A recent TED talk by Eli Pariser describes some of the perils of personalized search. He explains how as Google gets better and better at knowing who we are and what we like it starts to filter competing and conflicting points of views out of our personalized search results. Similarly, Facebook has gotten very savvy at figuring out which of our friends we click on most often and bumping their posts to the top of our news feeds. While this may seem like a sophisticated development on the part of these companies, Pariser argues that personalized search is narrowing our awareness of the world and forcing us into an invisible "filter bubble".Why? If an individual is less likely to click on links about current events than about entertainment and Google notices this and begins to filter news-related links out of this person's search results, there is little hope that s/he will ever become an informed citizen. If someone clicks in a way that shows Google s/he is more interested in one political party than another, and Google then removes all links relating to the opposing party, how will that person ever learn the opposing parties' arguments? Just these two potential scenarios seem to stand in the way of a fully functioning democracy. What else is being filtered out of our search results and what are the possible consequences of these omissions.
How will this play out? Will consumers demand more autonomy in personalizing their own results? Will Google and friends start to see how intense personalization of search can be a bad thing when taken to the extreme? Is Pariser wrong to worry about the "filter bubble"? Is this actually a positive advancement?
Hi there - very interesting to read your post especially after reading Sapna's post above: Behavioral Retargeting - Good or Bad.
ReplyDeleteI am on the fence about this "filter bubble" and targeted messaging. There are times when it personally works - when I'm looking for something really specific for work or a hobby and as more searches and filters go by I am able to find more interesting and in-depth articles or information regarding my search. However, sometimes I am searching for school or work and then for the next week all the advertising, etc. are geared towards that search when I'm over and done with it and it is not personally relevant anymore. In general I find it more creepy than helpful and wish I was not in this "filter bubble."
I do agree that it may lead to more bias political decisions and so on. The news and information we receive without a filter is already extremely bias - why make it more? Any why should a computer pretend to know us and cater to us - we have search options that allow us to add our own filters.
Thanks for sharing!