Karlsen Rune, Steen-Johnsen Kari, Wollebæk Dag, Enjolras Bernard
Institute for Social Research, Norway.
Eur J Commun. 2017 Jun;32(3):257-273. doi: 10.1177/0267323117695734. Epub 2017 Apr 3.
In this article, we take issue with the claim by Sunstein and others that online discussion takes place in echo chambers, and suggest that the dynamics of online debates could be more aptly described by the logic of 'trench warfare', in which opinions are reinforced through contradiction as well as confirmation. We use a unique online survey and an experimental approach to investigate and test echo chamber and trench warfare dynamics in online debates. The results show that people do indeed claim to discuss with those who hold opposite views from themselves. Furthermore, our survey experiments suggest that both confirming and contradicting arguments have similar effects on attitude reinforcement. Together, this indicates that both echo chamber and trench warfare dynamics - a situation where attitudes are reinforced through both confirmation and disconfirmation biases - characterize online debates. However, we also find that two-sided neutral arguments have weaker effects on reinforcement than one-sided confirming and contradicting arguments, suggesting that online debates could contribute to collective learning and qualification of arguments.
在本文中，我们对桑斯坦等人关于在线讨论发生在回音室的说法提出质疑，并认为在线辩论的动态过程更恰当地可以用“堑壕战”逻辑来描述，在这种逻辑中，观点通过矛盾以及证实得到强化。我们采用独特的在线调查和实验方法来研究和测试在线辩论中的回音室和堑壕战动态。结果表明，人们确实声称会与持有与自己相反观点的人进行讨论。此外，我们的调查实验表明，证实性和矛盾性论点对态度强化有相似的影响。总体而言，这表明回音室和堑壕战动态——即态度通过证实偏差和证伪偏差都得到强化的情况——是在线辩论的特征。然而，我们还发现，双边中立论点对强化的影响比单边证实性和矛盾性论点要弱，这表明在线辩论可能有助于集体学习和对论点的限定。
