Internet Filters Of The Internet

Eli Pariser argues that the filters that internet giants are putting in place are ruining the way people view the internet. Pariser explains how these filters are forming bubbles that are limiting and constricting what users see when they use the internet (Pariser). Although these filters do limit what users encounter on the internet, Pariser fails to mention any of the benefits to these filters. I argue that the benefits of these filtering systems outweigh the concerns Pariser expresses in his article.

In the article, ‘What The Internet Knows About Us,’ Eli Pariser argues that because of the filters that internet giants have put in place, the internet has now become a dangerous place. Pariser explains that because of “filter bubbles,” the internet now knows too much about a person. Filter bubbles use that information to adjust and filter what a person encounters on the internet (Pariser).

Eli Pariser gives several examples as to why he believes the internet has become a dangerous place. When a person gets on a top website such as Yahoo or CNN, that website installs an average of 64 data-laden cookies on ones computer (Pariser). These cookies are used to customize web pages for that particular user. The cookies that are being installed are affecting things such as what headline a user will read to what restaurant Yelp may recommend. An average of thirty-six Americans under thirty view their news from social networking sites. Because of filtering bubbles, those Americans are missing out on the chance to view news outside of their interests, diminishing insight and learning (Pariser).

I argue that the benefits of these filtering bubbles outweigh the negatives that Eli Pariser discusses. The idea of “filtering bubbles” c...

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...aving them money. With the placement of cookies, internet couponing websites have the ability to target potential customers and present them with discounted offers based on their interest. For example, my father loves to golf and so he regularly searches for golf related things. He recently saw an ad from Groupon, a popular “couponing” website, advertising a deal in which he persuaded saving him $70 on a round of golf. Now, my father regularly uses the website and has saved hundreds of dollars with it’s coupons. Without his golfing internet bubble he never would have known about the website and have not saved all of that money.

Not only can filtering bubbles save a person money, but it can also keep them healthy. Recently the famous search engine Google has predicted outbreaks of the the flu. When a person uses Google to search for something, Google place