That’s the filter bubble, baby. Interview to Lisa Lehimdjian about the American election results

(articolo di Roberto Adriani tratto da formiche.net)

Are you surprised about the election results?

No, it was obvious that it would be a tight race, however, predicting the outcome would have been impossible for either party.  Having access to multiple communities is key to understanding this outcome.  I am not surprised at the results, because I was aware of the discrepancies in the mainstream media’s reports.  They often reported information we expect to hear, rather than what is unexpected.  For example, when they discuss Trump’s remarks about Muslims, they paint a picture of the Muslim and Middle Eastern communities united against Trump.  Based on some of his remarks, such a conclusion might be expected, but because they did not report the whole story, this could not be farther from the truth.  Not that these communities necessarily support Trump, but many Middle Easterners resent Clinton’s role in the Middle East, labeling her as a warmonger.  What gave Trump the advantage was the resentment so many people had for Clinton and The Establishment.

Why in your opinion pollsters and commentators did not predict the victory of Trump? Is the filter filter bubble theory able to explain this failure?

Yes, to a certain extent, this is possible.  The filter bubble concept describes the filtered information we receive on the internet based on our internet activity.  As I said before, this victory is not a surprise, nor could it have been predicted.  If measures had been taken to better evaluate the Trump supporters’ motives for voting for him, the reports could have reflected the general sentiment across the nation.  The filter bubble may have played a role in why so many people are surprised at the election results.

Commentators had the opportunity to address the opposing views of the public simply by using the candidates’ own remarks to evaluate the strength of their support and opposition.  For example, when Clinton made her “puppet” remark in reference to Trump’s relationship with Putin, the media did very little to highlight the mass reaction from those who took her own “puppet” label and applied it to her in reference to her relationship with the Saudi and Qatari regimes.  These mostly came from the Middle Eastern communities throughout the nation.  When I say Middle Eastern, that not only includes Arabs, but non-Arab communities such as Western Armenians, Arameans, etc..  Not all communities openly discuss their political positions unless with the purpose to enlighten others about their reasons.  The Clinton campaign completely overlooked these kinds of factors which helped to propel Trump’s position in the race.  If the campaign staff failed to catch these factors, the commentators’ observations could have been useful to Clinton had the media addressed them.

Even the Trump campaign did not take advantage of the all communities that were planning on voting for him.  Had they done so, the popular vote could have been increased with a carefully executed communication campaign targeting those massive communities.  Trump’s team does not include a single member who can provide him with access to the views of these groups.  Trump has various ethnic backgrounds represented on his team, but there is a difference between having members of some groups on your team versus having access to the views of those communities.  This is one reason why it is imperative for political candidates to have at least one or two staff members who have access to the views of multiple communities.  That being said, it is not enough to have a bi-lingual, tri-lingual, or multi-lingual staff member, or members who know people from various communities.  Having friends or acquaintances of different backgrounds will not provide you the same kind of access to their views as being regarded as one of their own.  The point is, the filter bubble cannot be ruled out as a contributing element in overestimating the support for Clinton.

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