A recent research finding by Morning Consult that only 5% of adults seeing social media posts on Facebook from those with a much different world view is recent sign of how social media can reinforce our living in “filter bubbles” – meaning a tendency to surround ourselves with likeminded people and ideas.
Way back in 2013 I wrote in my Forbes column about Eli Pariser’s insight book on this topic.
And in my blog in 2012 I cited his book and two others that warned of this tendency – The Big Sort and On Being Certain.

According to the Morning Consult study, only one-in-five adults regularly seeking out friends who have different perspectives.

As I said in my TED talk, to optimize our chance to become Opportunity Makers, with and for others, it is vital to cultivate relationships around sweet spots of shared interest, with those very different than us. That involves adopting a Mutuality Mindset. Consequently I am fascinated by The KIND Foundation’s “social media experiment” to spur us Americans to “add different perspectives to our Facebook Feeds.
To do so they offer a “Pop Your Bubble” digital tool with a “custom algorithm to give people a glimpse outside their filter bubble. Here’s a video Kind Snacks produced, of people commenting about this.

Filter Bubbles are again in the news. Last Monday Obama spoke about the dangers of being confined to one’s bubble, saying, “everyone’s listening to people who already agree with them, further reinforcing their own realities to the neglect of a common reality.” And Facebook announced an update to their “related articles” feature in an attempt to coax people out of their bubble by presenting different news stories. And Ohio Governor John Kasich also weighed in, saying “people are locked in these silos, and we only consume what we want.”

Want to “Pop Your Bubble” – taking the leap the KIND Foundation offers to “add new perspectives to your Facebook feed?