Eli Pariser’s Ted Talk – Beware Online “Filter Bubbles” raises the important issue of the personalization service of web companies like Google, yahoo news and Facebook, and why users of the internet should be weary of this new phenomenon. He talks about the “invisible algorithmic editing of the web” that tailors what you see online, resulting in what Pariser describes as a “filter bubble”. He emphasizes how little control users of the internet have to decide what they see, because of these algorithms, and how ultimately this customization is in fact not beneficial to us.
The internet is known to be a way for the world to connect, but because of this new system of filtering we are becoming less exposed to certain information resulting in what Pariser describes as a “web of one”. These filters exclude things you wouldn’t typically click on, which is in turn restricting us from broadening our horizons by seeing different points of view, and getting a greater understanding of the world. It is always important to see ‘both sides of the story’ before forming an opinion, but these online filters are inhibiting our ability to do this. The alarming aspect of this system is that many people don’t even realize its happening, and so it could become very easy to unconsciously form certain biases based of your “web of one”. One of the most important things Pariser noted about the filter bubble is that it is a reflection of yourself, but the problem is that we can’t see what gets edited out; we don’t know what we aren’t seeing.
After watching the video, I became more observant of this ‘service’ in action, and started to noticed this customization in my own use of the internet. The one way I noticed it most obviously was with Facebook. I came across this advertisement for two different concerts on my Facebook page last weekend (screenshot below) and it struck me. I had not ‘liked’ either of the artists on my own Facebook profile, yet here were two different ads one on top of the other of two concerts that I would in fact be attending in the following weeks. I realized in the days leading up to this occurrence I had been searching the respective artists online and so the algorithm must have detected this repetitive searching, resulting in an advertisement on my Facebook page that it ‘thought’ I would be interested in. This example of the algorithm at work, showing how our personal tastes are being tailored to, but in the process leaving out things that could broaden our horizons.
Pariser’s presentation made me really think about what the future of the internet will look like, an idea exemplified by this quote by Mark Zuckerberg, “A squirrel dying in front of your house may be more relevant to your interests right now than people dying in Africa.” This quote though sadly accurate, shows how influential people of web companies like Mark Zukerberg the chairman and chief executive of Facebook justify the personalizing of internet websites. People are often more interested in local problems because these issues can directly affect their lives, while something going on half way across the world doesn’t affect their day to day going-ons and so one is inherently less interested. Sites like Facebook use filters in order to just show people what they want to see, but it is important that even though someone isn’t as interested in say global issues, they are still aware of them. The problem with the filtering of search engines and new sites, is that this information that we may find less interesting will just stop showing up, resulting a world of people who are only aware of things that interest them, and therefore narrow-minded.
