The Change Engine
Duke Polarization Lab
Researchers building tools to fight political polarization on social media.
About
Researchers building tools to fight political polarization on social media.
How to reach them
Services
10Echo Chamber Checker ToolThis free online tool helps you see how strong your social media echo chamber is. If you use Twitter, you can sign in to learn if you mostly follow people who think like you do. The tool looks at the political views of famous accounts you follow, like politicians and news people. It gives you a score from 0 (most liberal) to 10 (most conservative) based on who you follow. This helps you understand your own political bubble and how it might affect what you see online. You need to turn off ad blockers to use it.
Moderate Voice Twitter BotsThese Twitter bots help people see moderate political voices from the other side. Each day, the bots share 12 messages from people who often appeal to those with different political views. The bots filter out mean or toxic messages. There are two bots - one shares moderate conservative voices, the other shares moderate liberal voices. You can follow one or both bots to learn what moderate people on the other side think about issues. This might help you understand different viewpoints and find common ground.
Tweet-e-ology Political Bias CheckerThis free online tool looks at your Twitter posts and tells you how liberal or conservative they sound to other people. You log into the app with your Twitter account, and it uses computer learning to score your tweets from very liberal to very conservative. The tool is 76% accurate based on research with Republicans and Democrats. It helps you see if your online posts match your actual political views, which can help reduce political polarization.
Political Views Quiz - See How You CompareTake a free online quiz to see how your political views compare to other Americans. Answer questions about different political issues by choosing the statement closer to your views. The quiz uses research from thousands of people to show if your views are liberal, conservative, or somewhere in between. Learn if your views are more extreme or moderate compared to the average person. Based on scientific research from the Pew Foundation.
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Echo Chamber Explorer ToolThis is an online tool that shows how American politicians, journalists, and advocacy groups are connected on Twitter. You can see which people are stuck in echo chambers (only talking to people who agree with them) and which ones follow people from both political sides. The tool maps over 10,000 important political accounts to help you find Twitter users who are in the middle of political conversations. You can explore different groups like journalists or politicians to see their connections. This helps you understand how social media creates political bubbles.
Intellectual Humility AssessmentThis is a test that measures how willing you are to admit when you might be wrong and how open you are to changing your mind when you learn new things. The assessment helps you understand how humble you are about your own knowledge and beliefs. This can be useful for personal growth and learning how to have better conversations with people who disagree with you.
Political Polarization Assessment ToolsFree online tools to help people understand their own political views and find common ground with others. The tools test things like intellectual humility, help identify trolls, show how polarized your posts are, and help you find people you might agree with. Some tools use Twitter data to analyze your social media behavior. These research-based tools help people have better political conversations and reduce extreme polarization. Most tools are available now, though some are coming soon or don't work due to Twitter policy changes.
Troll-o-meter ToolThe Troll-o-meter is a free online tool that helps you figure out if someone on social media might be a political troll. You answer questions about another user's behavior and posts, and the tool predicts how likely they are to be trolling. It also shows common words trolls use and gives advice on whether to engage with them. The tool is based on research studies and helps people avoid getting into fights with trolls online.
Bipartisan Issue TrackerThis online tool helps people find topics that both Democrats and Republicans talk about on Twitter. It tracks hashtags used by people from both parties and shows how similar their feelings are about each topic. You can click on hashtags to see popular tweets and learn where people from different parties might agree. The tool uses computer programs to study millions of tweets each month and find common ground between political groups.
Polarization Pen Pal NetworkThis is a new program that connects people with different political views to help them understand each other better. Research shows that talking with real people who think differently can reduce political anger and division. The service pairs you with someone who has different political opinions so you can write to each other and have respectful conversations. The program is still being built, but you can sign up now to get notified when it's ready to use.
Most people want to be part of something. They just don't know where to start. That's not a motivation problem. It's a navigation problem.
The Change Lab