What a Filter Bubble Is
Launch library · evergreen read
A filter bubble describes the narrowing effect that happens when a feed, tuned to show you more of what you already engage with, gradually surrounds you with content that reflects an increasingly narrow slice of perspectives, rather than a broad or representative sample of what exists more widely across a given topic.
This narrowing is not usually a deliberate choice by the viewer. It emerges naturally from a system optimising for engagement, since content that confirms existing views tends to generate more comfortable, sustained attention than content that challenges them, even without any intention to isolate anyone from a wider range of views.
Recognising a filter bubble does not require abandoning personalised feeds altogether, but it does mean staying aware that a feed reflects your own past behaviour back at you, and deliberately seeking out different sources occasionally, rather than mistaking the bubble for the whole picture of what is actually happening.