▁expos ure . ▁Political ▁polar ization ▁refers ▁to ▁when ▁an ▁individual ' s ▁st ance ▁on ▁a ▁topic ▁is ▁more ▁likely ▁to ▁be ▁strictly ▁defined ▁by ▁their ▁identification ▁with ▁a ▁specific ▁political ▁party ▁or ▁ide ology ▁than ▁on ▁other ▁factors . ▁Select ive ▁expos ure ▁occurs ▁when ▁an ▁individual ▁fav ors ▁information ▁which ▁supports ▁their ▁belief s ▁and ▁avoid s ▁information ▁which ▁conflicts ▁with ▁their ▁belief s . ▁A ▁study ▁by ▁Hay at ▁and ▁Samuel - Az ran ▁conducted ▁during ▁the ▁ 2 0 1 6 ▁U . S . ▁president ial ▁election ▁observed ▁an ▁“ echo ▁chamber ” ▁effect ▁of ▁select ive ▁expos ure ▁among ▁ 2 7 , 8 1 1 ▁Twitter ▁users ▁following ▁the ▁content ▁of ▁cable ▁news ▁shows . ▁The ▁Twitter ▁users ▁observed ▁in ▁the ▁study ▁were ▁found ▁to ▁have ▁little ▁interaction ▁with ▁users ▁and ▁content ▁whose ▁belief s ▁were ▁different ▁from ▁their ▁own , ▁possibly ▁height ening ▁polar ization ▁effects . ▁ ▁E ff ort s ▁to ▁combat ▁select ive ▁expos ure ▁in ▁social ▁media ▁may ▁also ▁cause ▁an ▁increase ▁in ▁political ▁polar ization . ▁A ▁study ▁exam ining ▁Twitter ▁activity ▁conducted ▁by ▁B ail ▁et ▁al . ▁paid ▁Dem ocrat ▁and ▁Republican ▁participants ▁to ▁follow ▁Twitter ▁handles ▁whose ▁content ▁was ▁different ▁from ▁their ▁political ▁belief s ▁( Rep ublic ans ▁received ▁liberal ▁content ▁and ▁Democr ats ▁received ▁conserv ative ▁content ) ▁over ▁a ▁six - week ▁period . ▁At ▁the ▁end ▁of ▁the ▁study , ▁both ▁Dem ocrat ▁and ▁Republican ▁participants ▁were ▁found ▁to ▁have ▁increased ▁political