Filter Bubbles: Your Personalised Web
Have you ever tried searching for something on someone else's computer and found completely different results to you? Welcome to the Personalised Web. Better known as Filter Bubbles.
Eli Parser’s TED Talk “Beware the Filter Bubbles” talks about this topic and how the web is tailored to your interests and search results.
Dependent on who you are, what your Interests are, what you’ve liked on Facebook, Searched on Google or bought on Amazon, are results change. We now depend on algorithmic personalisation and recommendations to decide what we see.
When researching, I found an Article on Nieman Lab explaining that These individually-tailored filters are successful in giving us what we want — As they are measured on what we click on or “like” but maybe remove all the points of view we disagree with, or hard truths we choose to ignore and everything else in the world that might broaden our horizons. It suggests that we are isolated in our own sycophantic universes.
Search Engine, Duck Duck Go, who’s USP is not tracking what you do and personalising your search based on your Filter Bubbles, have set up a great Website ‘DontBubble.us” — This explains what a filter bubble is and how it is shaping our web. Essentially its a great marketing ploy for Duck Duck Go, but nevertheless, a great way to educate everyone.
My ‘Filter Bubble’
The idea of me having a Filter Bubble scares me a little bit. I’m not too sure I like these large organisations having so much data on me, such as my likes and Interests, what I’ve been looking at online and every move I make on the digital world.
Here is my Filter Bubble Diagram:
In the illustration of My Filter Bubble, I have themed it around some of my most visited websites. These include Google, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, Ebay and more. In these bubbles I have highlighted some of the keywords which summarise my time on them, to therefore give an idea of what content I am exposed to when roaming the sites.
For example, in the ‘YouTube’ bubble, it shows Vlogging which I often watch videos off. therefore the home page which recommends me videos in order to stay on their site, is full of vlogging content. Then on websites such as Twitter, I am more and more using for business and focused on Industry rather than personal. I have seen a shift in the type of content I am exposed too. Especially in the sponsored tweets that I see. Before they would be slightly pointless ads, now they’re tailored to my interest of Social Media Marketing and Enterpeurship.
