My scrolling activity looks very similar each day. I open Instagram with muscle memory, even though it is in a separate folder,(The goal was to have more time to find the app and decide if I really want to scroll) I can find it with closed eyes. After I find my app I look at my friends’ stories, look through DMs, and then proceed to watch reels. It is an already established routine, which I very much enjoy as I know I will find funny videos or inspiring stories that will bring me endorphins. However, from time to time I have times of realisation where I think how huge and how horizon-expanding the Internet can be, and I feel that I’m not using its all potential. Yet, after all, I still end up stuck in my scrolling routine, which results in shutting down from Internet possibilities even more.
Filter bubble
The scrolling routine does not only result in our conscious choice of picking social media from other sites on the internet, therefore isolating ourselves from potentially different types of content, it isolates us even more from a wider perspective as by consuming our everyday media we are unconsciously feeding our filter bubble. The term coined by internet activist Eli Pariser means:
The intellectual isolation that can occur when websites make use of algorithms to selectively assume the information a user would want to see, and then give information to the user according to this assumption.1
The filter bubble’s danger lies in the potential of isolating oneself from information that the person wouldn’t necessarily reach for, therefore resulting in the potential of getting stuck in a personal universe witch eventually alters the way we encounter ideas and information – it can create an illusion that everyone has similar opinions and perspectives.
Pariser writes:
Personalization filters serve a kind of invisible autopropaganda, indoctrinating us with our own ideas, amplifying our desire for things that are familiar and leaving us oblivious to the dangers lurking in the dark territory of the unknown.
But with that in mind what is there to do, not to be stuck in our own bubble?
How to get out of the bubble?
Fortunately, it is not difficult to escape the bubble, one only needs to want to do it
- The first way to do that can be by deleting or blocking browser cookies, although it sounds very harmless and delicious if we accept all of them, they determine what content to show us. Sabina wrote about it more extensively in her blog.
- The other method can be maybe a bit more challenging but worth a trying- switching from some of your typical social media, which can be mostly entertaining to educating sites you would not normally visit but would interest you. The magazines you never explored or channels, to make use of the width of the Internet!
- Finally, following pages or news that provide a wide spectrum of opinion! Media that claim to have ‘unbiased’ views are the NY Times, Atlantic, or Wall Street Journal- however, they are considered leftist journals, for a balance of opinions it is worth looking at CNN, or FOX considered most biased, but it is worth to look at them to formulate an opinion 2.
It is easier said than done, but it is worth considering those options in order to be better informed, or at least to remember that although the Internet is huge, we explore only a small part of it, missing other perspective.
References:
- https://www.techopedia.com/definition/28556/filter-bubble ↩︎
- https://www.quora.com/What-are-a-good-variety-of-news-sources-one-should-read-to-have-a-broad-spectrum-of-opinions-and-negate-bias ↩︎
3. https://fs.blog/filter-bubbles/
I really resonate with the concept of a filter bubble as I have unknowingly participated in it. There have been times when my algorithms have become so specific that a couple of days later I will find out about viral news, relevant to my life, and wonder why it had taken so long to come on my personal explore page. This revelation leads me to criticize how much I rely on my algorithm to bring me relevant information, regardless of the times it has failed to do so, and to wonder what my algorithm is reflecting.
It is the first time that I have heard about this term and find it super interesting! It is in a way, as if we lived in our own little microcosm that in a way also feels so huge and overwhelming at the same time when it is only a small fraction from the internet’s macrocosm. I have realized time after time that when talking to certain people who maybe have different interests as me and bringing up certain topics of conversation sometimes ends in a “Do you live under a rock???!!” after not being in the loop of the theme. We just live on our own -very little- internet universe that has been so oddly curated for us…
I have never heard of this concept and I find it fascinating how most of us have faced it, but we were not able to formulate the idea of what it was. Your blog has definitely clarified it to me. Although, I think some people may have this bubble online, in order to create a comfort space for themselves, but it does not exclude all the disadvantages of the bubble you mentioned and it can lead to even more upsetting consequences for the person. So, I personally think we all need your tips on how to escape our online bubbles!
The filter bubble is a very interesting concept. It definitely restricts our view on the world around us. I find your instructions on how to get out of the bubble very useful, I will definitely try them! I have been thinking recently, about the content bubble in the context of music and spotify. I have been seeing people complaining that the shuffle button does not work well. Similarly to instagram, spotify’s algorithm offers very limited selection of music, that you are expected to like and listen to, therefore it is mostly songs that you already know. If you want to learn something new, you have to put in the work.