I’ve been dipping into [amazon_link id=”0691167346″ target=”_blank” ]Digital Keywords[/amazon_link] edited by Benjamin Peters. This is in the chapter ‘Democracy’ by Rasmus Kleis Nielsen: “Attempts to assess the effects of digital technology use on political participation have again and again found only modest effects and often a ‘reinforcement’ tendency whereby the digital technology use may correlate with political participation, but mostly in ways where already-engaged groups are even more engaged and less-engaged groups are no more engaged. Digital technologies offer easier access than anything else, but for many, apparently, access is less of a barrier to political participation than inclination (or confidence that even trying is worth one’s while).”

[amazon_image id=”0691167346″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]Digital Keywords: A Vocabulary of Information Society and Culture (Princeton Studies in Culture and Technology)[/amazon_image]

The circumstances in which click-ability leads to a reduction in transactions costs or barriers, and those in which it doesn’t, is surely worth some research. But while the above argument is plausible, it does seem worth worrying about the way the filter bubble can reinforce social and political chasms. This by Tom Steinberg puts it eloquently.