Effects of the spiral of silence on minority groups in recommender systemsA doctoral-consortium literature review arguing that the spiral of silence effect — minority users withholding non-mainstream opinions for fear of social isolation — starves recommender systems of minority data and thereby drives unfair, poorly matched recommendations, with proposed research directi

Effects of the spiral of silence on minority groups in recommender systems

Shah Noor Khan (Utrecht University, The Netherlands) · Eelco Herder (Utrecht University, The Netherlands)

Published in HT '23: 34th ACM Conference on Hypertext and Social Media · DOI: 10.1145/3603163.3609041 · License: © Copyright held by the owner/author(s). Publication rights licensed to ACM.

Keywords: Doctoral Consortium, Fear of Isolation, Recommender Systems, Spiral of Silence

Session: Social and Intelligent Media: Social media methods

Pages: spit

Conference: HT '23

Abstract

Recommender systems play a critical role in today's data-rich landscape, where the abundance of information necessitates their ability to present the most relevant choices for individual users. However, it has been noted that recommender systems often fail to offer the most suitable options for minority groups. Therefore, this paper examines one of the potential reasons behind the underrepresentation of minority opinions within recommender systems through a literature review. Specifically, we explore the connection and importance between the spiral of silence concept and the dearth of suitable recommendations for minorities.

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