The Effects of Topic Weighting on Social Media Communications to Echo Chambers

Abstract

In this study, we employed a multi-agent simulation to examine whether "oil spill" polarization occurs when communication based on cognitive balance influenced by political preferences takes place in environments characterized by selective exposure, such as social media. Interestingly, the result indicated that "oil spill" polarization tends to occur among users who are tolerant of others with differing opinions, particularly when selective exposure is weakly exerted.