Blogs - an Echo Chamber?

Saw a few blogs pointing to this piece recently, Are Blogs an Echo Chamber?

Frank Athens of the Washington Posts makes an accusation that one hears often cast against blogging:

"[The most] troubling trait of the Internet [is that] Rather than opening minds, it can close them, thanks to echo-chamber Web sites and blogs. We like to read Web sites and blogs that we agree with and that reinforce our opinions. Aside from the few of you who practice "know your enemy" browsing, how many of you liberals read National Review? How many of you conservatives frequent The Nation?

His implication is that blog consumption is ideologically self-referential: liberals read Daily Kos; conservatives read powerlineblog and so on. And never the twain do meet.


But why limit that accusation to blog consumption? I don't know of many people who subscribe to newspapers or magazines that directly challenge their own point of view. Most liberals I know steer far away from "right wing" talk radio.

Don't most people seek out that (blogs, media, even other people) which affirms their own world view? I know there are exceptions, but it seems a general rule that people seek out opinion that confirms their own.

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