Unfiltered: Hyperlink Report
The Filter Bubble: How the New Personalized Web Is Changing What We Read and How We Think by Eli Pariser covers the broad strokes of how his concept of a Filter Bubble is produced in modern society. The basic definition of a filter bubble is the metaphorical and literal sorting of what information does and does not reach an audience or individual. A stereotypical example might be the expected types of information staunch white cis republican who watches nothing only Fox news seeks out very particular and often world affirming types of information. This stereotypical imaging of mine would maybe be unlikely to seek out an art piece from PBS and might have taken The Colbert Report as far more literal than the satire was meant to be. At the same time, Pariser points out that the filter bubble is more than just a casual reference to the types of information a person would prefer and instead extends out into how a search engine, advertising, and other forces shape the types of information a person is given access to start with. It is one of the most powerful forces for shaping an individual’s opinion and if often does so invisibly and without comment or fan fair. He suggests that the bias present in filter bubbles can border on propagandistic and while there is some potential for good within them the forces of group think or mob think can quickly take over demographics especially while their searches continue to produces bias confirming pieces of information. In the present day, I feel like this is an interesting question for me to be exploring as I make my presence online all the more concrete. My big question right now? Who’s filter bubbles would I be in? Which seems like a selfish or at least self-focused kind of question, because it is, but here is why I think it is interesting. Pariser suggests in his book that getting this filter bubbling genie back in the bottle is going to be nearly impossible, so I have to decide how I am going to work around these forces to do the greatest amount of good possible in the world. Personally, I am not a fan of filter bubbles, as I think they are one of the greatest forces stagnating intellectual free thought on the planet, but if they are going to persist, and I cannot resist, then I have to find I way to subsist with it. For example, if the Ms. Understanding podcast does pick up, then who would be exposed to it. I feel like I could either go for a broad mass appeal and simplify my arguments to that the internet is likely to distribute it, or I could very specifically become as academic sounding as possible and get a fair number of academics. In the former, my impact will be wider but lesser, in the later more targeted but perhaps more impactful. What I am curious about is the inverse effects of filter bubbles. Not only is particular information targeted to a particular individual, but that individual’s information is targeted in turn to a particular audience. How mutualistic is my relationship to information on the internet? As near as I can tell Pariser’s book does not ask this question in much detail, and I feel like it is an important element to consider when examining this topic.
