You are probably aware that things like Google search results and Yahoo! news items are somehow targeted to specific internet users. Like me, you may have thought this was a good thing. I mean, I like to have some local news links provided by Yahoo! and if classified ads on Google or Facebook are for products that I like, then what is the problem?
In a recent presentation (embedded below), Eli Pariser explained that the thing he calls "The Filter Bubble" is limiting the free flow of information that the world wide web was supposed to be providing for us.
Part of the problem is that most of us are tempted by "mind candy" at times. This mind candy, of course, is available via many, if not all forms of modern media. But the internet may be allowing us more than ever to focus on things that are trivial. I'm reminded of a young man reporting his embarassment at learning that Osama bin Laden was killed over Kim Kardasian's Twitter feed. He promised himself that he would re-evaluate his news sources. You know, I think that is something we should all do on an ongoing basis.
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