The Social Bubble

Grace Preuett
Sep 3, 2018 · 3 min read

Get Connected with Homophily

Homophily is the act of connecting with a group that shares the same interest or fall into the same connections as oneself (Fu, Nowak, Christakis, & Fowler, 2012). With wanting to feel connected to the world, social media feeds into the homophily of the human race by allowing them to interact and seek the attention of likes, comments, and shares. It is about that connection that satisfies that within a person.

When a person feels connected or feel that they are seen, the body releases oxytocin and dopamine which create the positivity (Seiter, 2016). A person feels connected when they post something and get a reaction. Same as when they provide a reaction to another’s post. It is a natural reaction to society, to want to be heard and seen.

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Algorithms, Biases, Isolation?! OH MY!

Algorithms are a system that pays attention to what a person posts or shares and provides more content that they would be interested in and keeping things that people dislike away from their feed on social media. Cognitive bias is a systematic patter of diverting off the path of normality or rationality, creating an illogical perception of people or things. Algorithms and cognitive biases can intensify the homophily by providing all the content they want to hear and see. This can also create isolation because it is providing a person with all of the curb appeal they want without actually leaving their home or their eyes from a screen.

There are always risks to using any social platform or any platform online. Hacking, fake news, and scamming are some risks that come into play when a person allows personal information to be displayed or shared online to different sites (Humphreys, 2013). When a person is sucked into the algorithms and the isolation, they tend to forget that there are so many things that they are letting their defenses down on. One of example that is suggested is bullying. Becoming isolated gives some people fuel to bully another. This mostly happens with younger generations, in school and so forth. Kids tend to cyberbully. They feel the power behind a keyboard to reach out and pick on kids based on their interests online.

Constructive Steps

Steps to take to help prevent these risks is to keep unwanted people from being on your social platforms. Put the profile on private. Never retaliate. Kill them with kindness. Cyberbullying is a touchy subject in a lot of cases, since it has been linked to cases of suicide in teens. If things only seem to get worse, it is important to see help from an adult. If the person is an adult experience bullying online, they should report the person and contact the company of the platform.

Reference

Humphreys, S. (2013). Predicting, Securing and Shaping the Future: Mechanisms of Governance in Online Social Environments. International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics, 9(3), 247–258. doi:10.1386/macp.9.3.247_1

Fu, F., Nowak, M. A., Christakis, N. A., & Fowler, J. H. (2012). The Evolution of Homophily. Scientific Reports (Nature Publisher Group), 2, 845. doi: http://dx.doi.org.library.capella.edu/10.1038/srep00845

Seiter, C. (2016). The Psychology of Social Media: Why We Like, Comment, and Share Online. Found Online at: https://blog.bufferapp.com/psychology-of-social-media

Grace Preuett

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