“I unfriended some of my connections because their posts are annoying to me”. This was posted by one of my Facebook friends on her status update a few years ago. I found it interesting as I saw similar posts by several people in the same period.

So I asked my friend for an explanation. She was disturbed by the fact that some of her online friends had criticized her opinions about one of Jakarta gubernatorial candidates and were very aggressive in voicing their opinions. Hence, she decided to “shut them up”.

Many of us may think that this is a logical decision – she has the right to do so, as it is her own social media account. However, I myself doubt if it is a smart decision for her and for us who might have faced similar problems. Because by doing so, we are, perhaps unconsciously, isolating ourselves intellectually.

Internet activist Eli Pariser explains this phenomenon as a filter bubble. Should this filter bubble persist around us, this bubble may eventually lead us to an echo chamber, where we will only hear information and opinions from likeminded people. We might not question the truth anymore since all we hear and see are the same things with our opinions. To put it simply, we might not be aware if we are walking toward a dark valley because everyone is going to the same direction.

It is undeniable that most of us are active social media users who heavily rely on our feeds to get news and information about many things, from food, fashion, to education and politics. Whether we realize it or not, our life choices now are pretty much influenced by social media.

Therefore, it is certainly important for us to ensure that we are connected to the “right” people or sources of information. This applies not only for those who are still underage to certain contents, but also for adults so they can optimally benefit from their online activities.

Many will agree that our interests in one particular area should not alienate us from what happens in the rest of the world. It is usually possible, if not normal, for us to follow and like various posts uploaded by our friends on varied platforms. Unfortunately, it is not the case when it comes to political views and choices.

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