One of the defining features of the modern media landscape is its diversity in what sources of information and news are available online. Instead of traditional media and news corporations holding a monopoly on what information is released to the public, countless bloggers, photographers, vloggers and social media users can all contribute to the constant flow of news information. Likewise, consumers of news information are not limited to traditional channels for their news, but can access any of these new sources for the information they want. However, this can potentially lead to users only listening to information sources that align with and reinforce their own worldview, which can be even more problematic if their worldview is influenced by racist or xenophobic beliefs. In this essay I explore whether or not a combination of unregulated information spreading and selective news exposure might increase or spread xenophobia and political extremism online. I first design a survey about social media habits that I share via Facebook to see how people use social media as a channel for news information. I then interview a lecturer from the Department of Law at Umeå University about the legal ramifications of publishing and spreading hate speech online. Finally, I perform a small observation study of how different news sites prioritize which news and events they wish to publish. I arrive at the conclusion that hate speech and similar content does not usually spread to users who don’t actively seek it out, but, for those who do seek it out and agree with it, the circulation of hate speech online may embolden them in their views and make them harder to dissuade from their beliefs.

The purpose of this study is to examine if, and in that case how, students at Uppsala University are affected by their Instagram feeds and how that will influence the decisions students make in relation to a political election. In addition to this, we also intend to examine how students' perceptions of politics in a more global aspect may be affected by this. To answer the purpose, the following questions are used: - How can filter bubbles and echo chambers on Instagram affect students' opportunities to make well-informed decisions, especially in relation to political elections?  - How can students' Instagram feeds affect their perception of world politics? To receive the empirical material ten qualitative interviews are conducted. Based on the empirical material a text analysis is done. We used Jürgen Habermas theory of the Public Sphere and the theory of Selective Exposure. The result of the study is mainly that the echo chambers that exist in students' Instagram feeds have such a large impact that it cannot be claimed that they can make a completely well-informed decision. And that students' perception of the outside world gives them a more global enlightenment of the political events that take place in the outside world, while due to its filtered Instagram feeds they do not get a holistic view from all perspectives of the events. This result provides information about the effects that echo chambers and filter bubbles can have and it may be an explanation of the ongoing polarization in the global political climate.

Uppsatsen tog utgångspunkt i det trendiga begreppet postsanning som 2016 utsågs till årets ord av Oxford Dictionaries (BBC 2016). Trenden är till följd av den postfaktiskta epok vi, av många, påstått trätt in i. En epok där relationen till sanningen kommit att bli sekundär och där ett kommunicerande gentemot känslor och övertygelse kommit att bli desto viktigare. Ingenstans är detta mer tydligt än på sociala medier. Med kritisk diskursanalys som metod undersöktes Facebookgrupperna inte rasist men och #sverigeärfullt. Frågeställningarna som söktes besvaras var vilket innehåll dominerar i de två grupperna, vilka återkommande föreställningar ges uttryck för och vad är förgivettagna fakta i dessa grupper och hur produceras och reproduceras detta? Fokus för analysen handlande om hur ramverken på de båda sidorna skiljer sig åt i sin uppbyggnad till innehåll, men fann dem också förefalla snarlika i sina diskursiva praktiker. Här fokuserades på hur båda grupperna använder sig av postsanningar och bullshit för att bygga upp ramarna inom grupperna och för att ifrågasätta andra ramar som uppstår i motstånd till den rådande dito. Gruppernas eget existensberättigande tycks finnas i konflikten till den tilltänkta motparten som ofta beskrivs som förljugen och vilseledande. / The thesis centers itself on the trendy concept of post-truth, which in 2016 was named the word of the year by Oxford Dictionaries (BBC 2016). The trend emerged due to the alleged post-factual epoch we have entered. An epoch where the relationship to truth has come to be secondary and where a communication to feelings and conviction has come to be all the more important. Nowhere is this more evident than on social media. Using critical discourse analysis as a method, the Facebook groups, inte rasist men and #sverigeärfullt were analyzed. Questions that the thesis set out to answer was what content dominates in the two groups, what recurring notions are expressed and, what are the facts in these groups and how do they produce and reproduce this? The focus of the analysis was on how the frameworks in the two Facebook groups differ in their structure, but also appear similar in their discursive practices. Here, focus was on how both groups use post-truths and bullshit to build the frameworks within the groups and to question other frameworks that arise in opposition to the prevailing one. The groups' own justification exists in the conflict to the intended counterparty, which often is described as lying and being deceitful.

Digital interactivity has changed the dissemination and availability of information. Traditionally, editors have acted as gatekeepers to ensure quality information flow within the mass media. With social media, the citizen can publish and disseminate information, which has created the term citizen journalism. The goal of The Media Inquiry (Swedish government official reports) is to support freedom of expression and diversity of subject areas, which is a problem when publishers reduce pluralism in opinion. Previous research shows that scientific attention to alternative media has increased in recent years but there are few studies on content in alternative media. The purpose of the study is therefore to find out what the information environment around alternative media in Sweden looks like today: how citizen journalists discuss news topics, what areas of interest are visible, to what extent affordances are used and how tendencies towards eco-chambers is manifesting. To answer the questions, a case study has been used focusing on three Twitter accounts. A streaming API was used to capture tweets for a quantitative and qualitative content analysis of posts made on and in connection to three accounts by citizen journalists. The results showed that a significant portion of information activities are concentrated on mediating and communicating news and opinions. Areas of interest were news, social information, and criticism of power. Mentions and retweets were the most used functions and opinion-reinforcing information was a confirmation of eco-chambers.

Studien undersöker hur ungdomar som växt upp i en digital värld förhåller sig källkritiskt tillinformation de tar del av på digitala plattformar, hur medvetna de är angående personaliseringen påinternet och hur det påverkar deras flöde. Syftet med studien är att ta reda på hur unga förhåller sig tilloch upplever de uppkomna effekterna som följd av deras användande. Vidare diskuterar studien hurungdomar värderar olika typer av källor och vad deras erfarenheter eller upplevelser är av detpåverkade flödet.Undersökningen är genomförd med en kvalitativ metod genom tre stycken fokusgrupper. Empirinutgörs av datainsamling via samtal med fokusgrupper om fyra deltagare vid tre olika tillfällen. Varjesamtal varade mellan 45 - 60 minuter.Resultatet visar att respondenterna märkt av att deras flöde personaliserats men att de inte vet varföreller hur det går till. Vidare visar också resultatet att samtliga respondenter upplever att de är väldigtkällkritiska och att de pratar mycket om värdet av källkritik i skolan, men då endast förankrat tillfaktasökande. I diskussionerna togs det upp hur användaren också kan eller bör ha källkritik gentemotinfluencers, olika nyhetssajter och privatpersoner. / The study examines how young people who grow up in a digital world relate to critical information tothe information they take on digital platforms, how aware they are about personalization on theinternet and how it affects their flow. The purpose of the study is to find out how young people arerelated to and experience the effects that arise from their use. Furthermore, the study discusses howyoung people value different types of sources and what their experiences or experiences are from theinfluenced flow.The survey was conducted with a qualitative method through three focus groups. The empirical dataconsists of a collection via conversation with focus groups of four participants on three differentoccasions. Each call lasted between 45 - 60 minutes.The result shows that respondents noticed that their flow was personalized but that they do not knowwhy or how they are. Furthermore, the result shows that all respondents feel that they are very sourcecriticaland that they talk a lot about the value of source criticism in school, but then only anchored tothe fact-finding requests. In the discussions it was raised how the user may or should have sourcecriticism against influencers, different news sites and individuals.

I följande arbete kombineras Social Representation Theory (SRT) med kvantitativ innehållsanalys när politiska facebookgrupper undersöks. Fyra grupper och tolv inlägg och 164 kommentarer undersöks. Den kvantitativa innehållsanalysen visar att samtalsklimatet på politiska facebookgrupper är hårt och ganska elakt. Dessutom präglas grupperna av en viss enhällighet vad gäller åsikter och en av fyra grupper bedöms vara en ekokammare. SRT-analysen undersöker sociala representationer och visar att strategin objektifiering är den som förekommer oftast på politiska facebookgrupper. Objektifiering handlar om att göra det okända känt genom förenklande jämförelser. I exempelvis diskussioner om Sveriges covid-19 strategi så jämförs äldre svenskar med offerlamm i ett försök att kritisera Sveriges covid-19 strategi. Objektifiering förekommer även när socialism som ideologi kritiseras genom att likställas med kommunism. En annan SRT-strategi som förekom ofta var motsats förankring, vilket innebär att grupper ställs mot varandra, som när gruppen papperslösa invandrare (ej att tycka synd om) jämfördes med fattigpensionärer (att tycka synd om). / In the following work, Social Representation Theory (SRT) is combined with quantitative content analysis when political Facebook groups are examined. Four groups and twelve posts and 164 comments are examined. The quantitative content analysis shows that the conversational climate on political Facebook groups is harsh and rather nasty. In addition, the groups are characterized by a certain unanimity in terms of opinions and one in four groups is judged an echo chamber. The SRT analysis examines social representations and shows that the objectification strategy is the one that most often occurs on political Facebook groups. Objectification is about making the unknown known through simplifying comparisons. In discussions about Sweden's covid-19 strategy, for example, older Swedes are compared to sacrificial lambs in an attempt to criticize Sweden's covid-19 strategy. Objectification also occurs when socialism as an ideology is criticized by being equated with communism. Another SRT strategy that often occurred was opposing anchoring, which means that groups are pitted against each other, as when the group of undocumented immigrants (not to feel sorry for) was compared to poor pensioners (to feel sorry for).

The purpose of this study is to explore the collective identity of incels created on the incel forum incels.is from an information science perspective. This is done by studying both the cognitive information behavior of the forum members as well as the socio-cognitive information practice of the forum. Considering the incel community is online based, a netnographic approach is used. A netnographic approach relying on a non-participant observation of 86 posts made on a publicly available incel forum. Personal narratives in the posts are regarded as the cognitive information behavior of the forum members and analyzed to depict the collective identity of incels through social interactions on incels.is from the collective identity theory. By identifying the incel discussion forum as an echo chamber we explore its information practice with the theory of selective exposure. The information practice of the forum accentuates the habitualization and continuity of the values and polarization that shape the collective identity. The empirical findings show that the collective identity is based off of a polarization between in-groups and out-groups which is heavily marked by terminology and selective exclusion. The forum is a social space strictly for heterosexual males that considers their personal state of involuntary celibacy an identity that needs to be enacted socially with likeminded. The empirical findings tell that the incels believe in a societal hierarchy where they are placed at the bottom for not meeting the heteronormative ideal of beauty and therefor lack romantical and intimate experiences. The collective identity of incels on incels.is consists of evaluating common incel traits, comparing the in-group with the out-group and vent their anger towards those responsible for the men’s loneliness.

Vår studie undersöker fenomenet ekokammare och hur den manifesterar sig på svenska nyhetsmediers Facebooksidor. Vårt material består av fem opinionsartiklar från fem olika dagstidningar, samt kommentarsfält tillhörande dessa opinionsartiklar. Studiens teoretiska ramverk består av två huvudteorier: selektiv exponering och Faircloughs kritisk diskursanalytiska teori. Faircloughs kritiska diskursanalys utgör också vår huvudmetod, som vi använder för att analysera den diskursiva praktiken som sker i opinionsartiklarna och dess tillhörande kommentarsfält. Resultatet visar att en ekokammare går att tyda på nästan alla kommentarsfält, vilket kan tyda på en politisk polarisering i hur läsare konsumerar svenska nyhetsmedier. / Our study examines the phenomenon echo chamber and how it manifests itself on Facebook pages of Swedish news media. Our material consists of five opinion articles from five different Swedish newspapers, as well as the comments section connected to the opinion articles. The study’s theoretical framework consists of two main theories: selective exposure and Fairclough’s theory of critical discourse analysis. Fairclough’s critical discourse analysis also constitute as our main method, which we use to analyse the discursive practice used in opinion articles and comments sections connected to them. The result shows that an echo chamber is observable in almost all of the comment sections, which indicates a political polarization in how readers consume Swedish news media.

Den här studien undersöker hur diskussioner på ekokammare ser ut i sociala medier. Mer specifikt undersöks kommentarsfälten i två olika länkar från den sociala länkaggregatorn Reddit och underforumet /r/Politics. Undersökningen görs i syfte att se hur diskussioner tar form på Reddit för att ge en klarare bild av ekokammare som fenomen på internet. Studiens teoretiska grund ligger i teorierna om selektiv exponering och partisk assimilering, samt i en teoretisering av hur grupper formas på de sociala medierna Twitter och Reddit. Studien använder sig av både en kvantitativ innehållsanalys och en kvalitativ textanalys, vilka främst grundar sig i argumentationsanalysen. Innehållsanalysen används först för att jämföra /r/Politics användares ställningstagande till de länkar som de kommenterar på och sedan för att möjliggöra en korrelationsanalys av arguments styrka och dess användargivna poäng på Reddit. Textanalysen görs med hjälp av begrepp från argumentationsanalysen och används för att sätta in studiens material i fem olika teman. Det mest framträdande temat får namnet Kommentarer av papegojor och beskriver kommentarer som konstrueras likadant som tidigare kommentarer utan försök till att föra något nytt till diskussionen. Överlag visar studiens resultat att responsen ser likadan ut för båda länkarna och att en stor majoritet av kommentarerna är på samma sida i argumentet. Resultatet visar också att argumentens styrka är oberoende av om en kommentar får en positiv respons eller inte. / This study explores how discussions in echo chambers take form on social media. More specifically, the study explores the comment section of two different links on the social news-aggregator website Reddit and the sub-forum /r/Politics. The purpose of the aforementioned exploration is to give a clearer picture of echo chambers as a phenomena on the Internet. The study’s theoretical background is based on selective exposure and biased assimilation theory, as well as a theorization of how groups form on Twitter and Reddit. The study uses a quantitative content analysis and a qualitative text analysis, which are both based on argumentation theory. The content analysis is first used to compare the viewpoint of /r/Politics users with the subject of the links they comment on, and then to make a correlation analysis of the strength of arguments and the arguments’ user-given points on Reddit. Last a qualitative text analysis is done using concepts from argumentation theory, which allows for the observation of five different themes. The most prominent of these themes was given the name Comments by parrots and describes comments that are constructed in a similar fashion to older comments, without an attempt to bring something new to the discussion.  Overall, the study’s result shows that the response to the two links is similar, and that both have an overwhelming majority of comments supporting one side. The result also shows that a strong argument does not necessarily mean that the comment will get a positive response.

The aim of this thesis is to study how students perceive and handle internet’s continuous flow of information in everyday life, through news report, social media and targeted advertising. By examining the students attitudes and thoughts about the extent to which they find the information they meet relevant this study seeks to understand how they find what is relevant to them and how they limit the intake of information by different combinations of selection processes. For this purpose interviews were carried out with seven university students from different fields and levels. Three categories of theories about selection processes serves as a theoretical framework for the analysis and results. The categories are referred to as external, personalized and personal factors. The external factors include gatekeeping theory, news valuation and agenda theory and the personalized factors include theories about filter bubbles and echo chambers. The personal factors include strategies to avoid information overload such as filtering and withdrawing, it also includes satisficing as a stop rule for information seeking.  The study shows that the three categories of selection processes are affected by emotional factors referred to as simplicity, interest and sensation. These drives the student to get more deeply informed. The students attitudes towards personalized information shows to be divided between if it should be more firmly adapted to each individual, or if that would increase the feeling of being monitored. In the students reflections regarding saved information emerges three feelings of negativity described as reluctance, lack of control and unease. Despite these feelings of negativity the phenomenon is accepted. Seeing that the alternative is disconnecting from modern society and life, acceptance shows to be the most reasonable alternative.