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August 25, 2025<\/p>\n
2 min read<\/p>\n
How You Search the Internet Can Reinforce Your Beliefs\u2014Without You Realizing It<\/p>\n
Users\u2019 Internet search questions can strengthen echo chambers, even on factual topics, but there are simple ways to lessen the effect<\/p>\n
By Simon Makin edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier<\/span><\/p>\n People\u2019s views are becoming more and more polarized, with \u201cecho chambers\u201d\u2014social bubbles that reinforce existing beliefs\u2014exacerbating differences in opinion. This divergence doesn\u2019t just apply to political opinions; it also touches on factual topics, from climate change to vaccination.<\/p>\n And social media is not the sole culprit, according to a recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. It turns out that people use search engines in ways that confirm their existing beliefs, potentially amplifying polarization. A simple tweak to search algorithms, the researchers propose, could help deliver a broader range of perspectives.<\/p>\n Online participants were asked to rate their beliefs on six topics, including nuclear energy and caffeine\u2019s health effects. They then chose search terms to learn more about each topic. The researchers rated the terms\u2019 scope and found that between 9 and 34 percent (depending on the topic) were \u201cnarrow.\u201d For example, when researching the health effects of caffeine, one participant used \u201ccaffeine negative effects,\u201d whereas others used \u201cbenefits of caffeine.\u201d<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n These narrow terms tended to align with participants\u2019 existing beliefs, and generally less than 10 percent did this knowingly. \u201cPeople often pick search terms that reflect what they believe, without realizing it,\u201d says Eugina Leung of Tulane University\u2019s business school, who led the study. \u201cSearch algorithms are designed to give the most relevant answers for whatever we type, which ends up reinforcing what we already thought.\u201d The same was true when participants used ChatGPT and Bing for searches aided by artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n When the researchers randomly assigned participants to view different results, they saw those results affect people\u2019s opinions and even behavior. For instance, participants who saw search results using \u201cnuclear energy is good\u201d felt better about nuclear energy afterward than those using \u201cnuclear energy is bad.\u201d People who saw results using \u201ccaffeine health benefits,\u201d rather than \u201crisks,\u201d were more likely to choose a caffeinated drink afterward.<\/p>\n Pointing out biases in the search terms had only a small effect on people\u2019s final opinions. But changing the search algorithm either to always provide broad results or to alternate between results obtained with broad and user-provided terms mitigated the effects of narrow searches.<\/p>\n The researchers \u201chave thought through how these technologies could be optimized for the benefit of users,\u201d says Kathleen Hall Jamieson of the University of Pennsylvania, who studies political and science communication. For search technology to do what we need it to do, \u201cthis kind of research is very important.\u201d<\/p>\n Participants rated the broader results as just as useful and relevant as standard searches. \u201cPeople are able to bring in different perspectives when they\u2019re exposed to them, which is encouraging,\u201d Leung says. \u201cAt least for the topics we tested.\u201d The researchers recommend implementing such strategies, possibly as \u201csearch broadly\u201d buttons. \u201cThis would be really helpful,\u201d Leung says, but whether it will ever happen \u201cis hard to predict.\u201d<\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article, I\u2019d like to ask for your support. Scientific American<\/span> has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been a Scientific American<\/span> subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm <\/span>always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.<\/p>\n If you subscribe to Scientific American<\/span>, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.<\/p>\n In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can’t-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world’s best writing and reporting.<\/p>\n There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you\u2019ll support us in that mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" August 25, 2025 2 min read How You Search the Internet Can Reinforce Your Beliefs\u2014Without You Realizing It Users\u2019 Internet search questions can strengthen echo chambers, even on factual topics, but there are simple ways to lessen the effect By Simon Makin edited by Sarah Lewin Frasier People\u2019s views are becoming more and more polarized,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17684,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[10709,10708,660,1145,364,2018],"class_list":{"0":"post-17683","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-chambers","9":"tag-echo","10":"tag-fuel","11":"tag-internet","12":"tag-people","13":"tag-search"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17683","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17683"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17683\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/17684"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17683"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17683"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17683"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}On supporting science journalism<\/h2>\n
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