Sean Munson
University of Washington
Exposure to Political Diversity Online

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The Internet gives individuals more choice in political news and information sources and more tools to filter out disagreeable information. Citing the preference described by selective exposure theory - that people prefer information that supports their beliefs and avoid counter-attitudinal information - observers warn that people may use these tools to access and create ideological echo chambers, increasing the polarization of different political groups and decreasing society's ability to solve problems. In this talk, I present research on political information exposure in two types of online spaces. First, I describe individuals' preferences for the range of political opinions tat news aggregators present, ways to measure the diversity of exposure in those spaces, and selection and presentation techniques for increasing the diversity of exposure. Second, I discuss non-political spaces, where preferences other than politics shape people's behavior, but where people may still serendipitously encounter political information.

Bio Sean Munson is an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington's Department of Human Centered Design and Engineering and a member of the dub group. He studies the use of software to support positive behavior changes. His work primarily focuses on the domains of (1) political news and opinion access and (2) health and wellness. Sean completed a BS in Engineering with a concentration in Systems Design at Olin College in 2006 and his PhD at the University of Michigan's School of Information in 2012. He has been a political blogger and, while working at Boeing, designed concepts for future passenger airplane interiors.