Eli Pariser on "The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding ...

[KoKo]

The internet is increasingly becoming an echo chamber in which websites tailor information according to the preferences they detect in each viewer. When some users search the word “Egypt,” they may get the latest news about the revolution, others might only see search results about Egyptian vacations. The top 50 websites collect an average of 64 bits of personal information each time we visit—and then custom-design their sites to conform to our perceived preferences. What impact will this online filtering have on the future of democracy?

We speak to Eli Pariser, author of The Filter Bubble: What the Internet Is Hiding from You. "Take news about the war in Afghanistan. When you talk to people who run news websites, they’ll tell you stories about the war in Afghanistan don’t perform very well. They don’t get a lot of clicks. People don’t flock to them. And yet, this is arguably one of the most important issues facing the country," says Pariser. "But it will never make it through these filters. And especially on Facebook this is a problem, because the way that information is transmitted on Facebook is with the 'like' button. And the 'like' button, it has a very particular valence. It’s easy to click 'like' on 'I just ran a marathon' or 'I baked a really awesome cake.' It’s very hard to click 'like' on 'war in Afghanistan enters its 10th year.'"

MUCH MORE AT.......

http://www.democracynow.org/seo/2011/5/27/eli_pariser_on_the_filter_bubble

[Warpy]

1. It's also one of the TED talks with illustrations

I know I get completely different searches pop up when I'm using Tor.

[truedelphi]

2. I have never heard of Tor.

What's their URL?

I would check it out if you let me know.

[Warpy]

4. I got into it when it was being used to mask IP addresses

during the big riots in Iran. Basically, it links a bunch of computers together and randomizes the IP address. The more computers are linked together, the harder it is to try to trace anyone. They've switched to Haystack in Iran, but Tor is still being used here and there.

It's been used forever in the intelligence community in various countries. It's not a new thing. It's also a little nasty to set up properly, not terribly user friendly.

It's just a little jarring to log onto DU and see all the Google ads in Dutch, for instance.

And it did affect Google searches profoundly.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

3. What's Tor? nt

[Warpy]

5. See above

[KoKo]

6. 1....

[sendero]

7. I heard him on a talk show..

.. and I didn't find his point very convincing. Sure, some content providers are tailoring what you see to your browsing history. That does not stop you from seeking out content that you are interested in.

Compared to the MSM, the internet is an information oasis. You are not going to hear any truth of any value on any MSM outlet.