Why Echo Chambers are Useful
P5-01
Presented by: Ole Jann
Why do people appear to forgo information and shut themselves off from debate by sorting into "echo chambers"? We model a society in which information is dispersed and preferences are polarized. Segregation into small, homogeneous groups can then maximize the amount of communication and deliberation that takes place, thus making such segregation both individually rational and Pareto-efficient. We examine the optimal communication structure and give sufficient conditions for when it is attainable through endogenous group formation. A major problem is that people may choose to segregate too little, compared to the amount of segregation that would lead to optimal debate and deliberation. Using data from Twitter, we show several behavioral patterns that are consistent with the results of our model.