I’ll give you what you want
In order to generate optimal revenue, businesses constantly attempt to determine what consumers want, and act accordingly, with a “tell me what you want and I’ll give it to you” mentality.
This phenomenon is evident in social media, where in addition to the dissemination of information, social media has increasingly been used for entertainment as well. Â In order to “improve” the user experience by giving them what they are looking for, social media companies are simultaneously able to gain more profit, creating a win-win situation.
The problem arises, however, when this entertainment takes on the form of false information, exacerbating homophily and echo-chamber situations.  As someone mentioned in class today, there were four general types of articles on Facebook during the Clinton vs. Trump campaign: true pro-Clinton/anti-Trump, false pro-Clinton/anti-Trump, true pro-Trump/anti-Clinton, and false pro-Trump/anti-Clinton.  This is especially problematic because not only do many people not take the time to even attempt to recognize the ethos of a source, but because they are often exposed only to two types of these articles, both in support of the same candidate.  As many citizens live in echo-chambers, people often hear only, or at least more of, what they want to hear.
It is also important to recognize that the concept of an echo-chamber extends outside of the political realm as well, which brings me back to another question addressed in class: Is having skewed information better than having no information at all?