Filter bubble and its awareness among youth : results of a study conducted among junior high school students

Abstract

The subject of the paper is filter bubble and awareness of its mechanism among junior high school students. The article attempts to answer the question about how many representatives of the Z Generation (in this case junior high school students) are familiar with the issue of personalizing content on the Web, how they perceive it and whether they can manage information on the web to minimize the negative consequences of filter bubble and efficiently manage information on the Internet. 15 in-depth interviews were conducted. Th e results show that young people notice the effects of a filter bubble, but they do not always know the mechanisms of its. The respondents do not prevent content personalization, it is not always perceived by them negatively. People who actively create content on the Web have the best knowledge about filter bubble mechanism. The space of communication platforms such as Facebook is for a Z Generation natural information management environment. Social media tools are eagerly chosen, and it is oft en the only tool used for the information management purposes