Blurts

The recent reactions of many, including me, to the news that Facebook was trying to manipulate user emotions got me thinking. Why was I offended? I sometimes play a certain type of music to manipulate my mood – mellow music, energizing music, somber music. I think the difference is that I know I am attempting to manipulate my mood and I am  doing this because my actual psychological state is not what I desire. My awareness of what is going on allows me to keep track of reality. When another entity does this without my awareness I am being mislead. I am unaware that I am being manipulated.

This lack of awareness seems similar to the issue raised by Eli Pariser in the Filter Bubble. He claimed that Google uses our reaction to search results to adjust the type of information we see. However, there can often be a difference between what I want to hear and reality. I may want to think I appear young and athletic, but being told this when these are not the facts could get me in trouble. That hike into the Grand Canyon might be a foolish thing to attempt unless I am actually up to the task. I need to know when the information I seek represents an accurate picture of reality. Being told what I wish were the case is not necessarily the same thing.

This is when insight into the algorithm responsible for what we experience is important. I used to think the Google search algorithm was based on page rank.  Pariser challenged this view. The recent revelations regarding Facebook now also cause me to question my understanding of the newsfeed. I understand the competitive advantage keeping the actual algorithm secret offers a business advantage, but I should be able to be assured that the view of reality I am experiencing is the view of reality that I expect.