Puncturing the Echo Chamber: Designing for People in Computer-Generated Space
Brynn Anderson
The ability for social media algorithms to sort, segregate, and define the human user into various ideological groups based on digital activity, results in the echo chamber effect. This digital phenomenon functions when someone's thoughts and ideas are parrotted back to them via the content they consume online. The result of these computer-generated echo chambers are hostile digital interactions between different groups of people, manifesting in violent, aggressive and intolerant rhetoric towards others. The echo chamber effect has impacted human connection, as well as our perception of how an authentic, inclusive and diverse community is formed.
My thesis research and design making explore the concept of community building and how it differs between digital and physical spaces. I study the potential to learn from the construction of physical community through the lens of urban planners, civic leaders, and designers to foster less hostile and more diverse social interaction. My work dissects echo chambers, studies the creation of physical community, and practices interpersonal communication through design making in hopes of creating more ethical connections online. To design people-oriented digital spaces and puncture the echo chamber, it is integral to understand how we define and cultivate community.
Endless Echoes Projected
I began my thesis work by visually dissecting the term “Echo Chamber.” Endless Echoes visualizes the organism-like state of our For You Pages on Tik Tok. The ‘For You Page’ is an endless feed of videos tailored to each individual Tik Tok user. With every scroll, like, comment, share, the algorithm molds to our liking. Similar to a virus, our social media echo chambers learn and adapt in a seemingly endless cycle, always shifting with us. These Videos were obtained from 6 different participants’ Tik Tok For You Pages to reflect the varying users’ echo chambers.
Endless Echoes
Endless Echoes
Algorithms in Surveil
In order for our echo chambers to be formed, social media algorithms track our actions: liking, commenting, stalking, sharing, and others that indicate our preferences. To simulate and visualize this process, I used P5js body tracking code. Each one of my own body movements was live captured and recorded, creating a layered, continuous graphic that mimics the level of surveillance that social media has on our lives.
Social Media Unseen (Redacted)
Inspired by Studio Moniker’s project, “Anti-Selfie Club” and artist Hito Steyerl’s piece, “How Not to Be Seen,” I wanted to explore a visual response to anti-surveillance and anti-algorithm social media. Instead of using facial recognition code to track movement, what if it was used to give social media users the ability to become unseen? Utilizing my own social media accounts and P5js coding software, I envisioned an experience where our social media consumption allows for a level of privacy: redacted faces.
Designing for People in Computer Generated Space: A Guide
How do we prepare for a digital future in which echo chambers have complete control over our socialization and interaction? My capstone attempts to answer this question through a speculative kit. Utilizing printed and digital materials, the kit provides designers with a manual and objects that are associated with five key principles. These principles are integral in creating a new digital space that is best suited for people. Each one, adapted from urban planning strategies, are intended for creating more socially diverse communities that would puncture the echo chamber, and alleviate its lasting effects on human to human interaction.