[reading list] Filter Bubbles, Old and New

photo credit: Orin Zebest

Been dipping in and out of Eli Parisier’s The Filter Bubble (2011), as part of a longer piece I’m working on. Had some rough thoughts and jottings I wanted throw out into the darkness:

• ‘Personalized search for everyone’ (Google’s stated mission, for a time)

• The filter bubble provides ‘a unique universe of information for each of us … which fundamentally alters the way we encounter ideas and information’ (Parisier, 2011: 9)

• ‘When the technology’s job is to show you the world, it ends up sitting between you and reality, like a camera lens.’ (Parisier, 2011: 13)

• ‘Spain’s first gay retirement home passes its first hurdle‘ (The Guardian, 03/01/2011)

• ‘Something in the Air‘ (Frieze interview with Peter Sloterdijk)

• ‘State of Air‘ (BLDBLOG)

• Pillarisation (verzuiling) — ‘a term used to describe the politico-denominational segregation of Dutch and Belgian society …  ”vertically” divided into several segments or “pillars” (zuilen) according to different religions or ideologies.’

• Doorbraak (‘breakthrough’) — ‘an attempt to renew the politics of the Netherlands after the Second World War.’

• ‘Openness and the Metaverse Singularity‘ (Jamais Cascio, 2007 — good on AR filtering)

• ‘Bridging Capital and Social Cohesion in an English village setting‘ (Roy Greenhalgh, 2008)

Starting to wonder if the our best chance of filter bubble-busting Doorbraak might have been something like ChatRoulette. Certainly, one of my highlights of 2010 was encouraging my neighbour to play guitar to a baffled Chilean dentistry student.

Simpler times!