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.

The information behaviour in closed Facebook groups differ from the one in people’s feed. Using Cox’s theory of information in social practices, Haythorntwaite’s theory of ties in computer mediated communication, McKenzie’s theories of cognitive authorities in information and Metzger and Flanagin’s theory of credibility heuristics the aim of this bachelor thesis is to gain a deeper understanding of how the members of three closed Facebook groups handle the information shared and if the groups act as a filter bubble for the information obtained. The researcher applied a netnographic approach and used an online questionnaire to collect the data. In the empirical data the researcher found that the members used the group rules as norms for what and when they post and that they were very critical when it comes to the information shared in the groups. The researcher also found that the groups acted as filter bubbles and that the members saw that as the groups purpose.

The scarce internet access in Ethiopia puts heavy weight on traditional media and people to spread news and information. By testing if the marketing strategy Word of Mouth is applicable on informative content, rather than just brands and products, this thesis explore the motivation to spread news as well as how it is received by a non-internet using group. As with brands, a common trigger for WOM was the subject being brought up in a discussion, both offline and online. Conditions that increased WOM in marketing such as being sociable and feeling a responsibility also increased WOM for more political content. The study also found that there is a low trust for internet as a source, but a high trust for the word of many. If the message was heard multiple times it was more believable, even though a primary source was lacking. In general both internet users and non-internet users were actively spreading information with the reason that it needed to be spread, something that was concluded as a collectivist action where information is spread quickly through social ties. Non-internet users were considered to be extra fragile and exposed to fake news due to the unequal distribution of information and technology. Since trust was based on the message of many, echo chambers and confirmation bias is discussed, as well as how Ethiopia might tackle the segregation of technology in the country in order to decrease inequality in the future. / Den svaga tillgången till internetuppkoppling i Etiopien lägger ett stort ansvar på traditionell media, och människor, för att sprida nyheter och information till landets stora befolkning. Genom att testa om marknadsföringsstrategin Word of Mouth också är applicerbar på informativa budskap undersöker denna uppsats motivationen bakom att sprida nyheter, samt hur denna mottas av en grupp som inte använder internet. Liksom med varumärken var en vanlig trigger för WOM med informativ kontext att ämnet nämndes i en pågående diskussion, både online och offline. Förutsättningar som stärkte WOM vid marknadsföring, såsom att vara social och känna ett samhällsansvar ökade också WOM för nyheter. Studien fann också att det var låg tillit för internet som källa, men att det fanns stor tilltro till information som upprepades av olika personer. Ett budskap som hördes från flera olika var mer trovärdigt, oavsett vilken den primära källan var eller om den saknades helt. Generellt spred både internetanvändare och icke-användarna information av anledningen att det behövdes spridas och höras av alla invånare, vilket tolkades som en kollektivistisk handling där nyheter snabbt spreds i sociala nätverk. De som inte använder internet ansågs vara extra exponerade för fake news på grund av den ojämställda distributionen av information och tillgången till teknologi. Då tillit var baserat på upprepning från många diskuterar uppsatsen även echo chambers och confirmation bias, samt hur Etiopien i framtiden kan tackla den tekniska segregationen.

In the last few years, the concept of lifestyle minimalism has gotten more and more attention. Since discussions about climate change and sustainability have gotten louder, negative aspects of consumption have surfaced. Minimalism seems to be the answer to the problem of consumption and its unsustainable aspects, so why is there so little communication about it when it seems to be a simple way to improve life and live more sustainably? This study examines how minimalism is communicated and defined by generations X and Z by conducting semi structured qualitative interviews within a framework in the areas of minimalism, sustainability, consumption, and well-being. The outcomes are that there is no difference in the perception of minimalism when it comes to the generations, but there are differences depending on how someone is already involved in topics like sustainability and minimalism. With these findings, a model was developed to visualize the “bubble process”, which explains how people find their way into the bubble of sustainability/minimalism and can extend it.

This work further develops the way-finding model first proposed by Pearson and Kosicki (2017) which examines the flow of information in the digital age. Way-finding systems are online systems that help individuals find information—i.e. social media, search engines, email, etc. Using a grounded theory methodology, this new framework was explored in greater detail. Way-finding theory was created using the context of the elaboration likelihood model, gatekeeping theory, algorithmic gatekeepers, and the existence of the filter bubble phenomenon. This study establishes the three basic pillars of way-finding theory: the user’s mindset when accessing way-finding systems, the perception of how popular way-finding systems function, and the perception of the information personalization process—particularly regarding algorithmic gatekeepers and their roles in creating the filter bubble phenomenon. These pillars and the relationships that exist between each constitute way-finding theory.

“Filter bubble” became one of the most topical words of 2016 and it was even included in the Swedish Language Council's list of new Swedish words that was presented at the end of the year. Referring to algorithmically adapted media bubbles, this phenomenon has particularly been discussed in relation to the UK Brexit referendum and the US election as scholars and journalist argue that the phenomenon, in combination with a fragmented media usage, contribute to a political polarization where each side of the political spectrum is encapsulated in “echo chambers” where opinions and beliefs are repeated like an echo rather than contested and challenged.  In a Swedish context, filter bubbles and echo chambers have mainly been discussed in relation to anti-immigration internet media (AIIM), such as Avpixlat, Fria Tider and Exponerat, as these, through their critique of established journalistic media's (EJM) reporting, appear to constitute one side of a polarized debate around immigration. Through online interviews with 13 users of AIIM, this thesis is aimed at understanding why people consume such media and if the consumers are affected by echo chambers.  Drawing on theories on online echo chambers and radical media critique, the study's findings suggest that even though the respondents’ appear to thrive on a siege mentality where anti-immigration groups are excluded sub-groups with AIIM as their only solution, the respondents' consumption of AIIM (and critique of EJM) is more likely to be based on a combination of a low level of trust in society and strong political (right-wing) beliefs. Furthermore, the study shows that the respondents are likely to be affected by both fragmentation and filter bubbles, but that they are not completely isolated in an anti-immigration media bubbles as they also rely on EJM's reporting in several ways.

In a digital world where many people use social media and consume a lot of content online, it may have an impact on our attitudes and behaviours. This paper explores attitudes surrounding recommender systems, filter bubbles and the perceived impact of these topics. It explores the users’ personal experience of social media and their thoughts about their situation, as well as the perceived potential positives and negatives of recommender systems and how people are being affected by them today, from a perspective of having used social media for an extended period of time, possibly seeing or experiencing the change which have been brought on with a changing social media environment with implemented recommended systems affecting the online viewed content.

Title: Filtre bubbles and facebook pages about climate crisis Author: Mgr. Kateřina Janovská Institute: Institute of Information Studies and Librarianship Supervisor: Mgr. Josef Šlerka, Ph.D. Abstract: The climate crisis is one of the biggest challenges society is facing today. And while its existence is subject to scientific consensus, it is a highly polarising issue among the public. The social network Facebook, which has become a platform for spreading misinformation and filter bubbles, has also played its part. This thesis analyses the potential risk of filter bubbles being created on Facebook pages that address the topic of climate change - with a focus on similar pages suggestions. It categorizes these pages according to their stance on the existence of anthropocentric climate change.

Today's media landscape is larger and more diverse than ever before. Individuals are fedwith news and information from many different types of media. When competition ishigh, media actors need to stand out to be noticed, sometimes to the extent that the truthis omitted or embellished. The purpose of this essay is to examine the consequences ofthe spread of false information on social media. The material of the essay consists of 25Swedish videoclips from YouTube and is intended to investigate how well the videoportals (headlines & thumbnails) correspond to the actual content of the videos. Themethod used in the essay is a quantitative coding of these videoclips and a multimodalanalysis from a selection of these coded video clips. To fulfill the purpose of the essay,theories and concepts such as misinformation and disinformation, filter bubbles, andselective exposure theory are used. The results of the study showed that many videoportals do not correspond at all to the content that the clip possesses. They oftenexaggerate or add details that make the video clip stand out more or appear moreinteresting for the audience to engage with. The consequences of false information spreadon social media can be many. For example, it can contribute to somewhat distortedworldviews. If individuals in a society are fed with incorrect information, it becomes moredifficult to get a fair picture of the world. It can also become normalized that thingswritten on social media are often not true, which leads to it becoming commonplace tobuy into small lies and not trust the information and news consumed online.

The filter bubble effect has been an active area of research that has been explored in various contexts within social media. Research on recommender system designs within filter bubbles has received a lot of attention, mainly due to its impact on the phenomena. They have contributed to filter bubbles by personalizing content on social media based on users’ behaviours and preferences. This personalization has led to diminished user control over content consumption and a lack of exposure to diverse content and perspectives. This has thus had a significant impact on user agency and polarization across social media. Current research hasn’t shown signs of integrating diverse recommender system designs on social media platforms, which is important to understand their effectiveness. Although recommender systems have contributed to filter bubbles largely, the proposition of incorporating them to counteract these bubbles presents a unique opportunity to understand how they function and how they could be optimized for diversity on social media, in a way that improves user autonomy. This project was done with COSE, a social network startup whose focus was on creating and sharing science and technology based content. The project aims to integrate recommender system designs on social media platforms to guide diverse exposure to content and perspectives within the context of science and technology based topics, and thus help in reducing the filter bubble effect. Using a Research through Design (RtD) approach, three design features, Discovery+, Views, and Consumption History were designed and prototyped to allow exposure to diverse content, perspectives and empower users to take control of their content consumption on social media. The evaluation for the three features indicated the possibility of promoting diverse exposure to content and perspectives. Users were exposed to a diverse range of content through the features, which increased their desire to explore new information, promoted transparency in content consumption habits, and provided access to multiple viewpoints within a single post. This urged users to actively seek and engage with a variety of content. A need for intuitive design of the Views feature was highlighted considering its presentation during testing and the intent of the feature itself. Nevertheless, the feature proved to be encouraging of finding diverse perspectives and invoked curiosity. Potential for further research on how the key design principles could be effectively integrated with diverse recommender system designs was also highlighted. The diverse features highlight the importance of fostering ethical social media experiences that support social sustainability, where users have access to empowering information, promote dialogue, help people make informed decisions, and strengthen social cohesion, while also addressing social media perils like polarization, echo chambers, dialogue hindrance, and restrictions on encouraging a global perspective on various topics. / Effekten av filterbubblan har varit ett aktivt forskningsområde som har utforskats i olika sammanhang inom sociala medier. Forskning om design av rekommendationssystem inom filterbubblor har fått mycket uppmärksamhet, främst på grund av dess påverkan på fenomenet. De har bidragit till filterbubblor genom att anpassa innehållet på sociala medier baserat på användarnas beteenden och preferenser. Denna anpassning har lett till minskad användarkontroll över innehållskonsumtion och bristande exponering för mångsidigt innehåll och perspektiv. Detta har således haft en betydande inverkan på användarnas handlingsfrihet och polarisering över sociala medier. Nuvarande forskning har inte visat tecken på integration av mångsidiga design av rekommendationssystem på sociala medieplattformar, vilket är viktigt för att förstå deras effektivitet. Trots att rekommendationssystem har bidragit till filterbubblor i stor utsträckning, ger förslaget att inkludera dem för att motverka dessa bubblor en unik möjlighet att förstå hur de fungerar och hur de kan optimeras för mångfald på sociala medier på ett sätt som förbättrar användarnas autonomi. Detta projekt genomfördes med COSE, en startup för sociala nätverk vars fokus var att skapa och dela innehåll baserat på vetenskap och teknik. Projektet syftar till att integrera design av rekommendationssystem på sociala medier för att vägleda mångsidig exponering för innehåll och perspektiv inom ramen för ämnen baserade på vetenskap och teknik, och därmed bidra till att minska filterbubblans effekt. Med hjälp av en forskning genom design (RtD)-metodik utformades och prototyperades tre designfunktioner: Upptäckt+, Visningar och Konsumtionshistorik, för att möjliggöra exponering för mångsidigt innehåll, perspektiv och ge användare befogenhet att ta kontroll över sin innehållskonsumtion på sociala medier. Utvärderingen av de tre funktionerna visade sig främja mångsidig exponering för innehåll och perspektiv. Användarna exponerades framgångsrikt för en mångsidig mängd innehåll genom funktionerna, vilket ökade deras önskan att utforska ny information, främjade transparens i konsumtionsvanor för innehåll och gav tillgång till flera synvinklar inom ett enda inlägg. Detta uppmanade användarna att aktivt söka och engagera sig i olika innehåll. Behovet av en intuitiv design av Visningsfunktionen framhävdes med tanke på dess presentation under testning och funktionens syfte. Trots detta visade sig funktionen uppmuntra till att hitta olika perspektiv och väcka nyfikenhet. Potentialen för ytterligare forskning om hur de viktiga designprinciperna kan integreras effektivt med mångsidiga design av rekommendationssystem lyftes också fram. De varierade funktionerna betonar vikten av att främja etiska sociala medier-upplevelser som stöder social hållbarhet, där användare har tillgång till stärkande information, främjar dialog, hjälper människor att fatta informerade beslut och stärker social sammanhållning, samtidigt som de också tar itu med sociala medier-risker som polarisering, ekkokammare, hinder för dialog och begränsningar för att främja en global perspektiv på olika ämnen.