Review article

How Does Social Media Feed Our Beliefs?

Ivan Živanović

Abstract

Nowadays, social media has become part of the daily routine for most people. Recently, it has also become the main source of news for many people, and as such, it could influence their beliefs in real life. It is known that social media has become a place where misinformation is spread and where governments try to influence their citizens. This review examines the processes by which social media may affect our beliefs. In general, beliefs are formed based on heuristics - mental shortcuts which, although adaptive, reveal flaws in our reasoning that can lead to unwanted biases. One of them is the mere exposure effect, often used in marketing for changing attitudes about certain products. Others, such as confirmation bias and bandwagon effects, are encouraged by the way social media platforms work (e.g., algorithms recommending personalized content). All of these can result in illusory truth effects, encouraging the spread of misinformation. The combination of these innate biases and the way social media works, creates echo chambers, situations where we are only presented with information we already believe in. Attempts at reducing these effects are discussed as well, such as designing digital nudges, flagging suspicious content, and reducing the data shared on platforms.

Keywords

belief change; confirmation bias; heuristics; marketing; social media

Hrčak ID:

304047

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/304047

Publication date:

1.11.2022.

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