Bubble Breaking

Wednesday the 12th of February 2025

15:00 (Brussels)

Digital platforms, and social media in particular, are often cited as the main culprit for problematic forms of political polarization and the formation of information bubbles that undermine democracy. But could digital tools such as chat apps and news recommender systems also contribute to depolarization? Can we break bubbles by stimulating and engineering certain forms of online interaction and information provision? And what are the main practical hurdles and (un)scientific presuppositions for such engineered bubble breaking?



[Image generated by OpenAI's DALL·E]

Connect here to attend the meet-up: 


https://eur-nl.zoom.us/j/69367607825


Leon Horbach

Co-founder of CIVINC
(waaromkiesjij.nl, The Netherlands

Leon Horbach is co-founder of the Dutch company CIVINC and the like-named foundation that develops the app waaromkiesjij.nl. This app deliberately connects users with opposing viewpoints (as shown e.g. by the voter information app wiekiesjij.nl, or on the basis of a preliminary survey) so they can start an anonymous, yet civilized chat conversation. In his presentation, Leon will explain the societal motivations and vision the underlie this app, and discuss the results of its application.

Célina Treuillier, PhD

Computer Scientist & 

Expert on recommender systems

(Université de Lorraine) 

Célina Treuiller obtained her PhD in computer science in October 2024 at the LORIA lab, Université de Lorraine (Nancy). Her research concerns news recommender systems, where she argues for a so-called “multi-factorial analysis” of polarization. In her presentation, she will give an overview of her main findings as they relate to bubble breaking in theory and in practice.