The Hidden Internet

As the Internet has changed, it has become more personalized and more directed toward individualized content. While this is an excel-lent way to spread like-minded opinions, that’s exactly what author and MoveOn.org board president Eli Pariser finds so dangerous — an opinion he outlines in The Filter Bubble: What The...

By Thorin Klowsowski

June 9, 2011

Audio By Carbonatix

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As the Internet has changed, it has become more personalized and more directed toward individualized content. While this is an excel-lent way to spread like-minded opinions, that’s exactly what author and MoveOn.org board president Eli Pariser finds so dangerous — an opinion he outlines in The Filter Bubble: What The Internet Is Hiding From You.

“Increasingly, we don’t see the same Internet,” says Pariser. “Different people get different search results. Technology is spreading very rapidly, and it means we’re all surrounded by an array of personalized code.” News sites are essentially using the same algorithms and code that allows Netflix and Amazon to recommend like-minded media content to you, but with news instead. According to Pariser, the danger comes from over-personalized content blocking out important but unpopular news stories. While certain headlines will do well and move to the top, ones that don’t have the same hook — say, homelessness or the war in Afghanistan — won’t reach people’s eyes as easily.

Eli Pariser will be reading from and answering questions about his new book at the Tattered Cover LoDo, 1628 16th Street, tonight at 7:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.tatteredcover.com or call 303-436-1070.
Wed., June 15, 7:30 p.m., 2011

Thorin Klowsowski

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