In Search Of

After watching the video, I was surprised about what the internet is really capable of. I may have known about the algorithms behind the filter bubble, but I never knew how complex it was. The fact that there are 57 different factors that play into what I see when I simply search something on a search engine (i.e. Google) is remarkable, and frightening. Furthermore, now that I know that literally every link I click, every website I search, and every document I email is contributing to the development of my filter bubble, I will be more weary of the filter bubble. A question I frequently asked myself was, "Does this mean that people have been plagiarizing some of my work and ideas that I share with people (via Email or Facebook) over the internet?" If Google and Facebook have access to my information, then surely others do, as well. I believe I can begin improving the effectiveness of my searches by being more specific to the point where I will get valuable results regardless of my interests and habits. I believe that the filter bubble is only effective to a certain point. If people learn to bypass the system, it may become of less concern for those of us that are on the internet frequently.


When searching what Shakespeare's life was like, I opened Google, and typed in "Who was Shakespeare and how did he write his plays?" Earlier I simply typed, "Who was Shakespeare?" After refining my search, I was surprised to see no related websites even though I only added several more words onto the search. With the new search, I found a website <http://absoluteshakespeare.com/trivia/biography/shakespeare_biography.htm> and I learned more about Shakespeare than I did before. For example, I learned that his education supposedly took place at the King's New Grammar School in Stratford which taught basic reading and writing. However, there is a lack of evidence of any college education, and this leaves a mystery behind how Shakespeare was able to write as fluently and effectively as he did.