Eli Pariser - A Web of One

Eli Pariser presents the flip-side of personalization.  On the surface, a personalized experience of the web has many positives: an individualized learning experience potentially tailored to an individual's preferred method of learning; targeted advertisements that are actually of potential value to an individual rather than the hodgepodge of semi-useless ads that until now have populated Internet searches; the ability to begin a search on a mobile device and complete it at a desktop computer etc.  The flipside is what Eli highlights: the loss of control over content.  Ever since I learned that people tend to be captive to sources of news that tend to agree with their political predilections, I purposely tried to seek out opposing points of view.  And failed miserably.  I find myself the very creature of habit that they describe in those studies.  I tend towards reading the Huffington Post as opposed to Fox news because I find myself not wanting to get irritated very much.  No doubt those choices feed the very Google and Facebook algorithms that are described by Eli.  But then, this isn't the first time a societal conversation similar to this has occurred. 

It wasn't that long ago that the fairness doctrine required that broadcasters provide a balanced view of issues by allowing equal time to those on both sides of an issue.  At that time broadcasters were considered to be keepers of a sacred trust whereby the public was to be presented news in a relatively objective manner, allowing them to make up their minds as to which side of an issue is more persuasive.  This was written into an official document known as the Telecommunications Act.  Unfortunately, at least to me, as a part of deregulation, the 80s and 90s saw a weakening of the Telecommunications Act and the enforcement of the Fairness Doctrine was eliminated.

As is the case with many things in life, extremes tend to amplify both good and bad aspects, whereas a balance can exist that offers benefits of both, minimizing the weaknesses.  I do want my Internet experience to be tailored to bring me news that aligns well with my interests, but not at complete exclusion of information that may provide an alternative point of view.  If Google becomes the sole arbitrator of information on the Internet, then we have a good deal to worry about.  Google's upcoming product Google Glass, they will be coming as close as possible using current technologies to pour information directly into our brains.  And that's the future that Eli is warning us about.