Our Responsibility as Citizens: Popping the Filter Bubble

The filter bubble prevents Americans from fulfilling our responsibilities as engaged citizens. Furthermore, only showing the public what they want to see blinds them to opposing viewpoints, thus limiting their exposure to knowledge. But choosing to expand your perspective beyond your personalized filter bubble will remove this issue and create a country of aware, involved citizens. This act of choosing is known as political efficacy, or a citizen’s ability to understand and influence political affairs. A citizen’s ability and willingness to promote change allows them to engage in all other civic responsibilities, including voting, grassroots mobilization, and cultural change.

The effects of political efficacy in the voting process are enormous. If citizens research and understand the viewpoints of all candidates -from the president down to every representative in city hall- they will know who they are voting for, rather than just straight-ticket voting. While straight-ticket voting may be the best option for some voters, the Pew Research Center’s Political Typology quiz reveals that few members of a political party agree with 100% of their party’s views. Because of this, straight-ticket voting can leave people in office who you would not have voted for if you had been aware of their political views and moral ideals. But choosing to expand your perspective by acknowledging the filter bubble allows citizens to reflect on opinions from all candidates, despite their party affiliation.

Grassroots mobilization is also heavily influenced by a citizen’s efficacy. Grassroots mobilization describes a group of like-minded individuals coming together to make a difference, whether it be economic, social, political, and environmental change. Positive change in a community can only begin when citizens become informed from going out of their way to discover current societal issues. By knowing the problems, citizens can form intellectual opinions, which, upon criticism, can be supported by logic.

Cultural change is a political pathway in which change occurs gradually over time. For example, the legalization of gay marriage has been a public issue for many years. But through lobbying and peaceful protests, those in favor of gay marriage changed the opinions of critics over time. For topics like this, producing positive change can take many years, and therefore requires dedicated and patient citizens to stand for their cause. If the filter bubble prevents us from shedding light on a current issue, it would be impossible to address the matter in the first place.

It is easy for American citizens to overlook the power of civic participation by insisting that just one person doesn’t make a significant difference. But political efficacy allows us to acknowledge the pros and cons of our country. Here, we must be able to recognize where improvements can be made and then improve upon them. We must also acknowledge and utilize the liberties we have, like voting for example. With political efficacy, citizens will be able to vote intellectually, produce positive change in their community, and cause cultural shifts over time. Contrary to the belief that citizen involvement doesn’t make a difference, it is the most effective method of improving our country from the ground up.