The Filter Bubble

“You spend half your life in Internet space, but trust me—you don’t understand how it works. Eli Pariser’s book is a masterpiece of both investigation and interpretation; he exposes the way we’re sent down particular information tunnels, and he explains how we might once again find ourselves in a broad public square of ideas. This couldn’t be a more interesting book; it casts an illuminating light on so many of our daily encounters.”
—Bill McKibben, author of Eaarth and The End of Nature, and founder of 350.org

Synopsis
An eye-opening account of how the hidden rise of personalization on the Internet is controlling-and limiting-the information we consume.
In The Filter Bubble: What the Internet is Hiding from You, online organizer and former director of MoveOn.org, Eli Pariser reveals just how invasive and pervasive personalization has become. Each page you land on is collecting data about you, never mind if you’ve logged in or not. It uses your online history as cues to narrow down what you will see in the future. As sites fine-tune their ability to personalize content, we will increasingly each live in our own, unique information universe, our own “filter bubble.” We’ll receive news that is familiar, pleasant, and confirms our beliefs—and since the filters are invisible, we won’t know what is being hidden from us.
Using this surprising revelation as a jumping-off point, Pariser pulls back the curtain of the Internet. He peers into the server farms, the secret algorithms, and the geeky entrepreneurs that have given us this new reality. Along the way, he also investigates the consequences of corporate power in the digital age. In the end, Pariser shares the ways that citizens and corporations can take action to alter the isolation of our filter bubbles. It is still possible to change the course of information sharing so that we are able to encounter information that sparks creativity, innovation and the democratic exchange of ideas.
The Filter Bubble will make you think twice about everything you do online, from shopping on Zappos, to browsing the news on ABCnews.com.


Eli Pariser is the Board President, and former Executive Director, of the 5-million member organization MoveOn.org. A pioneer in online politics, Pariser is a Senior Fellow at the Roosevelt Institute and a co-founder of Avaaz.org, one of the world’s largest citizen organizations. His op-eds have appeared in The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal. He grew up in Lincolnville, ME.






Review
If you and I, on different computer using the same search engine at exactly the same time, typed in the exact phrase and hit search would we see the same results? We would expect to see the same list of results but we probably would not. Why? Because we each reside in our own bubble and the information coming to us is being filtered.

"They are prediction engines, constantly creating and refining a theory of who you are and what you'll do and want next. Together, these engines create a unique universe of information for each of us --- what I've come to call a filter bubble---which fundamentally alters the way we encounter ideas and information."
Eli Pariser, The Filter Bubble

My husband and I started surfing the World Wide Web in 1996, so I must admit that all of this information did not come as a complete shock to me. What I didn't realize was how wide spread it has become. I have noticed changes through the years but recently, in the last year in fact, I have seen many more signs. Have you seen an ad on your browser from a company you recently visited? In that ad was a group of products you had looked at in the last day or so. The ad was tailor made just for you.

Every time you click on a page or ad on the Internet, every time you swipe that grocery store card that gives you better prices, every time you walk into a store or shop (cameras are everywhere) information is collected about you. Of course it is all intended to give you a better shopping experience or make your Internet time more productive and enjoyable but is it worth it?

I have to admit I like the recommendations I get from Amazon.com or Netflicks but I'm not all that thrilled that out there somewhere is a mass of information about my personal habits. What I really don't like is the thought of an algorithm deciding what is going to pop up on my Internet search inquires. And then there is the news we see, that of course if filtered too.

In the Filter Bubble, Eli Pariser helps us to understand how this all came about, where its going and what it means to us. You will find the information both enlightening and disturbing.

The Filter Bubble is a must read for anyone who travels along the World Wide Web.

You can buy The Filter Bubble HERE.



I received a copy of this book from the publisher. I was not compensated for my review, all opinions are my own.