In Search Of..

Some questions to think about during Eli Pariser's talk (seen here):

a)     What new information did you learn from the video?

b)    How does this information make you think differently about what you see online?

c)     What questions does this video raise about the Internet in general? And

d)    How can you improve the effectiveness of your searches?

And my own answers:

a)   I was surprised to learn that Google search results are different for every person/computer, and that most sites (Washington Post and New York Times included) tailor the information on your screen to you.

b)   It alarms me. I never realized that I was getting such a small percentage of the information available to me. I feel like I’ve missed out on some things that I probably should know about.

c)   The video raises several questions. One being who really is in control of your internet experience—you or the algorithm writer? Another question addressed was if the internet has lived up to its reputation as the great information resource. If the internet is only shelling out a small percentage of the information on a subject, is it really that good of a resource? Or does its bias hinder the user’s learning?

d)   Since the information output is based on all of my past activities, I can’t really think of a quick way to circumvent the filters. I suppose a deliberate effort to switch up my browsing habits could throw a couple of kinks into the algorithm and hopefully diversify my results.