If you like this, you'll like that

I feel a little uncomfortable.

Last night, I heard Eli Pariser talk about just how much the Internet is hiding from us. With the ever increasing build up of online information, Google and Facebook are on a mission to provide us with only the most "relevant" content.

It makes sense - we can find the things we really like, and they can charge more for advertising. The problem, argues Pariser, is that their algorithms only take into account what we like to hear, and not what we need to hear. In this bubble of personalized preference, what happens to our perception of reality?

No matter what our beliefs and opinions are, we should be privy to both sides of the story. Like bad parents, they indulge us with ice cream, but never insist we eat our vegetables. According to Parison, the result is distortion, obesity and a loss of control. But he isn't a party pooper. All he asks is that we're given a choice of how our content is filtered - whether its by "likes" or "importants" or perhaps something else.

If you think you might be a victim of this online blinkering, visit his website to find out what you can do about it. He's also written a book, 'The Filter Bubble'.

And if its half as interesting as his talk, its worth a read.
Thanks Canvas8.

— Nicole Macleod

www.thefilterbubble.com