Filter Bubbles

Overview
There are no physical borders on the Internet, however, in terms of searching there are search engines who collect and sort our data to personalize information for us. These algorithms that give users personalized search results and newsfeeds are known as Filter Bubbles. [3]

Filter Bubble entered the public domain in 2011 when internet activist coined it to refer to the way recommendation engines shield people from certain aspects of the real world. Say, for example, two seperate people search certain words and they will yield different results because of the way these engines track their previous searches and history.

Filter Bubbles can be seen apparent on social networking sites, like Facebook and Twitter. These social networking sites are personalized news services that yield search results based on the individual's interest. [2]

Problems with Filter Bubbles
Shielding Users: Social research shows that people do actually like to receive information that they agree with instead of information that challenges their beliefs. Eli Pariser sees this as a potential problem because social networks will reccommend content based on what users are already interested in, shielding them from other real-life problems.

Not Learning New Things: Another problem with filter bubbles is that they filter searches so the user sees exactly what they want (almost). This means they will be filtered through all of the challenging, tough and confusing ideas that may help users learn new things. [2]

How to "Pop" Your Filter Bubble (according to thefilterbubble.com)
1. Burn Your Cookies 2. Erase Your Web History
 * , go to Preferences > Under the Hood > Content Settings (You can also see all the cookies on your machine here.)
 * : Preferences > Privacy > Use custom settings for history
 * : Preferences > Security
 * : Internet options > Privacy

3.Tell Facebook to Keep Your Data Private 4. It's your Birthday, and You Can Hide It If You Want To
 * If you're logged into Google, they track this information (the list could be years long)
 * Never tell Facebook anything you don't want your the whole Web to know about you

5. Turn off Targeted Ads, and tell the Talking Sneakers to Buzz 6. Go Incognito
 * Install Google's 'Keep My Opt-Outs' extension for Chrome
 * Enable IE9's 'Tracking Protection' option
 * Enable Firefox's 'Do Not Track' option

7. Or Better Yet, Go Anonymous

8. Depersonalize Your Web Browser

9. Tell Google and Facebook to Make It Easier to See and Control Your Filters

10. Tell Congress You Care


 * Write Congress here:

[4]