"filter bubbles" vs High-Bandwidth Buddies

In the video on "filter bubbles", Eli Pariser discusses the effects of search results and narrowing of information in regards to our personal views. He notices that although 2 people searching for the same information such as that of "Egypt", like Pariser's example, they make undoubtedly get different search results based on their previous search query. This basically means that the ability to search for information such as political views on Facebook or Google may be limited due to the higher percentage of searches for specific views related to the user. I've noticed that this is an important concept to understand in order to become aware of information that is not known to us outside of our original views and perspectives. However, this topic is countered by Clive Thompson as he discusses the opposite effect, as his analogy describes. He uses the analogy of people and our acquaintances compared to close friends and how the information we receive from people we barely talk to is much more refreshing and "new" than the information we get from close friends who we always talk with. However, Thompson realizes the opposite effect in regards to our close friends and information, he determines that although we constantly may talk with close friends and the information we share is similar and is "filtered" (just like the internet) we may still come up with different results just like close friends who know us so well, they understand what topics will be refreshing to us and what we will pay attention to. This effect is understood by Thompson as he remembers not to worry about having "like-minded peers" while Pariser is under the assumption that the information we search for is constantly edited the more we search, however the contrast lies on how we perceive the information received. This means that although we may see the same results over and over, the fact that we know what we like to see should challenge us to discover more topics of a different nature to increase the the capacity for new information and how our perspectives may change.

Mind Control vs High-Bandwidth Buddies

With the introduction of the internet, many people have taken a liking to its practical usage and overwhelming possibilities in terms of discovering information. In the article about mind control, there have been instances where computer technology has been used in order to benefit the lives of people such as Michael Chorost who received an implant in both inner ears to help him develop his hearing due to being deaf. After this change, he began supporting the scientists that develop technology such as BCI's or Brain-Computer Interface which allows a computer implant to take control of the human body (so to speak) and perform actions that were previously denied due to biological illness, mental illness, or physical impairment. It's technology like BCI that convinces someone like Chorost to agree to allow implants on humans in order to benefit there lives. However, it became apparent that as we use the internet for databases such as Google, we a re slowly becoming linked to specific ideas and generalizations that are connected with our character as a person. For example, a democrat finding predominantly democratic ideas or supporters as well as a economist finding results more commonly known to him/her compared to a scientist looking for the same information. This becomes associated with topic discussed by Clive Thompson which talks about the information we search for on the internet is similar to the type of friends or acquaintances we have. When talking, frequently, to a close friend, the amount of information we learn from that one friend becomes relevant to what our main ideas or beliefs are whether it be political views, religious views, or theoretical views; everything becomes linked to the same ideas when we engage with close friends making it unlikely that we'll expand intellectually when it comes to what we talk about. However, applying this same method towards Google and the internet, it is possible to still learn more about different topics due to the variety of searches done by other people, this allows Google's PageRank to categorize sites in a specific manner based on the amount of visits. With the amount of different sites being visited, but the same topic of information being researched, it is still possible to find new information on a similar topic using the same search, and when compared to the analogy of people and our close friends, the principle still applies. This shows that although someone like Chorost believes that we, as humans, should start integrating with computers in order to develop a bigger capacity for learning and storing information, it is still possible to remain as we are and still discover new ways of acquiring, circulating, and retaining information within our social circles.

MyBO success

With the help of social networking, President Obama, during his campaign, utilized his resources to create a website know as MyOB.com which was used as a political front for volunteers to donate and support his Democratic campaign. It allowed the community to learn of the registered voters who were undecided and support Obama by downloading and printing out leaflets which only strengthened his political campaign by far more than other candidates, who have utilized the same method, in the past. By giving the option for donations to support, Obama gathered up to $55 million in a single month. These achievements have shown to boost Obama's influence thru news media, as well as online content due to practical usage in today's society. By June, Obama's campaign accumulated up to $340 million due to the resources given by MyOB, organizing meetings, and allowing mobile tools and capacity along with donations and supporting users (up to 1 million user accounts). By organizing events to raise money such as fund raisers, this allowed Obama to be publicized across national news platforms and stations to have a stronger effect and influence on voters. By using social networks as a stepping stone, you can see (by viewing the chart in the article) that Obama became the most popular and most talked about candidate in the major networks such as Facebook, twitter, and MySpace. All these uses; donations, supported events, fund raisers, national publicity, news coverage, and most importantly, internet utilization and capability, Obama's campaign clearly outclassed many of the other candidates due to their lack of focus or inefficiency with their own websites and tools. The Obama campaign was driven to success due to the efforts of MyOB on a widely accepted social norm such as internet browsing and social networking, thanks to the practicality and use of internet resources, the Democrats were able to get President Obama into office.

Social Networking and It's Effects

The influence of social networking on today's society has an enormous effect on the way young children and teens. On the PBS website, I noticed that many teens have taken to liking myspace and other internet social networks that focus on obtaining friends, conversing with others, as well as creating a new identity all together. This type of lifestyle has many advantages that teenagers and young kids use in order to have a better perspective of themselves whether it be to have fun or to stay updated on the lives of others such as relationships. However, all these advantages come with a draw back which is anonymity. Anyone who has access to the internet will be able to keep tabs or "spy" on young teenagers and their lives which can be very dangerous and harmful without adult supervision or privacy. Social networking sites have always been made to attract teens as well as adults with the freedom to post what they like for others to view and for them to be noticed. This type of social norm is perfectly fine with the right privacy, however, criminals such as stalkers or sexual predators will continue to take advantage of these social networking sites and turn something that may seem harmless into a dangerous ordeal.

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