The "Information Filter Bubble"

We live in a world where all the information is available to us right at our fingertips. If we want to know something, then we can find it on the Internet: the invention that has revolutionized the way the world communicates. Well…not exactly. Eli Pariser was completely unknown until he discovered recently that the algorithms for search engines, and even social networks like Facebook, are using our past searches and providing us with the results that it thinks that we want, and he discussed it a TED talk. In essence, they are filtering our results for us. He calls it an “information filter bubble”. To see the video, click here.

All that this is doing is causing the global community to become more ignorant to the issues going on in the world. The search engine may identify us by our religion or political beliefs or interests and will tailor the results to fit our interests ignoring the fact that there is another side to each argument. This will only enforce the beliefs that we already have without testing them against other’s counterpoints. For example, two different people could enter ‘food’ into the search bar, and one might get results about great local restaurants that provided ratings and comments while the other might get pages on recipes and ingredients. The differences may be subtle, but they more that you browse the web, the more that the Internet will personalize your results, until eventually, the opposing arguments have disappeared completely from your searches. The Internet in its attempt to broaden knowledge throughout the world has only proved to be detrimental by narrowing the breadth of information to which we have access.

By no means do I want to scare or prevent you from using the Internet, but this is a real problem that exists. We are getting what we want to hear instead of what we need or should hear. I do not know how to solve this problem or I would tell you, but I want to warn you of this “information filter bubble” that surrounds each of us on the Internet. When doing research on the web, be sure to always ask yourself, “Do I have the complete truth?”