filter bubble

[ fil-ter buhb-uhl ]

noun

1. a phenomenon that limits an individual’s exposure to a full spectrum of news and other information on the internet by algorithmically prioritizing content that matches a user’s demographic profile and online history or excluding content that does not:

   My roommate streamed so many arthouse flicks on my account that she confused the filter bubble—the recommended movies page thinks I’m some kind of fancy-pants intellectual now.

verb (used with object)

1. to cause (a person) to have such a limited online experience through the predictive algorithmic filtering of content:

   We are being filter-bubbled into homogeneous peer groups by social media platforms.

Word History and Origins

Origin of filter bubble¹

Coined by Eli Pariser (born 1980), U.S. political and internet activist, in The Filter Bubble (2011)

Example Sentences

Similarly, Eli Pariser, the author of The Filter Bubble, is pushing for the digital equivalent of public parks.

From Slate

Furthermore, an analysis of hundreds of Musk's replies since he took control of the platform shows that he has created a "filter bubble" of right-wing opinions, according to French outlet Le Monde.

From Salon

One measure would require Facebook, Twitter and other big platforms to notify users when they are using an algorithm to filter what they see on their own pages, which is often called a “filter bubble.”

From Washington Times

Ultimately, Facebook’s shift to be more like TikTok is an indictment of what the News Feed has become, according to Eli Pariser, the author of a 2012 book called The Filter Bubble who is now working on an initiative to build nonprofit social media.

From The Verge

As the journalist Farai Chideya, who hosts the podcast Our Body Politic, wrote on Twitter, "Too many times I've been in newsrooms where a post-Roe and post-Voting Rights Act future was dismissed summarily as a possibility. So we as a profession created a dangerous filter bubble, dismissing individuals and groups as fringe when they were the tip of the spear."

From Salon