The campaign by Virtue Scandinavia, Vice’s in-house creative agency in Copenhagen, poses a challenge to social media users who spend much of their online time in echo chambers that reinforce their own biases.
To prevent these narrow worldviews, the agency has created an online tool that connects to a user’s Facebook profile and analyses what they have already liked, mapping out their political and ideological standpoint. The tool then suggests a list of pages, people and groups the person is most likely to hate and encourages them to like those as well.
As a result, each time someone likes a new page that counters their typical view, the Facebook algorithm will be disrupted and their feed become more balanced.
"We have made the tool to remind everyone that there exists a world beyond our small social filter bubbles and to show how easy it is to create a greater perspective and gain respect for each other's views and opinions," said Frederik Andersen, the chief executive of Vice Media Scandinavia. "I hope that LikeWhatYouHate can help open that mindset and spark debate about the digital walls we surround ourselves with."
Morten Grubak, the creative director at Virtue Scandinavia, added: "LikeWhatYouHate is a tool developed to challenge people’s opinions. Whether that happens through a website, a concert, an exhibition or an article is subordinate. It is all about confronting your own biases – gaining a greater perspective."
