Increasing Interconnection is Breeding Ideological Isolation
Written by Kole Kemple
Graphics by Sophie Taylor
An opinion I have become very passionate about in the last few weeks is that the “following” page on TikTok is severely underrated. Hearing the same sound or consuming the same type of content on my “for you page” has not been doing it for me, so I’ve worked to curate a following feed hosted by creators who produce content I haven’t gotten bored from yet. When I went to tell one of my friends about this during our weekly library debriefs, I gave an example of a trend that had been finding its way on my for you page for what felt like every other video. Though I admit I did originally find the trend funny, there were only a few times the dancing dogs from the Barbie movies could make me laugh before it got tired. Despite the dogs being all over my feed, my friend laughed in response and told me she had never seen a video like what I was describing.
This discussion between my friend and I turned into a more in-depth comparison between the content we consume on social media, and I left the conversation unable to move past the different experiences we had each had on the same app. Now in no way was the idea of algorithms or customized content “mind-blowing” to me, but I just found the lack of overlap between my friend and I interesting. It seemed as if we had both obtained random kernels of knowledge from these algorithms that were foreign to the one of us who had not come across that trend. This line of thinking led me to assess the type of people fronting the content I was consuming later that night.
I’ve written for Unfiltered before about the importance of being cognitive with who you consume news from, and how important it is to diversify your sources, so the conclusion I came to about my own digital consumption habits did come as a surprise. I am proud that I don’t just consume content from one type of person, and have people from different areas in the world, with different body types, views, and expressions that have become staples of my following feed, but the differences in what my friend and I consumed were still stark. Though the palette of consumers I support is variegated, the type of recreational content I had sought out was more one-note.
As a lot of us have become increasingly aware of, the digitalization of communication has promoted an environment of overall interconnectedness that allows us to acquire perspectives that previously hosted various physical boundaries to get to. Just this morning, within three swipes, I saw content from three different creators all living in different places, thousands of miles away from me. This whole idea of digital interconnectedness is what made the idea of social media so popular in the first place; the ability to communicate with people and share ideas, stories, and products without the obstacles of physicality has long hooked us and continues to promote globalization. However, though all this is true, it is also true that this digital interconnectedness also breeds mental and ideological isolation that often goes unnoticed.
Though this result isn’t necessarily new, I think it helps to put the dramatics of it in perspective by looking at a semi-recent example many of us can relate to. The beginning few months of the COVID-19 pandemic consequently forced isolation on many of us as we tried our best to be safe. This change of lifestyle blocked us from human interaction and caused us to turn to the next best alternative: digital communication. I was a sophomore in high school when quarantine hit its peak in my area, and I remember being on social media more than ever before. With regular responsibilities being minimized or put on hold due to the circumstances, my new free time welcomed the chance for me to further engross myself in online culture. Though many of my interests have developed and changed since then, early 2020 is when I can first trace back to when I sort of fell into my online “niche.”
I think a lot of us sort of found corners of the internet where we felt most comfortable during this time. Using what we could, we developed our interests and passions through connecting with others who shared them. Since then, I have noticed an increase in hyperfixation related content, where a certain audience bonds over their shared, often temporary, love for a certain product, hobby, or lifestyle. I think, more than anything, the quarantine era of the pandemic taught us how to best filter in the content we enjoy, and this idea of sticking with things that do interest us has stuck.
Circling back to the discussion I had with my friend, the different sides of the internet we were experiencing testified to me just how loyal we had each stayed to our “corner” of the internet. While I had originally thought the content I was consuming was widening my perspective because of the creators I got it from, the knowledge I had gained from it was isolated to me and the other people attracted to similar content. Recreationaly, I don’t think this has to necessarily be framed as a bad thing; as long as the content we are seeking out is not harmful to others, sticking to what we enjoy is something that promotes personal satisfaction, as recreational activities should. This being said, I think that the interconnectedness of social media is sometimes falsely advertised, and it can be dangerous to only communicate with people so like minded.
The power of algorithms is something that has been put under close inspection lately, and it’s something so convenient to digital consumers, its criticisms are often swept under the rug. Taken in the context of this discussion of ideological isolation, the algorithm’s content suggestions for us are able to significantly affirm our knowledge. Let’s take the recent results of the 2023 Grammy Awards as an example. If you are a Harry Styles fan, chances are you finished watching the ceremony extremely satisfied with “Harry’s House” winning album of the year, whereas if you were a Beyoncé fan, for instance, you likely felt the opposite. For everyone interested in pop culture, their social media feeds were probably filled with opinions regarding the Grammys the next day, the difference between the Harry Styles and Beyoncé fans, however, were the opinions being presented to them. For the Harry Styles fans, the Grammy related content they consumed post-ceremony was positive, for the most part, leading them to believe the general public agreed with his win. Beyoncé fans, on the other hand, probably felt affirmed in their belief that their favorite artist deserved the award due to the mass amount of content they consumed that made it seem as if the public was unhappy with the award show’s outcome. Unless these two types of fans were to talk with each other, they would feel confident the general public felt a certain way about the Grammys, when neither was necessarily true.
This low stakes example serves the purpose of showing just how easily one can feel confident in their beliefs and ideas because of the corners of the internet they consume content from. This outcome can have real-world implications when it comes to more serious topics of current events such as politics and natural disasters. Public opinion regarding a politician's performance, for example, can be perceived very differently between different audiences of social media consumers, and arguments and beliefs can then be built based upon false understandings. The idea of the dangers of algorithms is more known when it comes to how we consume news, and it’s easy to see the differing views those who watch CNN compared to Fox News, for example, have. The long term effects digital consumption habits can have on those who are isolated by their recreational consumption and those ignorant to other news sources mirror each other in a serious way.
No matter the context, finding satisfaction from only certain corners of the internet breeds ideological isolation, and therefore, consequently makes people more close minded to new ideas or sources. Though this exists as a spectrum, it remains true that being so comfortable in certain niches makes it more difficult to adapt to others. As someone who values my little corner of the internet, I feel simply having conversations with others who are familiar with different types of content easily combats this effect.
There is no shame in sticking to what you love, as long as you don’t allow yourself to become closed off to other perspectives or new things. Understanding that the implications of ideological isolation differ among the contexts of media consumed is imperative to responsibly affirming understandings and beliefs.