Can artists burst filter bubbles?
One of my favourite things about social media is that we get the ability to take a glimpse into the lives of our favourite musicians, actors, and celebrities. Personally, I am an avid music fan and I follow HUNDREDS of musicians and bands on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. There are some days when I don’t see a single post in any of my feeds from anyone I actually know, and instead I see endless amounts of posts about which concert dates have just been announced in Toronto, or which albums are coming out this month. The celebrities I follow definitely have definitely made an impact in what I see online. I follow a lot of popular female artists, so I see a lot of the #MeToo and #TimesUp campaign. I see a lot of posts about women’s marches, and a lot of Hillary Clinton supporters. I am sure I’m not the only one with similar experiences.
Social media has empowered everyone to live in their own filter bubbles. We follow who we like, we don’t follow who we don’t like. It’s that simple. It’s likely that the people we follow believe in the same values and ideologies as we do ourselves. If we don’t agree with their opinions, a quick click of that unfollow button solves the problem.
Can Taylor Swift burst a filter bubble? Maybe. It depends. I definitely believe celebrities have the power to pop filter bubbles, but that can only happen if they are posting something that is different than what is already going on in your own bubble. It also comes down to how you respond to an opposing belief. Do we open our minds to an opposing belief, or are we quick to unfollow.
Personally, I am a massive fan of Katy Perry. This past election, Perry was an endorser of the Clinton campaign. She performed at fundraising concerts, the Democratic National Convention, and even went as far as dressing as Clinton for Halloween. Now for me, this didn’t affect my filter bubble. I’m sure all those sites have tracked my click-throughs to links her performances, and know everyone else I follow was also supporting her. But that also got me thinking, what if some of her fans were on the opposite side of the political spectrum?
If a Trump supporter started watching Perry’s performances, looking up speeches and events she attended, or her Instagram posts (like the one above) could this burst their filter bubble? It would probably have some sort of effect on their feeds. Maybe they would start to see the opinions of both sides instead. But like I said earlier, if you are following these artists already it’s likely that they have the same values and opinions as you. Would a Katy Perry fan also be a Trump supporter? Or would they just unfollow her once she began publicly endorsing the Clinton campaign?
Maybe that’s too much of a drastic difference in values. But I know my bubble has been popped before (or at the very least expanded). Another artist I am a fan of is Ellie Goulding. When I started following her, I didn’t know much about her at the time other than the fact that I liked her music. One thing she is passionate about is the fight against climate change. I started liking her posts, clicking on links, and reading the articles she shares. I noticed a change in my own social feeds. I started seeing other activists in my “Who to Follow” sections of Instagram and Twitter. I started seeing more articles about how to save the planet on pretty much every site I went to. I was exposed to a lot of topics that had never been in my feed before.
It all comes down to how we react to a new opinion. Do we keep following the artists and engage in their posts, do we just ignore it and keep scrolling, or do we unfollow. How did I respond to the change in my feed? I kept following Ellie, I kept liking posts, I kept reading the articles and I stayed engaged. My filter bubble had gotten a little bigger. Now I want to point out this isn’t something that was against any of my values. Just something I had never been exposed to much online. Clearly not as drastic as a Clinton vs Trump election.
Would the same reaction happen from a Trump supporter who follows Katy Perry? I can’t say for sure. Celebrities definitely have some power in bursting our filter bubbles, but our reaction to seeing a new opinion definitely plays a role in it popping too. Do we want to challenge ourselves to learn something new, and to understand a different opinion? Or do we want to stay in our comfortable bubbles and unfollow the people who we don’t agree with? If we learn to stick around and continue following artists with different opinions from ours, our filter bubbles having popping potential.
