Think you're on the
Internet right now? Well, you're not. You're on your Internet. The exact
version of the online world that you see is available only to you.
Most of the major
conduits through which you see the world online, including Google
Search and Facebook, are gathering all kinds of data
about you, then presenting you with a custom version of the world they think
you're interested in. They're hiding or de-emphasizing the version of the world
they assume you're not interested in.
Adobe's
Flash Player has had 143 bug fixes in the last year. After 18 years of
development, no software
In the past two years,
the biggest gatekeeper websites have gotten very good at figuring out what you
want and giving it to you. What's wrong with that? .
In a nutshell, the book
argues that the sophisticated personalization engines improve things in the
short run. But in the long run, they dumb us down, reduce our exposure to new
ideas and ultimately could lead to a society without a shared set of facts
about the world. The personalized Internet favors the marketers and
propagandists but provides an obstacle for people who are trying to introduce
new ideas.
The Internet is
increasingly turning us all into dictators and divas. Like the entourages of
Saddam Hussein or Jennifer Lopez, the Internet tells us what we want to hear,
feeding us a version of the world that feels good, goes down easy and doesn't
challenge us.
The book ships May 16.
It was written by Eli Pariser, who is the president
of the MoveOn.org board. MoveOn is a liberal public-policy group, and Pariser's
concerns are mainly political. But the "filter bubble" concept
affects you no matter what your interests. And you're going to hear a lot about
this concept after the book hits.
In this column, I'm
going to tell you how personalization works, why you may not want it, and also
how to pop the bubble and opt out of a system that censors your Internet based
on stereotyping.
Your own private Google
The "secret
sauce" of Google Search has long been an algorithm called PageRank (named
after co-founder Larry Page). But on Dec. 4, 2009, Google announced an
additional algorithm that custom-tailors search results according to the
individual attributes of the user.
According to Pariser, Google
uses 57 "signals" -- even when you're not logged in to Google -- to
customize search results. (Google was unable to confirm the number of signals.)
These
"signals" include where you are, what you have clicked on in the past
and who your friends are. But that's just the beginning. Google also gathers
information about which browser
and device type you use, how much you travel (based on where you use search
over time), how long it takes you to click after getting a search result, and
many, many other data points.
From all this data,
Google decides how to sort your search results. (A Google spokesman told me the
company rejects the term "filter" because it implies that Google is
hiding links rather than prioritizing them.)
Here's a fun experiment
to try. Search for something on Google, and have a friend or two do the same
search. See how the results are different? Many of the links are the same. But
they're in a different order and "skewed" subtly in one direction or
another.
As we increasingly use
mobile devices, our exact locations, where we've been, which stores and
restaurants we've entered, who we've met with and possibly even activities on
unrelated services will be increasingly factored into the decision-making
process about what we see and don't see. In fact, all the major improvements
Google has promised for search involve far more and deeper personalization.
"The power of
individual targeting -- the technology will be so good, it will be very hard
for people to watch or consume something that has not in some sense been
tailored for them," according to Eric Schmidt, Google's executive
chairman.
Google apparently tries
to be responsible with its power over your attention. A spokesman told me
Google understands that "people value diversity on results pages."
The company uses its deep understanding of you not only to target your assumed
interests, but also to deliberately challenge you with a few links outside
those interests.
Facebook's antisocial filter
Facebook
is less responsible, in my opinion. The social networking giant determines what
appears in your "News Feed" using an algorithm called EdgeRank.
(Facebook ignored my request for an interview.)
Adobe's
Flash Player has had 143 bug fixes in the last year. After 18 years of
development, no software
Every action you take on
Facebook -- clicking "Like," commenting, sharing, etc. -- is called
an "Edge" internally at Facebook. Each Edge is weighted differently
according to secret criteria.
More like this
What you need to know is
that relationships and content that don't get enough "Edges" will get
"edged" out of existence. Facebook will cut your ties to people --
actually end the relationships you think you have -- and block content that
doesn't earn enough Edge points.
For example, many
Facebook friendships exist solely through reading each other's Status Updates.
An old friend or co-worker talks about a new job, shares a personal triumph
like reaching a weight-loss goal, and tells a story on Mother's Day about how
great his mom is. He posts and you read. You feel connected to his life.
Without telling you,
Facebook will probably cut that connection. Using unpublished criteria,
Facebook may decide you don't care about the person and silently stop
delivering your friend's posts. Your friend will assume you're still reading
his updates. You'll assume he's stopped posting.
Any friends who fail to
click or comment on your posts will stop getting your status updates,
too. If you have 500 friends, your posts may be actually delivered to only 100
of them. There's no way for you to know who sees them and who doesn't.
Facebook also filters
content. EdgeRank keeps track of how many of your friends comment on a link to
content, and it will use that criteria in the default view of your News Feed,
which is the "Top Stories" setting.
The vast majority of
even technical, savvy people I asked about this have no idea that their
friends' activities are determining what content they see and don't see on
Facebook.
Why everyone is doing it
It's not just Google and
Facebook that shape and filter what you see online based on invisible
assumptions and behind-the-scenes stereotyping. Amazon, Netflix, Pandora and
hundreds of other companies offer "recommendations" or content based
on personalization algorithms.
And personalization is
becoming big business. Companies like Strands license their
personalization engines to other companies. Strands customers include major
banks, coupon and discount services and retailers, music sites and advertising
companies.
The whole Internet is
rapidly being personalized. Nobody can predict what kind of Internet -- what
kind of world -- will emerge when everyone has a unique view of the world that
nobody else can share.
Companies are
aggressively pursuing personalization because it makes users happy.
Personalization validates existing beliefs and prejudices. "Consuming
information that conforms to our ideas of the world is easy and
pleasurable," according to Pariser. "Consuming information that
challenges us to think in new ways or question our assumptions is frustrating
and difficult."
Adobe's
Flash Player has had 143 bug fixes in the last year. After 18 years of
development, no software
Personalization can
create an "identity loop," according to Pariser. If you click to
satisfy some passing curiosity, the algorithm might favor more such links in
future. Because there are more links, you click more. You might even monitor
your own activity and conclude that you must be especially interested.
Personalization not only responds to personal interests. It shapes them.
And personalization
based on activity favors the frivolous and the commercial. We all click
mindlessly for temporary escapism. But we don't realize that we're training the
Internet to favor that kind of content over important information.
Ultimately,
personalization is ideal for marketing. We want perfect relevancy when
shopping. As one venture capitalist said at this week's Social-Loco conference
in San Francisco, "when you walk into a store, the only shoes and clothes
available should be in your size."
The Googles and the
Facebooks of the world are advertising companies. Their customers are
advertisers, not users. And their customers love user personalization, because
it's the shortest line between consumer and point of sale.
Of course, most sources
of content are "biased." The site you're reading now, for example, is
"biased" in favor of technology-related content over, say, stories
about Latin music. The difference is that online personalization is invisible.
Nobody knows what's being filtered out or why. Most people don't even know that
filtering is taking place.
How to pop the bubble
If you don't want your
Internet filtered by some invisible stereotype, here's how to pop the bubble.
These tips are a combination of my own, plus some offered in The Filter
Bubble.
·
Deliberately
click on links that make it hard for the personalization engines to pigeonhole
you. Make yourself difficult to stereotype.
·
Erase
your browser history and cookies from time to time.
·
Use an
"incognito" window for exploring content you don't want too much of
later.
·
Use Twitter
instead of Facebook for news. (Twitter doesn't personalize.)
·
Unblock
the Status Updates of your friends that Facebook has already blocked. Click the
"Edit Options" link at the bottom of your Facebook News Feed. The
dialog box will show you who is being blocked. You can hide or un-hide each
friend manually, or unblock everybody. This dialog box affects only what comes
from friends to you. It does not affect what your friends see of your posts.
·
Every
week or so, post something and then ask the Facebook friends you really care
about to go "Like," comment and click. This activity should prevent
Facebook from censoring your comments later for these people.
The most important thing
about the "filter bubble" is that you know it exists. The Internet
you see is not the Internet I see. The Internet you see has recently been
redesigned to flatter, pander and validate -- not challenge, enlighten and
educate.
The filter bubble is
real. But it can be popped.