Duration-Based Investigation of User Content Choices in the Exit of Filter Bubbles

Content personalization on social platforms has been linked to the creation of filter bubbles. The algorithms provide content recommendations based on the user’s browsing history and interests, which limits content diversity. Studies have been conducted on platforms such as Facebook and YouTube to investigate user awareness and strategies to exit filter bubbles. However, no study has employed a multi-platform, user-centered perspective in investigating filter bubble exit through change in search content, as well as the duration of the content transition across multiple platforms. This study examines the duration of user exit of filter bubbles, across three social platforms; TikTok, YouTube Shots, and Instagram Reels, as well as the impact of word similarity on the duration of the transition between contents, across the platforms. The methodology applied involved triggering the filter bubble effect through user interactions with the search content across the different platforms. Findings revealed that the mean time of a transition between search terms on TikTok is significantly higher than the mean time on Instagram reels, and YouTube shorts. Similarly, the study identified differences in the duration of transition across the different platforms, due to the similarity of the search terms. Apart from improving user awareness of a filter bubble exit strategy, this study contributes to Human-Computer Interaction research by highlighting some design implications for future social media application design.