Problemformulering och syfte: Internetaktivisten Eli Pariser berättar i sin bok The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You hur algoritmer på sociala medier filtrerar bort innehåll som går emot det användaren tycker om. I stället får användaren ett skräddarsytt flöde som bara presenterar innehåll som går ihop med dennes personliga preferenser. Pariser argumenterar vidare att filtreringen skapar en filterbubbla, där användaren får uppfattningen att alla har samma åsikter som den själv. Det kan, enligt Pariser, leda till åsiktspolarisering där människor kommer allt längre ifrån varandra. Syftet med den här studien är att ta reda på hur unga, politiskt aktiva människor i Sverige använder Facebook och hur de upplever sina flöden på Facebook i förhållande till sina politiska åsikter, för att se hur utbrett internetfenomen som filterbubblan är bland svenska användare som tydligt ger uttryck för sina politiska åsikter. Metod och material: Metoden som ligger till grund för studiens empiriska resultat är en enkätundersökning. Analysenheterna består av politiskt aktiva Facebook-användare som är medlemmar i politiska ungdomsförbund. Anledningen till att medlemmar i ungdomsförbund valdes framför politiska partier är att yngre människor är mer aktiva på sociala medier. Enkäten utformades med tjänsten Survey monkey och spreds på Facebook till analysenheterna. Huvudresultat: Studiens empiriska resultat visar att majoriteten av respondenterna befinner sig något som Eli Pariser skulle definiera som en filterbubbla, men att de flesta samtidigt är medvetna om att åsiktsbilden i Facebook-flödet inte är representativt för det svenska samhället i stort.

This research was motivated by the growing concerns regarding social media platforms roles in the presentation of conspiracy theories as compelling alternative narratives regarding contemporary social events. Specifically, this research asks whether Facebook’s algorithm autonomously recommends groups that are organized around conspiracy theories regarding contemporary political and social events to end users, despite the user not previously indicating interest in those topics. Based on coverage of biases in Facebooks content ranking and recommendation algorithms surrounding the 2020 presidential election, it was hypothesized that, over time, Facebook would increasingly seek to recommend conspiratorial content to its users to retain them on the platform. Eight test profiles were created under three observation protocols over the course of the fall 2022 semester. Each profile created was restricted in how it interacted with the Facebook platform. In creating the first three profiles, only the information that is necessary for profile creation was given, name, gender, birthdate, phone number, and email address. The first profile would only view the first twelve recommended groups, without joining them. The second profile would view and join the first twelve recommended groups, and the third profile would view and join the first twelve recommended groups, and then would also leave five random groups from the previous day. A second protocol was designed to expedite the observation process and expand the sample of groups observed per profile. Five profiles were made under this protocol, wherein the profiles would follow two Facebook pages prior to observation and have slight variations in their demographic information. These profiles only viewed and followed the first recommended group, and then refreshed the recommendation list to generate updated groups in real time. Over the course of this project, Facebook did not recommend a single group to any of the test profiles that principally discussed or recommended conspiracy theories. Instead, it was found that Facebook seeks to recommend groups that are popular in the users local area first, but only until the user has indicated enough unique interests to begin steering the recommendations. Each profile was recommended a geolocation based set of groups, but within days of observation, those groups were no longer chiefly recommended. Instead, it was found that user behavior is heavily influential regarding what groups and topics are recommended. Secondly, among all profiles, the topics featured among the groups being recommended homogenized over the course of observation, to the exclusion of all other topics. Further research should look into whether this homogenization is a function of having so few user inputs, or typical behavior of Facebook more broadly. If it is the latter, this may contribute to the propensity for individual users to arrive in digital echo chambers.

The thesis follows up a topic of fake news within the borders of Czech Republic. This frequently discussed phenomena is often linked to the pro-Kremlin propaganda, whose aim is to evoke fear across the citizens, as well as raise distrust towards reigning authorities, western institutions, a functionality of liberal democracy and at last but not least - distrust towards public media and mainstream media in general. This is being achieved by production of fake news, also known as fictive, false or manipulative articles, that are being spread through the social media. Despite its low credibility the news often make their way into the public discussion, forming the general opinion and as a result affecting many political decisions. In order to follow this topic up further, I will put in use the Adam Klein's concept, also known as information laundering.This concept describes the ways how these hateful articles, personal opinions and straight up false news are getting legitimised within the online world and subsequently spread through the social media under the disguise of respectable journalism. The thesis is aiming to map out the entire sphere of fake news media, its websites and Facebook and YouTube social profiles as well as describe individual aspects of the entire mechanism using quantitative analysis. In...

The aim of this study was to investigate the perception of personalization on news applications and to examine to what extent it is seen as an optimal solution for users to receive information. Due to the growth of online news and digital journalism the amount of information that is being published online is significantly higher nowadays than it has previously been. Therefore, a recommendation system called personalization has been introduced to choose content for the reader. Many concerns of personalization have already been brought to light, these concerns are believed to be contributing to filter bubbles and echo chambers. This study will investigate these concerns further in order to understand the users. The methodology used in the study were semi-structured interviews and an analysis based on the concerns brought forward by Borgesius et al. Six interviews were conducted with users and two were conducted with major news organizations in Sweden. The results of the study indicate that users fear personalization will cause filter bubbles and polarization due to them only being subjected to one perspective. The users are unaware as to how personalization works and therefore question why it is being introduced into news applications. Due to personalization being a new phenomenon news applications it is not yet seen as an optimal solution by users or news organizations. There are, however, many factors that can assist in its development such as transparency and awareness of the phenomenon.

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.

In this thesis, I will examine how I worked artistically with perspectives and subjective truths in my two short films, What I Wanted to Say and TIPS. Both films are exploring the use of first-person perspective in different ways to allow the audience to experience two different opinions of the story. This exploration is the main part of my artistic research. Through my work with perspectives, I have also added the dual perspective of working as an actor-director on both films and how that method evolved through this process. This method will also be explored as a part of this thesis. In working with perspectives, I have studied when to focus on what role, both when it comes to what character’s perspective should be in focus on the screen at what time, and when to focus on what part of the actor-director role. Searching for this balance will be the focus of my artistic research, as well as looking into the possibility of allowing both roles the focus at the same time. The first film I made, What I Wanted to Say, is a love letter to a broken relationship, a short drama that explores the difficulties of ending a relationship. For this film, I used the same visuals twice but changed the voiceovers so that the visuals of the couple being in love and then fighting with each other would be influenced by each character’s subjective thoughts. The voiceovers take the audience on a reflective journey through their thoughts as Lisa leaves her lover, Oliver at the end of the film. The second film, TIPS, is a story about the newly hired bartender, Sarah, and a group of guys celebrating their friend’s birthday. Here, I worked on changing the perspectives visually through closeups and point-of-view shots, as Sarah builds up the courage to flirt for tips. This act is misinterpreted by the guys who decide to follow her home after work in pursuit of her phone number. We move back and forth between the perspective of Sarah, who learns to stand up for herself, and the self-proclaimed leader of the friend group, Pete, who learns to apologize in the end. I will be starting my thesis with an introduction to my work on the films and the artistic research. Then, I will bring up theories from my acting background to explain why I started working with perspectives and how I work with acting, before exploring the method of working as an actor-director and how I worked with that during the two film productions. The exploration of perspectives came about as a response to the seemingly growing number of echo chambers, which I will be explaining more in-depth through the research part of this thesis. Here, I will study the structure of echo chambers and look at the possibility of having narrative films counteract them. Moving over to the discussion part I will go more in-depth on how I worked with the perspectives, both when writing the script and when acting-directing. I will also look at how I worked with and developed my method of acting-directing, before concluding the thesis with a summary and how I plan to continue my work on perspectives.

The purpose of this study is to examine users ́ opinions regarding the Swedish management of the covid-19 pandemic in two echo chambers, consisting of the comment fields in two ideologically different news pages on Facebook, Aftonbladet and Samtiden. Using a quantitative content analysis in different steps, the study will attempt to answer the following questions: - What opinions are expressed in two eco-chambers regarding the pandemic management in Sweden? -To what extent are these common or not between the echo chambers? The empirical material consists a total of 696 comments which will be analysed and compiled into a result. The result will then be set against two opposing theories, the theory of the Public Sphere and the theory of echo chambers, where these disagree upon whether the two different news pages lead to polarization. Depending on the outcome, the result can be said to be in agreement with one or both of the theories. The result of the study shows that the opinions of the users in the echo chambers are mainly the same which supports the theory of the Public Sphere and the idea of a need for a common consensus in order to maintain a functioning democracy. The opinions concern the subjects Sweden, the Swedish government, the Swedish state epidemiologist Anders Tegnell, the Restrictions and statistic rapports about the death toll in Sweden. The results provide information about the effects of echo chambers in an ongoing pandemic and the overall complexity around the definition of the term.

The spread of the Covid-19 pandemic has been since its early beginnings accompanied by the spread of the so called 'infodemic' of misinformation and conspiracy theories about the virus in the media. This infodemic swiftly started to present a matter of significant concern especially in the dynamic landscape of digital media which due to an ease of sharing and content contribution allowed for Covid-19 conspiracy theories to continue to gain momentum. Because of the severe implications that the potential ill-informed actions of conspiracy theory believers could have on the public health, it is necessary to gain a better understanding of the conspiracy theory believers and the way that they spread Covid-19 conspiracy theories. With this in mind, this thesis through the use of qualitative interviews probed into the worldviews of Covid-19 conspiracy theory believers in the Czech Republic. The analytical scrutiny of the interviews through the lens of the theories of network society, context collapse and echo chambers provided important insights into how Czech Covid-19 conspiracy theory believers use digital media in order to learn about and disseminate Covid-19 conspiracy theories. Additionally, this thesis provides an understanding of how the way the conspiracy theory believers navigate context collapse on Facebook drives them to seek echo chambers on e-mail which strengthen their beliefs in Covid-19 conspiracy theories. Moreover, my thesis also sheds light onto how the echo chambers are instrumental in the individuals' distrust in traditional media.

This study examines the relationship between media use and support/hesitancy towards the COVID-19 vaccine. The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between social media and traditional media use and support/hesitancy attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine. We want to analyse how social and traditional media use as a news source is related to support and hesitancy attitudes. Furthermore, we want to see if media use as a news source has any relation to the trade-off attitude towards the COVID-19 vaccine. We have found a research gap in the COVID-19 pandemic and connection between social and traditional media use as a news source and support, hesitancy, and trade-off attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine. RQ 1: What is the relationship between social media use as a news source and support/hesitancy towards the COVID-19 vaccine? RQ 2: What is the relationship between traditional media use as a news source and support/hesitancy towards the COVID-19 vaccine? The method of this study is a quantitative survey regarding media use before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and support, hesitancy, and trade-off attitudes towards the COVID-19 vaccine. The population size is 201 Swedish citizens between the ages of 18-65. The sample was collected through a snowball sample. The study provides a theoretical framework consisting of crisis communication, misinformation, echo chambers, public opinion, and social amplification of risk. Furthermore, the study presents previous research which is similar to the study. The previous research presents some key findings such as social media use tends to increase during crises, how echo chambers can be increased by the feeling of fear, and research on attitudes towards vaccines. Previous research also presents how misinformation is being spread on social media and how the anti-vaccination movement takes advantage of the postmodern health paradigm which makes people turn to the internet with their medical problems. The study concludes that in some instances traditional media can have a positive relation to supportive attitudes and social media connects to some of the hesitant opinions towards COVID-19. / Denna studie undersöker förhållandet mellan medieanvändning och förespråkande/tveksamhet mot COVID-19-vaccinet. Syftet med denna studie är att analysera förhållandet mellan sociala medier och traditionell medieanvändning och attityder till förespråkande/tveksamhet gentemot COVID-19-vaccinet. Vi vill analysera hur de sociala och traditionella medierna som nyhetskälla är relaterade till förespråkande och tveksamhet. Vidare vill vi se om medieanvändning som nyhetskälla har något samband med avvägningsinställningen till COVID-19. Vi har hittat ett forsknings hål i COVID-19-pandemin och sambandet mellan social och traditionell medieanvändning som nyhetskälla och förespråkande, tveksamhet och avvägningsattityder till COVID-19-vaccinet. RQ 1: Vad är förhållandet mellan användning av sociala medier som nyhetskälla och förespråkande/tveksamhet mot COVID-19-vaccinet? RQ 2: Vad är förhållandet mellan traditionell medieanvändning som nyhetskälla och förespråkande/tveksamhet mot COVID-19-vaccinet? Metoden för denna studie är en kvantitativ undersökning om medieanvändning före och under COVID-19-pandemin och förespråkande, tveksamhet och avvägning av attityder till COVID-19-vaccinet. Befolkningsstorleken är 201 svenska medborgare i åldrarna 18-65. Urvalet samlades in genom ett snowball sample. Studien har ett teoretiskt ramverk som består av kriskommunikation, misinformation, ekokammare, attityder och social förstärkning av risk. Dessutom presenterar studien tidigare forskning som liknar studien. Den tidigare forskningen presenterar några viktiga resultat, såsom användningen av sociala medier tenderar att öka under kriser, hur ekokammare kan ökas av känslan av rädsla och forskning om attityder till vacciner. Tidigare forskning presenterar också hur misinformation sprids på sociala medier och hur antivaccinationsrörelsen utnyttjar det postmodern health paradigm som får människor att vända sig till internet med sina medicinska problem. Studien drar slutsatsen att traditionella medier i vissa fall kan ha en positiv relation till stödjande attityder och att sociala medier ansluter till några av de tveksamma åsikterna mot COVID-19.

The purpose of this research study was to determine if there is a correlation between personality type and level of confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is the idea that people are more likely to agree with opinions already similar to their own and they will actively seek out that opinion. The NEO Five Factor Inventory was administered to determine the subjects’ levels in openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. The Confirmation Inventory was administered to determine the level of confirmation bias. It was predicted that people high in openness will score low in confirmation bias; people who score high in conscientiousness will score high in confirmation bias; high levels of agreeableness will result in low scores of confirmation bias; and the final hypothesis is people who score high in neuroticism will also score high levels of confirmation bias. It is predicted that a person's level of extraversion will not affect their level of confirmation bias. The low participant number caused non-significant results. Overall, no significant differences were found that illuminate the relationship between confirmation bias and personality. None of the comparisons were found to be significant at the .01 level.