Hacker News Reader

Why is it the web seems to be the one outlier environment that we care about echo chambers? Almost everywhere else seems to have some definition of relevance and propriety, also, it seems like your argument is not that diversity of thought is good, but that large echo chambers themselves are bad? I.e. you’re saying you’d rather not have a big diverse website because it risks a big echo chamber?

View on HN

I think diversity of thought can just as easily be created with smaller, individual websites. For example, one person can say something and then I can quote them on my website. Only the process is slower and invites less knee-jerk reacting and commenting that seems to live on our dopamine reactions. A natural speed limit created by a lack of quick-reply mechanisms would probably make everyone more thoughtful, and a friction point to responding wouldn't create crowding effects like mass upvoting/downvoting.

The internet is different I think because of it doesn't have the physical limiations of scale. In real life, a small group can get together, yes it can be a sort of "echo chamber", but they are limited by the size of their group which is usually small.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com