Do social media tools constrict or expand us?

During a recent presentation on social media, I was asked a question that still has me thinking weeks later. Someone asked if all these social media tools (blogs, tags, collaborative filtering, social networking sites, etc.) are harming us as a society because by their very nature they help us find people and content that reinforces what we already believe or like, rather than introducing us to new and unexpected ideas. The fear is that by following only people we agree with or products similar to what we already like, we could live a narrow existence and miss out on surprises or things that challenge us.

The question reminded me of a diagram from a few years back. Someone plotted political books based on how likely they were to be purchased together on Amazon and found a clear liberal vs. conservative divide. People tended to buy books that confirmed preexisting beliefs.

Do social media tools produce similar divides? Yes but no.

There are certainly some “Web 2.0″ elements that are intended to find similarities and could potentially limit serendipity. Any kind of collaborative filtering (“People who viewed/liked/bought X also viewed/liked/bought Y”) has this risk. If all the music I ever purchased were related to what I currently like, how would I ever be exposed to amazingly different artists? One can also argue that blogs can reinforce existing beliefs. I read Talking Points Memo, which points to other progressive blogs that keep me in a cocoon of Obama-loving sweetness. Do I care that I’m not reading conservative blogs also? No. Do I miss important ideas because my reading is limited? Probably.

But even if some of these social media tools can potentially constrict us, I believe they expand us far more. My liberal blogs expose me to ideas and news I never would have found on my own, including things outside my political beliefs. Forums focused on a particular narrow topic inevitably contain discussions that are far-reaching and broadening. Tags bring together certain items but also lead to unexpected connections.

And of course the best source of new ideas that expand us and challenge us is other people. Friends and relative strangers I’m connected to via Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and other sites generally happen because of some kind of connection I have with them: work, interest area, belief, social connection. But of course those relationships are never confined to what we share in common. The joy of social networking is the exposure to differences between us, to new ideas and knowledge that expand our minds.

The whole point of social media is to encourage dialogue between users and dialogue between organizations and their customers. How can it not expand everyone involved?