Filter Bubbles

Source: http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles.html

Ever wonder why we see the specific things we find on the internet? Eli Pariser talks about this in the video Beware of ‘filter bubbles’. It’s a good video to watch because it points out a lot of things about the internet that we may not even realize. His main ideas in the video are:

1. The internet is filtering what we see in search results.
2. The filtering can be based on what type of computer you have, where you are located, and even what search engine you use.
3. Facebook does the same filtering in your news feed.
4. New sites are being personalized based on what they think we would like to see.
5. A “filter bubble” is your own personal unique universe of information that you live in on the internet.
6. Filter bubbles throw off the balance of information that we receive.
7. Our idea about the internet and gate keeping is wrong.
8. We need to be exposed to new ways of thinking.
9. The algorithms of the internet need to be encoded to allow us access to information we should be seeing.
10. We should have control over what gets through the internet and what doesn’t.

In my life filter bubbles mostly exist on Facebook. In my news feed, I usually only see what is going on in my true friend’s lives, because those are the pages I am usually on the most. There will be times when I will see a friend randomly show up in my news feed, and I won’t remember who they are because I don’t remember adding them. These days that is usually people I went to high school with. So these filter bubbles definitely exist and Eli Pariser is right to bring this to our attention.