Apr 16, 2017
An echo chamber is an environment where you only hear viewpoints that already agree with your own opinion. You shout into the cave and the echo comes back. You are rarely challenged because everyone else in your community tends to think in a similar way to you. It is a place that lacks thought diversity.
It is also a concept that is not very well understood in the real world. It needs further research. It is unlikely that anyone lives in a ‘pure’ echo chamber. There are even disagreements about whether the internet has amplified or contracted echo chambers.
However, given how many were surprised by the political events of 2016, it seems that echo chambers exist more than they did previously and having severely negative consequences. Many people want to get out of their echo chamber.
Alice Thwaite is using technology to challenge our world view through reporting stories that don’t commonly pop up on their social media feeds, newspapers or goes against the current narrative. Alice created the Echo Chamber Club
Alice created the Echo Chamber Club to bring some much-needed balance and debate into a world where people reside in their own personalised bubble. The simple concept has captured the imagination of the global community who can tune into a new way of thinking through email, WhatsApp and their podcast.
The success of the club despite having no marketing nor ad spend illustrates how there is a real thirst for a solution to the problems created by filter bubbles and echo chambers.
I invited Founder and Editor-in-Chief Alice Thwaite of the Echo Chamber Club onto the show to find out more.