[ExI] Your Filter Bubble is Destroying Democracy

BillK pharos at gmail.com
Fri Nov 18 15:23:43 UTC 2016


The global village that was once the internet was has been replaced by
digital islands of isolation that are drifting further apart each day.
>From your Facebook feed to your Google Search, as your experience
online grows increasingly personalized, the internet’s islands keep
getting more segregated and sound proofed.

<https://www.wired.com/2016/11/filter-bubble-destroying-democracy/>

Quotes:
Our Facebook feeds are personalized based on past clicks and likes
behavior, so we mostly consume political content that are similar to
our views. Without realizing it, we develop tunnel vision. Rarely will
our Facebook comfort zones expose us to opposing views, and as a
result we eventually become victims to our own biases.

As a liberal New Yorker, a few months ago my Facebook feed was filled
with #ImWithHer or #FeelTheBern content in addition to some ‘Obama is
the greatest’ headlines, which I was happy to see. I engaged with the
content, and I was siloed as a result. When we moved to the debates my
feed turned into discussions of Trump scandals and why we should all
be with her. I only saw articles from liberal media such as the New
York Times and Washington Post.

Facebook is not alone in this. Google also filters the search results
based on your location and previous searches and clicks. The social
bubbles that Facebook and Google have designed for us are shaping the
reality of your America. We only see and hear what we like. Until the
election results, a little more than half of us didn’t realize that
the other half of the country was frustrated enough to elect Trump. We
all thought that Clinton would easily crush Trump this election, given
how much crazy shit the guy has said.
-------------

Then the bubble burst.......

BillK




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