On the surface of it, personalisation has had a positive effect on the way the internet works both for advertisers who target products at us, and for consumers, who enjoy the finely honed free content that’s funded by the effective advertising: everybody wins.
If you use the internet reasonably regularly, you will have seen examples of this, some more subtle than others: Netflix pushes films and shows based on your viewing habits, Twitter will suggest who you might like to follow by cross checking who your peers are, and as Eli Pariser’s “Filter Bubble” TED Talk demonstrates, Google will offer dramatically different search results based on a bunch of factors, even if you’re not logged in. Facebook’s algorithm works overtime, tailoring your newsfeed based on who you routinely interact with, and it’s far from perfect. Regularly like or comment on someone’s statuses?
They’ll pop up all the time, no matter whether they’ve just made a sandwich or won the lottery. Someone you tend to ignore will get brushed under the carpet -- sometimes for major life events, like the birth of a child or their imminent wedding.
Superficially, perfecting this is a good thing. Afterall, who doesn’t want to be surrounded by like-minded people and sheltered from aspects of life they’d rather avoid, be it irritating friends they added on Facebook to avoid social embarrassment, or articles that make them angry? The trouble is that by accepting this personalisation, we're insulating ourselves from viewpoints that differ from our own, inadvertently reinforcing our view of the world, and closing our minds to new ideas and experiences.
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