Tackling Hyperpolarization Using Algorithms
Division. We currently live in a world defined by that very concept: the idea that people who hold different beliefs to ours are inherently wrong and see things through a distorted lens of their own ideals. Creating a distance between ourselves and ‘them’, deciding that a person is incompetent due to their political beliefs or personal ideologies surrounding a topic. Resulting in mistrust, ignorance and animosity within society. Have you ever noticed that the less informed you are on a topic the more inclined you are to agree with what you’re most commonly told, or what is believed by the majority of people within your community? Well, you’re not the only one.
With two in five people claiming social media to be their main source of information on current affairs it’s becoming more and more important to be conscious of the information users are exposed to. Today, the existing algorithms on many social media sites function in the manner of promoting information that you, the user, has positively engaged with in the past and information that is consistent with other users similar to you in your location. You may be able to spot the issue with this, with users only being exposed to information that favors their perspective; it affirms their original convictions and results in them viewing alternative perspectives as alien and illegitimate. Thus creating a divide between people based on belief systems and systemic ignorance created by existing media.
So how does our solution, BiasBlocker, aim to eradicate this truly pressing issue? BiasBlocker Is an API adaptable to any platform that takes the information presented to the user and gives them the option to view five other articles of a similar title but from alternative sources. This results in them having a wider understanding of alternative perspectives and ultimately the decriminalisation of ‘the other side’. So how does the algorithm work? Whenever the user is browsing on a platform where BiasBlocker has been applied the algorithm will input the original URL to a search engine and output five URL’s of the same subject matter and similar title however alternative news sources. For instance, if I was scrolling through a fox news article, BiasBlocker would suggest to me articles of the same subject matter from: CNN, The Washington Post, The NewYork Times, Breitbart and The Sun for example.
We have trialed our MVP of bias blocker through a diverse group of people and asking them to answer a questionnaire which found that 85% of people felt more adept to generate an informed decision after reading the suggested article. With a further 90% of people answering that they felt more exposed and accepting to a broader range of perspectives.
What makes our solution different from anything that currently exists? Currently, the only way to view alternative perspectives is manually searching for them and with the average person’s attention span only lasting eight seconds in addition to the current structure of media sites, The idea of enlightening yourself with alternative perspectives becomes almost impossible in a system build upon bombarding you with ideas that are agreeable. In addition to the fact that all mainstream social media sites either rely on independent fact checkers or flagging systems that have proven to be inefficient time and time again, whilst additionally not tackling the root cause of the issues, which is their structure only promoting favorable content.
One example of this would be the 9043 deaths of children under the age of five in America just last year due to the anti-vaccination movement. Or the genocide of the Myanmar muslim population adaid by their criminalisation on FaceBook. Or the misguided belief that COVID-19 precautionary measures are futile that contributed to the death of 261 thousand people in Brazil alone, where their president told people to “stop whining about the virus”. Or the misinformed idea that the 2020 election was stolen, resulting in the insurrection of one of America’s more prestiges establishments, an event that challenged the democracy of one of the most powerful countries in the world.
The idea remains that without mutual understanding the world remains divided and we, as people, lack the ability to truly live our most fulfilling lives. BiasBlocker aims to bridge the gaps created by society to build a world of understanding, collaboration and accord. So please join us on our mission to build the tomorrow you wish you had today.
-Sara Elbolock
