Egyptian Female and Facebook Eco-chamber: A Study on Identity Bubble Reinforcement

Document Type : Original Articles

Author

Faculty of Mass Communication, Cairo University. Media Production, Galala University

Abstract

The rise of social media has endorsed the users' tendency to consume content that confirms their beliefs and values and ignores the ones that contradict them. By doing so, social media platforms contribute to framing and reinforcing a unified narrative of different events, which may negatively influence audiences.
This phenomenon is called echo chambers, a closed space in which users' opinions or beliefs about an issue are supported due to repeated interactions with peers. The private Facebook groups act as online spaces for forming virtual communities where members share ideas and open discussions about different topics.
This study seeks to understand the echo chamber phenomena among Egyptian females on Facebook, depending on the Identity Bubble Reinforcement Model (IBRM), to examine the relationship between the echo chamber and demographic variables (age and education), social media use and trust.
Results show that 83% of the sample logs on Facebook daily. Nearly half of the sample (48%) spend from one hour to less than 3 hours on Facebook, and (47%) of Egyptian female Facebook users moderately trust Facebook as a reliable source of information.
The results indicated that, according to the IBR Model, the most significant dimensions of the echo chamber are homophily, information bias, and social identification.

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Journal of Media and Interdisciplinary Studies
Volume 3, Issue 9
September 2024
Pages 76-94

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