Tech

Jack Dorsey: 'Twitter does contribute to filter bubbles' and 'we need to fix it'

Key Points
  • Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey acknowledged the problem of filter bubbles on the platform.
  • He also made a suggestion on Monday about what his company might do about it.
  • That involves letting users follow topics or events, not just individuals and accounts.
Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter 
Rolf Vennenbernd | dpa | picture alliance | Getty Images

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is grappling with the unintended consequences of his invention, like many of his peers in the technology industry.

On stage at Wired's 25th anniversary summit on Monday, he spoke in a forthright way about the problem of users only seeing views, news and opinions from one perspective.

"I think Twitter does contribute to filter bubbles, and I think that's wrong of us, we need to fix it," he said.

He said a big reason for that is many users only follow accounts they agree with. That makes it unlikely that they'll see tweets that offer an opposing point of view.

He gave an example of how during the social media firestorm in the months before the Brexit vote, many users only saw tweets from people advocating for or against the United Kingdom remaining within the European Union.

A solution to that problem, in his view, is to provide them with a way to see tweets from both sides by following a topic rather than a person.

"If I'm following an account with a particular viewpoint versus the ability to follow a topic or interest or event ... like Brexit to vote leave ... there might be a few tweets that counter it," he said.

At present, Dorsey said, "We're not giving [users] the tools to have the opportunity to break down the filter bubble."

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