Inside the Funhouse Mirror Factory: How Social Media Distorts Perceptions of Norms

Abstract

Norms on social media tend to be more extreme than offline norms–creating false perceptions of norms. The current paper explains how modern technology interacts with human psychology to create a funhouse mirror version of social norms. Specifically, we integrate research from political science, psychology, and cognitive science to explain how online environments become saturated with false norms, who is misrepresented online, what happens when online norms deviate from offline norms, where people are affected online, and why expressions are more extreme online. We provide a framework for understanding and correcting for the distortions in our perceptions of social norms that are created by social media platforms. We argue the funhouse mirror nature of social media can be pernicious for individuals and society by increasing pluralistic ignorance and false polarization.

An Illusory Consensus Effect: The Mere Repetition of Information Increases Estimates that Others Would Believe or Already Know It

“…On the other hand, our findings are concerning when considering contexts where individuals are likely to be repeatedly exposed to false, problematic, or controversial information that is not representative of true consensus views. On social media, for instance, a small number of vocal users with extreme views may drive attention and engagement, despite being unrepresentative of the majority view (Robertson et al, 2024). Relatedly, news coverage may skew perceptions of the consensus around topics such as climate change by providing equal coverage to non-consensus and consensus views (Immundo & Rapp, 2022).…”