Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Personalizing The Internet

      When you searched for something on the internet you got results from various sources. However this is not how it works anymore. Now there are algorithm being used by Google and Facebook as well as other companies that show you results based on your previous searches. This means that if two people type in the same search on Google they will get different results. Although be have amazing access to information and still be stuck in a bubble.
      This "personalizing" of the internet introduce many problems. The first being that we are being cut off from contrasting ideas. When you only receive news from one perspective you develop opinions with out being properly informed. An example of this is the number of republicans who think the planet is beginning to warm dropped from 49% to 29% , and the number of democrats jumped from 60% to 70% in nine years. Most likely because they were presented scientific information that the computer registered as relevant to them. Instead of allowing people to open themselves up to more opinions the internet not pushes people to stick to one side of an argument without considering the other. The computer determines what is relevant to us mainly by what we click on first. This method based on relevance alone is not a very good way to filter information. Other things like importance should be taken in to consideration.
     Information like where you've been, your age and where you shop are also important. This is because companies are now using targeted ads. Advertisement is much more effective when presented to someone who may already be interested.
     The idea behind the opposition of personalizing the internet is that weak ties are more useful than strong ties. However there is a counter argument defending personalizing of the internet saying that strong close ties is more effective in getting you information you want faster. This is because with a personalized internet the information you want i presented to you in a larger amount. However that alone will not make you well informed.

1 comment:

  1. I personally think that having the internet personalized can sometimes come in handy. I get really confused when I have too much to look thorough, when I have too many options. So having something filter out what I would like to know can come on handy. That reminds me of when I went prom dress shopping the internet filtered dressed with the style that I liked.

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