This post was sparked by this Economist article: Invisible sieve: Hidden, especially for you.
Personalisation induced filter bubbles may be cocooning us in our own isolated universes, linking us only to those people like us, who hold similar (and non-challenging) viewpoints. There is a sign that the Internet is not living up to its potential as a transformative medium. Instead of bridging differences, it may be more about bonding similarities. It can equally be a method of repression!
Ultimately the personalisation and filtering technologies pander to our inherent need to be with people just like ourselves. Similarity is comfortable.
So we are back to the idea of people/humanity at the core of what we do. The technology may change, but we will always tend to revert to our true selves.
Which means we all need to grow up and get some good EQ. Every problem/opportunity is a people problem/opportunity.
Thanks to Tanneke for the link!
