A note on search bubbles

Backstory

How stupid can she be? “Does she think she’s cool,” I think. I’ve just heard Christine has been on a vaccine protest. And she’s proudly telling us.

She explains how everyone should have a right to choose, and be respected. I don’t think so, not when she’s spreading a deadly disease. She claim it’s killing kids and not even making us resistant to the virus. Of course - it increases our resistance, not eliminate the virus.

A friend I’m hanging out with joins. He attributes the lack of nuance and intuition on the subject to social media and profits-first corporations. He affirms my thought, saying it’s not black or white, but it certainly helps.

Continuing, he presents a theory. My friend maybe engaged with mild anti vax content - because it seemed mildly interesting. When the algoritm noticed, it pushed more of the same. It optimizes for interaction, as that’s when they get most ad-revenue, he says. Having stronger opinions make us angrier and more likely to stay. He establishes this is the reason for the vicious cycle.

This pattern taints your friends other behaviour too, allowing other apps to push similar content; remember, it’s to maximise engagement, he continues. I see, so now my friend’s trapped inside a bubble? He confirms. Soon, all her search results will be heavily skewed, he points out.

Resolution

Well shit. How can I protect against it? He gives his tips; an easy thing is to use a private browser, such as Firefox together with a privacy-first search engine. He continues to recommend Brave Search and DuckDuckGo.

He also highlights the importance of open-source programs, where anyone can see what it does - if it employs dangerous behaviours. If you’re ready to push it to the limit, he explains, one can download Linux and use his DNS resolver.

So, what do you think about this?

If you find any holes in my argument, improvements to be made, or other arguments, send me a message!