When the filter bubble bursts

Abstract

Through the analysis of collective upvotes and downvotes in multiple social media, we discover the bimodal regime of collective evaluations. When online content surpasses the local social context by reaching a threshold of collective attention, negativity grows faster with positivity, which serves as a trace of the burst of a filter bubble. To attain a global audience, we show that emotions expressed in online content has a significant effect and also play a key role in creating polarized opinions.