Internet censorship you don’t even know about
I just stumbled across this TED talk and it raised some very serious questions in my mind about internet censorship.
“But surely the internet is an open forum!”, I hear you exclaiming.
Well you might be forgiven for thinking so. Afterall, that is what it was originally intended to be.
But this is very subtle censorship . . .
Mark Zuckerberg is quoted as saying
A squirrel dying in front of your house may be more relevant to your interest right now than people dying in Africa.
What does that have to do with internet censorship?
“Without consulting me, (Facebook) edited them out.”
“Is the internet showing us what it thinks we want to see rather than what we need to see?”
“The problem is that you don’t decide what you see.
And more importantly, you don’t decide what you don’t see.”
You thought that the internet did away with the human gatekeepers, newspaper editors, governments and the like, that edit and/or censor what we read and what we decide.
But consider this: If you and I do a Google search on the exact same keyword(s), we will almost certainly get different results.
Who decided what you will see and who decided what I will see – Google!
Even when you are not logged into Google, it still tracks up to 57 different factors relating to YOU!
So that all search results are tailored to the person making the search.
“There is no standard Google anymore.”
And that is a subtle form of internet censorship you don’t even know about!
OK, so let’s get over the whole censorship thing!
Could these changes be for the better – by having results tailored to what we are most likely to want?
Greater convenience, less time wasted, etc.
Or will it cause us to narrow our point of view by reading only more of the same stuff that we previously selected?
And in fact, not exposing us to what is happening in Africa, because we are more interested in squirrels!
Up to you to decide.
What this quick video – it is only 9 minutes short – and make up your on mind.
What should you do now?
1. Watch the video – it’s only 9 minutes short.
2. Have some awareness of how the internet really operates.
3. Want some help or ideas? Just contact us at Hotpink Websites now.
Quote
“When your work speaks for itself, don’t interrupt.”
~ Henry J Kaiser
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