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Hi, everyone and welcome back to Happy Hour. 欢迎回来酒馆. Hi, 安澜.

Hi, Lulu, hi, everyone.

So安澜, let me propose a topic.

Okay. Yeah, sure.

I'm going to, first of all, ask you something that might make you feel a little bit uncomfortable.

Okay.

Yeah. I'm not sure if you ask yourself this type of questions on a daily basis or on a regular basis. So, when was the last time, you scrolled through a social media feed and saw something that genuinely challenged your world view, something you didn't agree with at all, that made you pause or even frown or angry.

Emmm. That's a really good question.

Mhm.

I honestly can't remember.

That's some soul-searching there, isn't it?

Well, yeah. My feed is full of things that I like, things I agree with, things that make me feel validated and entertained. It's like my phone has become this incredibly thoughtful friend who only shows me what I want to see.

Makes you feel all fuzzy inside.

Exactly.

And just beauty and the danger of it. You know, there's a new term going viral on Chinese social media. It's called 粉色围栏, the pink fence.

I think I’ve heard about that but I'm not quite sure what it means.

Yeah. Originally, I thought it was about like a feminism thing.

Yeah.

Like pink tax, but this is for everyone. So, it's a mental fence that's not made of cold threatening iron bars,  but of soft, pink, pleasant-looking comforting things.

So it's like the information cocoon, but with a slightly fancier edge.

Yes and no. I'm sure our listeners are very familiar with the idea of information cocoon信息茧房.  You know, you guys say information cocoon but you say more probably echo chamber?

Yeah.

那个回音室, which describes kind of a cage that restricts what you see. It is that but with a crucial twist. This cage is comforting, it's delicious. You want to stay inside. Nobody forces you in, it lures you in, with the promise of endless entertainment and validation.

So, it's not just that we're seeing only our own opinions. It's is that we're seeing the opinions that make us feel good.  And it's that good feeling that is trapping us?

Exactly. So, the fence is pink, so we don't feel trapped.

Okay.

Pink, warm, fuzzy. It's just there, making the world outside look, a little less inviting, a little less fuzzy and warm. It's like a gentle consumption that slowly, but surely narrows your view of the world without you even noticing because you've been enjoying what's inside the fence so much.

So, let's take a look at what this actually is.

Yeah.

How it works and also what we can do about it.

Yeah, well, let’s get into it.

So how is this pink fence different from the terms we've heard before? We know about Information cocoon, the idea that we only consume content that reinforces our own beliefs and also echo chamber.

Yeah. Well, in academia, usually that is broken down into two distinct but related concepts. So first, there's the filter bubble.

Okay.

Yeah. So the idea of a filter bubble is that the algorithm就是算法. Algorithms, they don't just show you what you want to see. They create a unique reality just for you. It's a personalized information universe where you get a completely filtered version of the world. So, the bubble is the cage and it's based on your own individual preferences.

Yeah. And then there's the echo chamber. So, imagine a room where everyone around you already agrees with you.

Mhm.

You will share stories, beliefs, opinions. And they just bounce around, getting louder and louder and louder and also more extreme.  This is less about the algorithm and more about who we choose to listen to and interact with.

Let’s use like a really cute example.

Okay.

So for example,安澜, you're a cat person, right?

Yeah.

So, imagine through algorithm and through this filter bubble, we're getting stuck in one room, like, so to speak.

Yeah.

On social media, I think cats are cute. You think ?

Cats are cute.

Yeah. And then together we're hearing each other's echo and be like, cats are the cutest, cats are absolutely the cutest, you know, creature in the world. And who would like dogs and dogs are ugly, only cats are cute, cats are really the cutest. I think anyone, you know, crazy enough to like other animals are stupid.

Exactly.

So, this is like an echo chamber.

Well, that's a cute example. But the problem is it's when it gets into much more serious topics, then that's when it becomes a huge problem.

Yeah, but if we use serious examples like politics or gender, we're gonna get banned.

Okay.

Or we get trolled, so I used cat.

Yeah.

But you get the drift. But in Chinese, when we talk about 信息茧房, because in Chinese we don't really say echo chamber, the information cocoon is a more general term that covers both.

Well, yeah.

So it's the end result of being trapped in a limited information environment.

Yeah, but the pink fence is different, isn't it?

Yeah.

It's taking those academic concepts and putting in a little bit more psychology and emotion.

Exactly. So, the pink fence is an emotional experience. It's the feeling of being in the information bubble. But it's not just about having your views unchallenged. It's about being soothed and entertained, comforted even.

Well, yeah. The cages are made of logical points you agree with, it's made of emotions, things that make you laugh, cry, relax, feel good, a video of a cat playing the piano, a story about someone who overcame incredible odds, a-thirty-second song that's gone viral.

Yeah.

So the algorithm is not just feeding you facts, it’s feeding you feelings.

Exactly. Yeah, the pink fence is the filter bubble, but with the addictive dopamine hit of entertainment added on. You stay or we stay not because we're forced to, but because it just feels so good to be there.

So, an echo chamber is about opinions, the pink fence is about attention.

That's a great way to put it.

Mhm.

One traps your thinking, the other traps your time and your focus.

So how does this pink fence actually work? How does a bunch of cute cat videos build a prison around your world view?

Well, it starts with the algorithm like everything now. It's constantly tracking us what you watch, how long you watch it, what you like, what you share, what you skip. It's a 24/7 surveillance system of our preferences. It's quietly building a digital profile of your deepest desires and insecurities. Actually, I love the word profiling.

Yeah.

Because growing up, I read a lot on criminology and criminal psychology. And that's when I first heard the word profile which was used on criminals.

Well, yeah.

But now they say consumer profiling.

Well, yeah.

So profiling us as if we were suspects.

Well, exactly, but here we're not suspects. The algorithm wants to give us that little hit of dopamine.

Yeah, exactly. Well, once it profiles you, once it gets a very, very clear idea of who you are, what you don't want. It makes sure you see more of the things that you want.  And this creates what’s known as the filter bubble.

Yeah.

You are now in a personalized information universe, a world custom-built just for you, and by you.

So, it doesn't push back. It has no opinions. It just wants to keep you scrolling.

Yeah. And the thing is, the more you're stuck in that the more you will think the whole world agrees with you and you have that delusion.

Well, yeah.

Yeah. You know that as I often say in the live stream, we call ourselves users, the platforms call us users, but we're not the users, we are the products.  

Well, yeah. So, our time and energy are products.

Yeah. Have you heard the famous saying in the tech world? If the product is free, you are the products.

Well, exactly.

In this case our attention is the product.

Yeah. So, the more time you spend inside the pink fence, the more money they make, they don't care about your growth, they care about your clicks.

Exactly. The platforms are package selling our attention to advertisers.

Well, yeah.

So, we are the products.

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文稿校对：梅薇薇 & Jenny

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