Assignment: The new gate keepers 10/20/12
I once heard a quote that read something like this:
"Some of the worst things in the world were created with the best of intentions."
I would like to believe that statement resonates within this video. I can only hope that the big wigs at Google, Facebook, Yahoo! News, etc. have created these algorithms with good intentions, and not to segregate information out of certain communities. Regardless of the intentions, I'm not sure I agree with the process. I believe that the internet should be a vast trough of information for the users to sort through at their discretion.
When Eli Praiser brought up the point "Egypt" and how his friends had completely different results for the same entry, I immediately thought about education as well as other aspects of my. I have witnessed first hand, two students turn in the same quality of work, yet are graded different. It only takes a quick trip to the court house to see how some people are charged different amounts for identical infractions, and others yet were "let go with a warning" and never had to even attend court or pay a fine. Another example is in the social scene, where women are often allowed to cut to the beginning of the line and/or do not have to pay a cover fee, while men (or non-supermodel women) are left in the cold, like nonexistent cattle.
The internet is scary as is, and if it is to be manipulated without (or with our minimal) knowledge, it becomes a powerful tool in the hands of those who poses it's source. It is a very slippery slope, because we live in a reactivist society. Things must happen, wonderful or terrible, before we make rules, restrictions, and criteria. A popular saying in law enforcement is that "The cat is always going to be one step behind the mouse." because we are not going to make laws for things that haven't really happened or hurt anybody yet (i.e. Texting and driving was not a law until many people had accidents due to texting while driving).
Personally, I would like to have a standard internet without filtration, or at least the option to toggle personal filtration on and off. If I am looking for vacations to Greece, articles on the economic turmoil in Greece, or ancient Greek educational practices, I don't want them filtered out, because I clicked on a concert tour in European countries.
An internet with a toggle personal filtration would be very nice and useful. This woud help me expand my bubble instead of keeping me in my bubble of reality.
ReplyDeleteInteresting comparison of the internet filter to the inequities of society. I don't know if my mind would have gone there on its own, but I see what you mean. I also would like a filter toggle button too, but then what shows up first? Or even on the first page? Weird to think about.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting point. Turning off filtering. That would be great. The order information arrives in will be based on some criteria...popularity (number of hits), relevance (based on what terms?) etc. In a world where by some measures knowledge is doubling every two years and,according to Google's Eric Schmidt,every 2 days we create as much information as we did in our entire history up to 2003!
ReplyDeleteLove the quote you begin with, I totally agree, I think we definitely created the internet in all the right intentions, but we have stemmed from it.
ReplyDeleteYour point that the algorithms can quickly become a slippery slope, depending on who holds the power, is one that I agree with. I think that the power can unfortunately be abused, and it is this abuse that we should be concerned with.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you, I would like to be the one in charge of making my own decisions as far aw who and what I am exposed to on the internet.
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