The Internet & our Brain - Monday Musing

Something to think about on a Monday morning - Is Google (and FaceBook, Twitter and all the rest) making us stupid? Is the Internet changing our brains? How many of us can remember information any more? Or is it just that there is SO much information available that we cannot process it as we used to? 

And, are we all becoming trapped in a filter bubble of our own making? Some experts have been warning about this for at  least the last 10 years or so, and with all the talk about Fake News, it does seem more topical than ever. 

Maybe the real question is - does it really matter? This is the reality that our students live in so can we change it? Do we need to? 

When you have some spare time, maybe check out the websites below and see what you think. 

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/aug/15/internet-brain-neuroscience-debate

https://www.nbcnews.com/better/lifestyle/problem-social-media-reinforcement-bubbles-what-you-can-do-about-ncna1063896\

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8ofWFx525s   TED Talk on Filter Bubbles  - Eli Pariser

Few thoughts on the 'Age of Information'

So ...  my offering for today.  Some things to mull over and discuss ....

Check out the YouTube link below on 'What the Internet is doing to our Brains'.  Take a quick look - it's a total of 4 minutes.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKaWJ72x1rI

And for those interested - it could be worth reading the book 'Filter Bubble' by Eli Pariser.  This term was coined by the author and refers to what happens when a website algorithm selectively guesses what information a user would like to see based on previous searches.  The theory is that users get less exposure to conflicting viewpoints and then can become isolated intellectually within their own little 'informational bubble'.  I have previously mentioned this title:
http://barklycollegelibraries.blogspot.com.au/2015/

The 'personalisation tools' that Google and other information sources use increase  the chance that people are more likely to continue to be offered information that often helps to reinforce their world views.   This then goes some way towards negating other points of view - and can therefore have an impact by limiting empathy and understanding of other peoples thoughts and feelings.

Maybe take a few minutes to watch the TED talk by the author:
https://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles

I'm not advocating barring Google, YouTube and so on - I doubt that I would survive in this job today without them!  There is often a perception (Filter Bubble again) that Libraries and the Internet are in some sort of competition as sources of information but in fact, truth is - we need each other in today's Age of Information and serving clients needs! 

Have an awesome day folks!

Digital FootPrints

Have you ever vaguely thought how 'convenient' it is that the ads that show up on the sidebar of your computer seem to be the sort of stuff that you are interested in?  Ever noticed that you don't ever really see anything other than your interests?  No?  Never thought about it?  Well, maybe you should.

The weblink below  takes you to a documentary about the web economy and privacy - or the lack of, mainly.  It is apparently personalised so everyone watching will have a slightly different experience depending on the computer they are on - and it hopes to make people think about privacy on the web, both theirs and others. Everything is driven by the almighty dollar, and how to separate us from our dollars.

Most of us have no real idea how we can be tracked by our mobile phone or how an advertising network operates, nor do we even really know how much information is being collected about us through our activities on the web. 

Check out the link below and see what you think.  
https://donottrack-doc.com/en/intro/

 And further to that, if anyone is interested, there is a book called 'The Filter Bubble' by Eli Pariser - which talks about how and when Google began customising results for it's users instead of giving a broadly popular result.  This quote from the author probably explains it clearer than I can.

"We’re used to thinking of the Internet like an enormous library, with services like Google providing a universal map. But that’s no longer really the case. Sites from Google and Facebook to Yahoo News and the New York Times are now increasingly personalized – based on your web history, they filter information to show you the stuff they think you want to see. That can be very different from what everyone else sees – or from what we need to see.
Your filter bubble is this unique, personal universe of information created just for you by this array of personalizing filters. It’s invisible and it’s becoming more and more difficult to escape."

Hmmm,  anyone else see the computers and the Internet taking over the world??  Or is that just me?? 
(Cue Twilight Zone music here)