What is an echo chamber?

The Mix explains what a caution is and how police cautions and warnings work in the UK.

My name is Kayleigh (name changed to protect my privacy) and I am a Community Champion at The Mix. This week I am writing an article as part of the Christmas Campaign and this week’s article is about echo chambers. What is the meaning of ‘echo chamber’ and how do you leave one?

Echo chamber meaning

An echo chamber is when you spend most of your time in a group of people who share the same beliefs. This can be on social media platforms, in university, or anywhere that you are commonly with the same group of people. 

Sometimes this can have a positive impact because of having a sense of belonging, but it can also have a negative impact on your mental health due to worrying about prejudice or being judged by your family for not having the same beliefs. What an echo chamber is doing to your worldview might only start to become apparent after you leave it. 

An example of an echo chamber 

University students can sometimes live in an echo chamber if they are often amongst friends who share the same political beliefs and values as them.

This means that it might be hard to return home and interact with people who have different views. This can have a negative impact on relationships between families.  

What is a social media echo chamber?

Your social media experience might be creating an echo chamber because you only follow accounts or users who share the same religious or political beliefs as you, for example. 

I used to feel like I wasn’t alone and that I had a sense of belonging online because many people at my school also use social media and I did not want to feel left out.  

However, being part of this echo chamber also had a negative impact on me because I felt like I wasn’t really able to follow my passions and there was a lot of negativity against certain echo chambers. I stopped using social media when I realised it was having a negative impact on my schoolwork and my mental health. 

I found it hard to leave the echo chamber and sometimes I don’t feel part of the crowd at school anymore, but I have been learning how to cope. Leaving your online echo chambers can be really hard.  

How to cope with leaving an echo chamber

It is very important to learn how to cope after leaving an echo chamber, whether that is taking a break from social media or returning home from university. You can sometimes feel isolated by being away from an echo chamber. You might struggle with relationships with your family if they do not have the same beliefs that you have, or what you were influenced to believe by the people that you were always with.  

The Mix’s tips on leaving an echo chamber for Christmas

• Make time to look after yourself while you’re at home – you could head out for a walk alone or have a bath for some peace and quiet.
• Try to stay open to discussing your beliefs with your family and friends who have different points of view – they may not be as opposed as you think and you might learn from each other.
• Stay in touch with your friends, so you still feel connected to and supported by your community.
• If conversations get heated, take time out to cool down to avoid arguments (even if others don’t do the same!).

And while you’re here, speak to our friendly team at the Mix, who are there to support you with any issue you’re facing. 

You might also want to read The Mix’s relationship guide to coming home at Christmas, and check out these links:  

• If you’re under 25 and would like free confidential telephone counselling from The Mix to help you figure things out, complete this form and we’ll call you to arrange your first session.
• Our Crisis Messenger provides free, 24/7 crisis support across the UK. If you’re aged 25 or under, you can text THEMIX to 85258
• Chat about this subject on our Discussion Boards, where you’ll hopefully find some people with different views to your own!

Support The Mix

The Mix want to help support young people who might be struggling with leaving their echo chamber and adjusting to new environments during these difficult times. 

You can donate to The Mix to help continue the amazing support it provides to many young people, including on issues such as homelessness, bullying, bereavement, mental health and many other topics. The Mix relies heavily on the kindness of donations and many amazing volunteers, so please help to ensure we can keep doing what we do!