Filter bubbles are set in place to
keep us from having to suffer things we don't like. When I think of
filters, my first impression is “oh, something unwanted is being
kept out”. However, when one looks into the various uses of
filters, they are put in place not so much to keep unwanted things
out, but to bring good things and only good
things in. Swimming pools have filters not so much to keep twigs and
scum out, but to allow clean water in. We put filters into our coffee
pots not because coffee grounds are horrible, but because pure coffee
tastes better. It all comes down to signal versus noise. Audio
filters are put in place in broadcasting, not so much to reduce the
noise, but to increase the strength of the signal. We could care less
about noise if only it wasn't interfering with our desired signal.
The prompt uses
the act of wearing headphones in public as an example of a
self-implemented filter bubble. With the example of the headphones,
we don't really care what is happening in the audio world around us,
so long as it isn't interfering with the signal coming from the cans
around our ears. At least this instance of filter use is
self-implemented. In the real world, interference (noise) is part of
everyday life, and often is very important. Sometimes that
interference is itself another signal. Say you put on the headphones,
turn up the volume, and go for a jog. While you are on your jog, you
cross the railroad tracks downtown. Your headphone filter is doing
such a good job at what it does and you're so “in the zone”, that
you don't get any unwanted noise from other “channels”, such as
the air horn on top of the locomotive that's you didn't see.
Meanwhile the engineer in the locomotive is trying to create a strong
enough signal with that airhorn that it overcomes your filter and
interferes with your signal. Hopefully you'll hear it in time.
Mr. Pariser's TED
talk details a new problem; filters are being installed for us
without our consent. Mr. Pariser talks about how Google, Facebook,
Yahoo News, and other major modern tech companies are using
algorithms to reduce the amount of content we are shown that the
companies think we won't like while showing us more content that we
probably will like. The consequences are obvious. In this situation,
we are ripe to become experts in our own points of view, while
wondering “what happened to all the other people who disagree with
me?” We are online at the same time as millions of other people,
and we are merely fattened up by seeing only content we totally agree
with.
Fortunately, not
every website is owned by a large corporation. There are many online
forums on the internet, many of them using the V-Bulletin software.
Many of these forums are hobby or interest-based. I collect and
operate model trains and antique lanterns. I am a member of several
forums that are made up of people who have these same interests. Now,
to some degree, I'm going to be similar to another human who likes
trains or lanterns. However, we could live across the country from
each other. We will likely have different beliefs, morals, cultural
standards, education levels, etc. While “off topic” talk is
generally prohibited on the public part of the forum, exposure to
different view points via a private message conversation on a forum
is something I may no longer get in my Youtube (or is it Google+
Video now?) comments section. Some online games work the same way,
allowing you to connect and chat with other people around the world
(though you may not know their real names). These forums and games,
some of which are quite well established, may end proving to be the
“virtual campfires” or “virtual pubs” that we need.
A few of the forums I'm on:
The lantern forums are hosted as Facebook groups, but who knows? Those may have the results filtered as well.
Of course, "with blessings come problems". Forums can be hard to moderate. People aren't always civil to each other, and the classic "flame war" begins. So I leave you with another well-known comic.
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