Using Twitter to probe political polarization

We'd like to believe that our opinions are nuanced, balanced, high-minded, wise and above all, unique, but alas they are not -- or so says Twitter. Most often, those we engage with on the popular social media site are like-minded, and the ensuing electronic maelstrom of 140-character missives most often serves to reinforce, pulling us and them further along in the direction we were already trending toward -- so that at the end of the day, we all tweet to the converted.