[P2P-F] Article : How to Burst the "Filter Bubble" that Protects Us from Opposing Views - #FilterBubble

[Dante-Gabryell Monson]

http://www.technologyreview.com/view/522111/how-to-burst-the-filter-bubble-that-protects-us-from-opposing-views/
( *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."
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