In the course of an email chat, an HP contact wrote:
I think the social psychology of blog communities is a quite an interesting subject in its own right.
His observation reminded of the way, in his sf novel Coalescent, Stephen Baxter compares (perhaps just implicitly, I can’t remember) the mutual reinforcement (and rejection) which takes place online with the use of pheromone signals in an anthill.
Today there’s an interesting piece in the Observer on online communities – do read it all. Its main premise is that the internet, rather than promoting a genuine exchange of ideas, encourages people to remain in comfortable echo chambers, and discourages more nuanced positions He cites Cass Sunstein’s observation that the internet, in enabling people to find like-minded but isolated others, may encourage polarisation and isolation from alternative perspectives:
In other words, virtual communities, unlike physical communities that are under constant pressure to compromise, are at risk of a tendency to organise around confirmatory bias.
Beaumont goes on to suggest that the partisan and even aggressive nature of online debate may encourage some to duck out, and others to beef up their own rhetoric in order to keep up.
I found the idea that we tend to be more tolerant in the real than the virtual world convincing – I’ve slightly gone off some RW acquaintances in virtual environments where their political views are revealed in all their uncongenial starkness.
Matt Hill touches on similar concerns as those raised by Beaumont here, describing the processes of confirmation bias in relation to I/P.
At first I may approach the conflict with the simple motive of discovering the truth. But once I’ve decided one side is more sinned against than sinning – once I’ve picked a team – there’s a slight shift in my motives. I’ll tend to rationalise wrongdoing on my ‘own’ side and focus on criticising the ‘other’ side. After all, my job is to advance the cause of my own team – because they’re the good guys, right?
That seems a reasonable observation. I think Beaumont is a little pessimistic though. The bad temper on display in the blogosphere may not be welcome, but it is evidence that blogs aren’t really (mostly) echo chambers.
