ABSTRACT Social epistemologists should be well-equipped to explain and evaluate the growing vulnerabilities associated with filter bubbles, echo chambers, and group polarization in social media. However, almost all social epistemology has been built for social contexts that involve merely a speaker-hearer dyad. Filter bubbles, echo chambers, and group polarization all presuppose much larger and more complex network structures. In this paper, we lay the groundwork for a properly social epistemology that gives the role and structure of networks their due. In particular, we formally define epistemic constructs that quantify the structural epistemic position of each node within an interconnected network. We argue for the epistemic value of a structure that we call the (m,k)-observer. We then present empirical evidence that (m,k)-observers are rare in social media discussions of controversial topics, which suggests that people suffer from serious problems of epistemic vulnerability. We conclude by arguing that social epistemologists and computer scientists should work together to develop minimal interventions that improve the structure of epistemic networks.

中文翻译：

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社会认知网络中的漏洞

摘要 社会认识论者应该有能力解释和评估社交媒体中与过滤气泡、回声室和群体极化相关的日益严重的脆弱性。然而，几乎所有的社会认识论都是为仅涉及说话者-听者二元组的社会语境建立的。过滤气泡、回声室和群极化都以更大和更复杂的网络结构为前提。在本文中，我们为适当的社会认识论奠定了基础，该认识论赋予网络的作用和结构应有的地位。特别是，我们正式定义了量化互连网络中每个节点的结构认知位置的认知结构。我们为我们称为 (m,k)-观察者的结构论证了认知价值。然后我们提供经验证据表明 (m, k)-观察者在有争议话题的社交媒体讨论中很少见，这表明人们遭受严重的认知脆弱性问题。最后，我们认为社会认识论学家和计算机科学家应该共同努力，开发最小的干预措施，以改善认知网络的结构。