Filter Bubbles

What are Filter Bubbles?
In 2011, internet activist Eli Pariser coined the word 'Filter Bubble' to refer to the results from personalized searches when an algorithms on the internet guess what information a user would like to see based on information collected from the user. Information collected from the user may include their location, search history, and past "click" behavior. [1]

"'''This is the filter bubble—being surrounded only by people you like and content that you agree with." [3]'''

4 Ways Filter Bubbles are Created [2]

 * 1) Audience Measurement
 * 2) Hyper Links
 * 3) Social Geetkeepers ( influencers )
 * 4) Your Own behavior

Examples

 * Google Personalized Search
 * Facebook's personalized news-stream
 * Netflix which recommending the next movie to watch based on those which have watched in the past.
 * Amazon recommending products based on other shoppers’ browsing and buying patterns.

Benefits
Individuals usage of the internet is tailored to their particular preferences:
 * Make it easier to navigate the web.
 * Use it as a way of connecting with those who share similar passions - opening your knowledge of a particular interest.

Caveats
"(Technologies such as social media) lets you go off with like-minded people, so you're not mixing and sharing and understanding other points of view ... It's super important. It's turned out to be more of a problem than I, or many others, would have expected." - Bill Gates 2017 in Quartz [4]
 * Users become separated from information that disagrees with their viewpoints.
 * Users are effectively isolated in their own cultural or ideological bubbles.
 * Can polarise populations creating potentially harmful divisions in society. [3]

There are various ways to Burst Your Filter Bubble!.

Resources
[1] Filter bubble. (2017, April 02). Retrieved April 06, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filter_bubble

[2] Big Data : 4 types of filter bubbles. (2016, November 13). Retrieved April 06, 2017, from http://www.intotheminds.com/blog/en/big-data-4-types-of-filter-bubbles/

[3] https://www.technologyreview.com/s/522111/how-to-burst-the-filter-bubble-that-protects-us-from-opposing-views/

[4] Delaney, K. J. (2017, February 21). Filter bubbles are a serious problem with news, says Bill Gates. Retrieved April 06, 2017, from https://qz.com/913114/bill-gates-says-filter-bubbles-are-a-serious-problem-with-news/

[5] LibGuides: Ways of the Web: Filter Bubbles and the Deep Web: How to Burst Your Filter Bubble! (n.d.). Retrieved April 06, 2017, from http://guides.library.illinois.edu/c.php?g=348478&p=2347795