A filter bubble is a result of a personalized search in which a website
algorithm selectively guesses what information a user would like to see
based on information about the user and, as a result, users become separated from
information that disagrees with their viewpoints, effectively isolating them
in their own cultural or ideological bubbles. Prime examples are Google
Personalized Search results and Facebook's personalized news stream. The
term was coined by internet activist Eli Pariser in his book by the same name;
according to Pariser, users get less exposure to conflicting viewpoints and
are isolated intellectually in their own informational bubble. Pariser related an
example in which one user searched Google for "BP" and got investment news
about British Petroleum while another searcher got information about the
Deepwater Horizon oil spill and that the two search results pages were
"strikingly different". The bubble effect may have negative implications
for civic discourse, according to Pariser, but there are contrasting views
suggesting the effect is minimal and addressable.
Concept Pariser defined his concept of filter
bubble in more formal terms as "that personal ecosystem of information that's
been catered by these algorithms". Other terms have been used to describe this
phenomenon, including "ideological frames" or a "figurative sphere
surrounding you as you search the Internet". The past search history is
built up over time when an Internet user indicates interest in topics by
"clicking links, viewing friends, putting movies in your queue, reading
news stories" and so forth. An Internet firm then uses this information to
target advertising to the user or make it appear more prominently in a search
results query page. Pariser's concern is somewhat similar to one made by Tim
Berners-Lee in a 2010 report in The Guardian along the lines of a Hotel
California effect which happens when Internet social networking sites were
walling off content from other competing sites––as a way of grabbing a greater
share of all Internet users––such that the "more you enter, the more you become
locked in" to the information within a specific Internet site. It becomes a
"closed silo of content" with the risk of fragmenting the Worldwide Web,
according to Berners-Lee. In The Filter Bubble, Pariser warns that
a potential downside to filtered searching is that it "closes us off to
new ideas, subjects, and important information" and "creates the impression
that our narrow self-interest is all that exists". It is potentially harmful
to both individuals and society, in his view. He criticized Google and Facebook
for offering users "too much candy, and not enough carrots". He warned that
"invisible algorithmic editing of the web" may limit our exposure to new
information and narrow our outlook. According to Pariser, the detrimental
effects of filter bubbles include harm to the general society in the sense that
it has the possibility of "undermining civic discourse" and making people more
vulnerable to "propaganda and manipulation". He wrote:
A world constructed from the familiar is a world in which there’s nothing to
learn ... invisible autopropaganda, indoctrinating us with our own ideas.
Reactions There are conflicting reports about the
extent to which personalized filtering is happening and whether such activity
is beneficial or harmful. Analyst Jacob Weisberg writing in Slate did a small
non-scientific experiment to test Pariser's theory which involved five
associates with different ideological backgrounds conducting exactly the same
search—the results of all five search queries were nearly identical across
four different searches, suggesting that a filter bubble was not in effect, which
led him to write that a situation in which all people are "feeding at the
trough of a Daily Me" was overblown. A scientific study from Wharton that
analyzed personalized recommendations also found that these filters can
actually create commonality, not fragmentation, in online music taste.
Consumers apparently use the filter to expand their taste, not limit it. Book
reviewer Paul Boutin did a similar experiment among people with differing
search histories, and found results similar to Weisberg's with nearly
identical search results. Harvard law professor Jonathan Zittrain disputed the
extent to which personalisation filters distort Google search results; he said
"the effects of search personalization have been light". Further, there are
reports that users can shut off personalisation features on Google if
they choose by deleting the Web history and by other methods. A spokesperson for
Google suggested that algorithms were added to Google search engines to
deliberately "limit personalization and promote variety".
Nevertheless, there are reports that Google and other sites have vast
information which might enable them to further personalise a user's Internet
experience if they chose to do so. One account suggested that Google can keep
track of user past histories even if they don't have a personal Google
account or are not logged into one. One report was that Google has collected "10
years worth" of information amassed from varying sources, such as Gmail, Google
Maps, and other services besides its search engine, although a contrary
report was that trying to personalise the Internet for each user was
technically challenging for an Internet firm to achieve despite the huge amounts
of available web data. Analyst Doug Gross of CNN suggested that filtered
searching seemed to be more helpful for consumers than for citizens, and would
help a consumer looking for "pizza" find local delivery options based on a
personalized search and appropriately filter out distant pizza stores. There
is agreement that sites within the Internet, such as the Washington Post,
The New York Times, and others are pushing efforts towards creating
personalized information engines, with the aim of tailoring search results to
those that users are likely to like or agree with.
Further reading Pariser, Eli. The Filter Bubble: What
the Internet Is Hiding from You, Penguin Press ISBN 978-1-59420-300-8
Green, Holly. "Breaking Out of Your Internet Filter Bubble". Forbes.
Retrieved December 4, 2011. Friedman, Ann. "Going Viral." Columbia
Journalism Review 52.6: 33-34. Communication & Mass Media Complete.
See also Selective exposure theory
Confirmation bias Communal reinforcement
Echo chamber Group polarization
Media consumption Content farm
Search engine manipulation effect Serendipitous discovery, an antithesis
of Filter bubble Search engines that claim to avoid the
filter bubble: DuckDuckGo and Ixquick References
External links Filter bubbles in internet search
engines, Newsnight / BBC News, June 22, 2011