Does everyone see the same news stories?
It might seem like the news affects everyone equally. On TV or in a newspaper, journalists and editors decide the kinds of stories and reports that appear, meaning that everyone who watches or reads these news sources will be seeing the same thing.
But when we see news stories on social media like Instagram or TikTok, the experience is completely different.
BBC Bitesize Other Side of the Story investigates how the news we see on our feeds is filtered, and how this can lead to us thinking about the world in very different ways.
Who decides what makes the news?
First, Radzi Chinyanganya from BBC My World looks at who decides what makes the news, from offline to online sources.
Hi, I'm Radzi and today we're looking at who decides what you see, read and hear in the news.
Behind the scenes, there are journalists whose job it is to make decisions about the final report that's published, and increasingly, computer algorithms are being used to make decisions.
So while you're watching, think about the choices that are made and how they affect the stories that appear in your timeline.
[Reporter] Everything you see and hear on the news is filtered because the number of things happening every day in the world is immeasurable.
But journalists have limited space to report the news.
When you get your news from the TV, radio or news websites, senior journalists called editors are responsible for deciding which stories to tell, based on what they think you want to know, and need to know.
But when you get your news from apps, social media and websites that aren't run by journalists, often computer programs decide what you see.
These programs are operated by the companies that own the app or website.
They might want you to see as many ads as possible, which makes them money, or try to influence your views.
So they use algorithms to show you the content they think you want to see, things that make you angry or happy, so you share them and attract more people to the site.
One way to see the bigger picture is to get your news from lots of sources.
See how different apps and websites prioritize different stories, and how the same story can be told in lots of different ways.
Now you can think about who makes the decisions when you watch the news or read a story online, and why those decisions have been made.
Is the story informative or entertaining?
Does it hold power to account or has it been published just to make money from advertising?
Now you can apply this to your learning.
How do social media algorithms work?
The decisions around the types of posts that we see when scrolling through social media are in the hands of algorithms rather than people, computer programs run by companies that own the app or website that filter the posts in your feed.
The news stories that appear on search engines and social media are tailored to your personal information, which is collected through:
- your search history
- online shopping habits
- platforms you use
- details passed on when signing up to things online
- your privacy settings
So whether or not it's something scary about climate change or the latest celebrity gossip, all our feeds are personalised and will likely show different stories to everyone else’s.
What are filter bubbles?
If we take algorithms and combine them with the fact that we tend to follow other social media accounts who share interests and aspirations with us, it's not hard to see why we might only be seeing a very small and specific view of the world on our feeds.
This is called a filter bubble and the clip below shows how easy it is to get trapped in one.
Filter bubbles explained
We’ve all been online and seen something that makes us mad.
You share it and suddenly it seems like everyone is also shocked and angry about it.
It feels like the whole internet is reacting in the same way.
But zoom out a little… you get a different picture.
In fact, it’s not the entire internet, it’s just your filter bubble.
The friends, family, work colleagues and people you’re connected with on social media probably share the same interests and opinions to you.
So when things are seen – or filtered – through our social media feeds, it’s sometimes easy to lose context.
The danger of filter bubbles is that we only ever hear one side of a story.
Things that cause outrage and anger could be bounced around a social media network and you become trapped in an echo chamber where everyone shares the same opinion.
Not only that, the algorithms that power suggestions on social media are constantly highlighting people or channels that we probably agree with too.
Misinformation and fake news can spread online easily this way, when we limit who we hear from.
So how do you get out of your filter bubble?
Well, you need to broaden your horizons online. Follow people and pages on social media that you might not agree with and visit a broad range of websites to see a bigger picture.
And to really find out what the world outside the internet thinks about things, get offline yourself.
But if our online habits and algorithm filters create a personal feed where we only see things that we agree with, what’s the problem? Well, if a news story comes out that might not be in line with your opinions and beliefs, the algorithms might not surface it in your feed.
Fake news can spread really quickly as everyone in a filter bubble might share the same viewpoint - and it’s much easier to believe a fake story when other accounts you like and follow are sharing and agreeing with it too.
Is this the same as an echo chamber?
You may have heard the terms ‘echo chamber’ and ‘filter bubbles’ used in the same way, but there is a distinction between the two.
Laura Garcia from First Draft, an organisation working to protect people against misinformation, explains how these terms are different.
Filter bubbles and echo chambers can sometimes get confused or we use them to mean the same thing, but they're actually quite different.
Filter bubbles are a result of our previous online activity. What we search for, what we like, what we share. This influences what we see on social media and even in what order.
Echo chambers are what we call any space, whether it's online or offline, where all the ideas seem to reflect your own.
It's like echo. It's like if your own ideas were bouncing back at you. This reinforces our beliefs because we're not hearing or seeing anything that challenges them.
It's like if everybody was in agreement.
An echo chamber is the way in which we only encounter information from like-minded people. A filter bubble is a space where our previous online behaviour (search history, likes, shares and shopping habits) influences what we see online and on our social media feeds and in what order.
How to burst your filter bubble
Being trapped in a filter bubble makes it seem like the internet is reacting in just one way, whereas there are always different points of view. It creates the risk that your views become based on misinformation and strengthened by confirmation bias.
Here are three top tips on how you can burst your bubble to see what’s really going on:
- Beat the algorithms – algorithms cover your feed with posts based on the people and pages you already follow. Try to follow accounts that you disagree with – that way you’ll start to see different takes on the story than the one you’re used to.
- Widen your sources – Don’t always stick with your go-to socials or websites. Visit a broad range of places online to get a bigger picture, but make sure these sources can be trusted.
- Go offline – It’s always good to chat to friends, family and people at school in real life, rather than just getting stories from your filter bubble. Don’t trust everything on your feed and remember that other people might think differently.
Some governments are taking action to prevent filter bubbles and echo chambers developing, for example in Australia, where tech companies may give users the choice to switch social media algorithms off.
Could this approach work? It will take time to know for sure – and, as with everything, there's sure to be a range of opinions on the matter.
This article was updated in September 2026.
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