‘Facebook study shows that you — not an algorithm — are your own worst enemy’ – ‘Mashable’

Andrew Freedman says, “When it comes to walling ourselves off from opposing political views using social media, we are our own worst enemies. That’s the conclusion of a new study by three researchers affiliated with Facebook, published today in the prominent journal Science.

The study examined data from 10.1 million Facebook users to find out how frequently we’re exposed to stories from people with political views different than our own. There are, it turns out, concrete reasons why our newsfeeds look like they do. Stand back, Facebook conspiracy theorists: according to the study, we can’t blame algorithms for our newsfeeds’ tendency to turn up yet more baby pictures or Rand Paul political ads.

Instead, our likelihood of encountering content shared by people with opposing points of view depends more on the political views of our friends and what links we’re most likely to click“.

Facebook study shows that you — not an algorithm — are your own worst enemy