http://www.technologyreview.com/view/522111/how-to-burst-the-filter-bubble-t... ( *found via David Brin on fb - see copied comments of David after article excerpts* ) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filter_bubble *How to Burst the "Filter Bubble" that Protects Us from Opposing Views* *Computer scientists have discovered a way to number-crunch an individual’s own preferences to recommend content from others with opposing views. * *The goal? * *To burst the “filter bubble” that surrounds us with people we like and content that we agree with.* *...* *the filter bubble—being surrounded only by people you like and content that you agree with. * *the danger is that it can polarise populations creating potentially harmful divisions in society. * *Today, Eduardo Graells-Garrido at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona as well as Mounia Lalmas and Daniel Quercia, both at Yahoo Labs, say they’ve hit on a way to burst the filter bubble. * *Their idea that although people may have opposing views on sensitive topics, they may also share interests in other areas. And they’ve built a recommendation engine that points these kinds of people towards each other based on their own preferences. The result is that individuals are exposed to a much wider range of opinions, ideas and people than they would otherwise experience.* *///* copied comment from David Brin ( https://twitter.com/DavidBrin ; https://www.facebook.com/thedavidbrin ; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Brin ) In my novel EARTH (1989) I spoke about the problem of user bubbles… where internet inhabitants inevitably create filters that allow in materials that agree with their preconceptions and prejudices and exclude inconveniences, even clear refutations. In the novel, this is portrayed as extremely dangerous to a democratic society, creating little Nuremberg Rallies that reinforce strong dogmas and undermine our native abilities to see the other side, to negotiate and learn from each other. In EARTH, a community of hackers has responded with wall-penetrating programs that slip in the inconvenient fact, from time to time… http://www.technologyreview.com/view/522111/how-to-burst-the-filter-bubble-that-protects-us-from-opposing-views/<http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.technologyreview.com%2Fview%2F522111%2Fhow-to-burst-the-filter-bubble-that-protects-us-from-opposing-views%2F&h=gAQFlMZBY&s=1> …exactly the thing that cable news owners strenuously avoid, by preventing their captive "dittohead" audiences from hearing or seeing dissenting opinions. Especially not refutations of all-out lies! Alas that forecasts in science fiction novels get little credit. Today, this "newly discovered" phenomenon is called "the filter bubble—being surrounded only by people you like and content that you agree with." STill, have a look at this clever suggested partial solution. "They also say that challenging people with new ideas makes them generally more receptive to change. That has important implications for social media sites. There is good evidence that users can sometimes become so resistant to change than any form of redesign dramatically reduces the popularity of the service. Giving them a greater range of content could change that."