You have noticed your friend Maggie is not very happy recently.

Upon talking to her, you found

out that she has been working with her classmates in a group project using social media, but the
group leader only wants to hear from one-side of the opinions. Your friend felt frustrated as the
group only wants to work in a “bubble” (comfort zone), they can’t be challenged by new ideas
and thoughts.
 Write a letter to Maggie.
 Explain how she should communicate with her groupmates; and
 advise her how to maintain good mental health in this “Echo Chamber*” culture.

*Echo Chamber means an environment, especially on a social media site, in which any
statement of opinion is likely to be greeted with approval because it will only be read or
heard by people who hold similar views.
 CONTENT:
 The purpose of this letter is to show understanding and offer useful advice to Maggie
in light of this situation.
 Give practical advice on what Maggie should do when dealing with her group leader
and groupmates e.g. Stay open-minded and be communicative; discuss the issue with
the group face-to-face and get them think about the ideas you presented to them; alert
them that the only way to improve is to never get complacent and always strive for
betterment; advise the group to seek the truth, check the source and do own research;
not to take things personal when they don’t heed the advice etc.
 Offer Maggie some ways to maintain good mental health in Echo Chamber culture
e.g. stay positive even facing negative comments from others; give oneself a mental
break; distract oneself from social media for a while by enjoying music, movie, doing
sports or other meaningful activities; pay more attention to the outside world; not to
limit oneself to social media or gadgets etc.
 Personal experience is also appropriate.

LANGUAGE:
 Informal register
 The use of personal pronouns e.g. I/Me/You are appropriate
 Tone should be sincere, encouraging and understanding when expressing empathy but
objective when offering advice
 Contractions, colloquial expressions, slangs etc. are appropriate

Organisation:
 Salutation e.g. Dear Maggie/ Hi Maggie
 Introduction: state the purpose of the letter and show empathy
 Body: offer practical advice regarding Maggie’s situation. Each piece of advice should be
supported with example.
 Ending: affirm your support for Maggie
 Complimentary close: Yours/Love/Best, Chris

1st paragraph: purpose of writing:

to comfort your friend, to acknowledge her feeling (confused and frustrated) and to
encourage her to express her feelings to her groupmates, try to come up with an
understanding with the group
to share with her some of your personal experiences (if needed)
 Body paragraph:
Definition of Echo Chamber:
1) an echo chamber would be like somebody shouting their opinion in an empty cave, only to have
that opinion echoed right back.

Dangers of Echo Chamber:

2) someone (in this case, the group leader) only getting the information from one source, the leader
didn’t “fact check” the source or information; nor do investigation before he/she came up with the
conclusion

3) Hearing ideas that align with your opinions and comments giving you praise are of course easier
to hear than negative remarks.

4) Some people (like the groupmates), however, choose to live in a “bubble”. A lack of criticism can
be unhealthy.

Advice for your friend to maintain good mental health in “Echo Chamber” culture:
1) Stay open-minded and be communicative: discuss the real issues with the group face-to-
face and get them think about the ideas you presented to them;

2) The only way to really improve is to never get complacent and to always strive for personal
betterment.

3) We need to seek the truth, check our sources and do our own research. Don’t only consider
viewpoints that align with yours, be a skeptic.

4) Through communication, the group might see their limits and their blind spots.

5) Never take things personal if the groupmates still don’t want to accept your ideas;

6) Failure is the best coach. We need to learn from failure.

7) Distract yourself with other activities like music, theatre or sports etc.

ACCURACY:
Informal letter
Salutation: Dear Maggie/Your sincerely/Regards, Chris
Avoid emotive languages
Stay objective
Use of connectives