The online “funhouse mirror” distorting everyone’s reality

A small, vocal minority is distorting our view of what’s normal online. That’s the conclusion of a new paper from researchers at New York University, “Inside the funhouse mirror factory: How social media distorts perceptions of norms.” 

Online discourse is… not doing well. Platforms are fighting claims of censorship in the courts, misinformation on social media is raging, and AI slop is filling up users’ feeds. 

All of this is enough to make people question just what reality looks like. It turns out that’s kind of what is happening, according to the paper, which points to several things contributing to this reality-distortion effect. 

Research cited in the paper notes that tiny numbers of “toxic” accounts can have massive, outsize negative effects for all users. “While only 3% of active accounts are toxic, they produce 33% of all content,” the authors said. Much of the false information online can be attributed to this minority group, too, noting that just 0.1% of users were responsible for 80% of fake news. 

This content sparks outrage among a large number of users, and can create “false polarization” among moderate users who are less likely to wade into the viper’s nest of online discussions and share their more typical viewpoints. 

Adding to the problem, online platforms are built to amplify the most extreme voices and reactions (both positive and negative) to capture our attention and distill it into engagement. 

This doesn’t just apply to social media, but also to content like online product reviews. You usually only see the worst reviews and the best reviews, and rarely anything in the middle. 

And on platforms like Meta’s Instagram, this manifests itself in a different way: you only see the perfect moments and most flattering moments from influencers (who are probably staging them). 

Even Microsoft’s LinkedIn isn't immune to this, note the authors of the paper. You’ll likely only see the most positive professional achievements in your feed, which might give you the false impression that everyone is absolutely crushing it at work except yourself. You’re less likely to see posts about more quotidian failures and setbacks. 

The paper notes that this fun house mirror doesn’t just give people a distorted view of what’s really happening, but can cause real-world harm. Citing prior research, the authors explain that these distortions can lead to teen drug and alcohol abuse, and support for authoritarian regimes. 

Claire E. Robertson is a research associate at NYU and the lead author of the paper. Robertson said there are two important things that platforms can do to help correct some of these distortions: be more transparent about how their algorithms work and give users more control over the content we do see.

“The internet is an attention economy, but what we pay attention to is biased based towards threatening content — things that threaten us and our social groups,” Robertson wrote in an email to Sherwood News.

This results in an amplification of negative and threatening content, Robertson said. Robertson also explained that the kind of content people actually prefer isn’t exactly a mystery. “Allowing people to make more concrete choices about the types of content they want to see might mitigate some of these negative outcomes.”

But what can people do to correct their perceptions of what’s actually happening offline in the real world? Robertson suggests a few ways that you can correct some of the biases.

“One thing you can do is compare the types of content you see online to your offline environment. Go through the last 20 people you called or texted — these are probably people you trust. How many of them have posted their opinions online? Do you think their opinions are well represented by your Twitter feed?” Robertson said.

Another exercise that Robertson suggests is to take a look at high-quality public polling on big issues from Gallup Polling or Pew Research. Robertson said there is a real disconnect between what people actually say their values are and what is portrayed online. “Most people hold nuanced views, and a notable portion hold opposite views than we would expect.”