bubbles" of our own making,we ultimately have no path to understand; if we can't understand we can't empathize; if we can't empathize we can't compromise; and if we can'tcompromise we stagnate as a nation and as a people.
My biggest concern isn't adults who live in their "filter bubbles"- it's our young people. Teenagers in particular are at a formative stage in their liveswhere they should be exposed to all different types of opinions. It is this process of hearing, evaluating and synthesizing different viewpoints thatallows them to grow as people and as citizens.
Parents and teachers obviously have a huge role to play in exposing our students to different viewpoints. At Envision, we are trying to help by providingin-depth, student led, non-partisan coverage of the inaugural process through our Chase the Race 2016 program as well as bringing together over 3,000students to participate in the 2017 Presidential Inauguration Leadership Summit , a one of a kind chance to celebrate diversity of ideas.
At the Summit, students from across the country and the political spectrum will be coming together in Washington DC to witness the inauguration of our newPresident. Most importantly, they will be working as part of a "Delegation for Change", a group of 5-7 students who will be spending time at the Summitadvocating for and problem solving around a specific cause that they believe will be of critical importance in the new presidential term. The best ideaswill be recognized as part of the Summit, and a compilation of all of the ideas will be sent to the new President and the heads of Congress. And the eventpromises to be diverse- the speakers at the event span the political universe (from Martin O'Malley to Carly Fiorina) and students who have registered todate are evenly split between "red" and "blue" areas of the country.
In short, at Envision we believe that it's never been more important for students to make their voices heard about what's important to them and to hear theviewpoints of those who don't think like them. The key to their growth as leaders is giving them a safe forum to collaborate and help solve the problems oftomorrow.
Written By Duncan Young
Chief Executive Officer
Envision Experience