Echo chambers may exclude social media users from being exposed to other opinions, therefore, can cause rampant negative effects. Among abundant evidence are the 2016 and 2020 US presidential elections conspiracy theories and polarization, as well as the COVID-19 disinfodemic. To help better detect echo chambers and mitigate its negative effects, this paper explores the mechanisms and attributes of echo chambers in social media. In particular, we first illustrate four primary mechanisms related to three main factors: human psychology, social networks, and automatic systems. We then depict common attributes of echo chambers with a focus on the diffusion of misinformation, spreading of conspiracy theory, creation of social trends, political polarization, and emotional contagion of users. We illustrate each mechanism and attribute in a multi-perspective of sociology, psychology, and social computing with recent case studies. Our analysis suggest an emerging need to detect echo chambers and mitigate their negative effects.

中文翻译：

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社交媒体中回声室的机制和属性

回声室可能会将社交媒体用户排除在其他意见之外，因此可能会导致猖獗的负面影响。大量证据包括 2016 年和 2020 年美国总统选举的阴谋论和两极分化，以及 COVID-19 的虚假信息传播。为了帮助更好地检测回声室并减轻其负面影响，本文探讨了回声室在社交媒体中的机制和属性。特别是，我们首先说明与三个主要因素相关的四个主要机制：人类心理、社交网络和自动系统。然后，我们描述回音室的共同属性，重点是错误信息的传播、阴谋论的传播、社会趋势的创造、政治两极分化和用户的情绪感染。我们通过最近的案例研究从社会学、心理学和社会计算的多角度说明了每个机制和属性。我们的分析表明，检测回声室并减轻其负面影响的新需求正在出现。