Democracy calls for a society where citizens understand each other's viewpoints. However, a rising trend has led to individuals becoming more isolated within their own informational "bubbles."

An echo chamber is a social circle where specific beliefs or opinions are amplified by repetition while contradicting views are less frequently heard. This strengthens the members' existing views and makes them feel confident about expressing them. They also become less critical and feel pressurized to suppress differing viewpoints.

• For example, if a group of friends constantly discusses their love for classic literature, they might disregard or even belittle contemporary works. Over time, this creates an echo chamber where the preference for classic literature is the accepted norm, and any differing views are suppressed or discredited.

An epistemic bubble and an echo chamber are often confused. While both restrict exposure to differing views, an echo chamber actively undermines those views. Moreover, exposure to conflicting evidence can shatter an epistemic bubble, but in an echo chamber, this often reinforces the existing views.

Filter bubbles result from the customized online content delivered by search engines and social media platforms. These bubbles form based on user information like search history, location, and past clicks. This can lead to a cultural or ideological isolation where users only see content they 'like'.

• Consider a student interested in climate change. If she often reads articles or watches videos about climate change, her Google search results and Facebook news feed will be populated with more of this content, thus creating a filter bubble.

Echo chambers and filter bubbles can have adverse effects on democratic outcomes such as elections and on civic discourse. However, the magnitude of this impact is still debated.

Echo chambers and filter bubbles are seen as contributors to political polarization and misinformation spread. But another argument posits that the problem lies in our behavior - the people we associate with and the news we respond to.

For instance, Eli Pariser warns about intellectual isolation caused by filter bubbles, while David Robson suggests that social media increases the diversity of perspectives encountered online.

• Pariser's example about Google search results for "Egypt" differing between two individuals based on their search history demonstrates the effect of filter bubbles.

• On the other hand, Robson cites studies showing that social media users, while exposed to more polarized news, also encounter opposing viewpoints, leading to a more varied "media diet."

It's noted that people often resort to "motivated reasoning," i.e., dismissing evidence that disagrees with their beliefs due to their attachment to their political identities. This can be seen in the emotive words used by Republicans in online posts when exposed to more liberal viewpoints, a characteristic of echo chambers.

There's also a psychological concept known as "self-licensing." People feel they've earned the right to prejudice because they've shown open-mindedness in the past. This further solidifies the echo chamber.

• For example, individuals who supported Barack Obama in the 2008 US Presidential election were found more likely to express potentially racist views subsequently, exhibiting self-licensing.