Filter Bubbles

     The Internet has a plethora of information that can be available at the touch of a button or click of a mouse.  Students turn to the Internet for information on topics for research papers, many people use the Internet for new ideas in the areas of cooking, fashion, and entertainment, and almost everyone has a social media account; such as Facebook.  I have always viewed the Internet and search engines such as Google, as non-biased, objective methods of finding information.  However, the Internet is tailored to each person through the use of filter bubbles.  
     Filter bubbles are undetectable if a person is unaware of their purpose.  Websites such as Google, Facebook, and Yahoo! keep track of what you search, what websites you visit, and even what your personal preferences are throughout your accounts.  For example, on my Facebook profile, I have listed that I am a Public Relations major.  After logging onto my account, an advertisement was specifically placed onto my profile for "enhancing your PR career by obtaining a Master's degree from USC."
     Google is one of the most popular search engines on the Internet, but Google uses information from previous searches to personalize current searches.  Google chooses the "best search results" by looking at the IP address and what the user has searched in the past.  I believe that this limits the information we can receive and contributes to the bias and misunderstanding of information.  If every search a person does is catered to them, then how can they ever learn anything different?

    A new search engine site called DuckDuckGo states that it offers searches without filter bubbles ensuring a less biased and subjective view of information.  Hopefully more websites will allow the option to reduce the use of filter bubbles.  Some personalization on the Internet is well received, but I feel that in order to take full advantage of the services of the Internet, websites should show people everything, not just what they want to see.
    

    

Furnetic.com...."fur-real?"

     Knowing how to verify websites is very important in today’s society. In order to do so, look for credibility throughout the website in forms of contact information, advertisements or sponsorships, and who created or published the website. Anybody can design and post a website on the Internet. Being aware of phishing or scam websites is very important because they can steal your identity and/or money. After researching a few websites, I stumbled upon a website dealing with customized genetic modifications, www.furnetics.com.
     Furnetics.com offered a handful of services including; Genetic Maintain™, Genetic Select™, Phenotype Renovations™, and Genotype Renovations™.  All of these services seemed generic, not genetic, so I began to investigate the website to determine its credibility.  All of the links  worked, but all were within the website except for the Twitter account (which had only two posts and had not been updated since 2010).  The website's contact section had a sketchy address with only a street number, city, and country.  The only way to contact the company was to input your e-mail address and let them contact you.  There was also a Goggle Map, but it was just a map of a road in Mongolia with no point of where the business was located. 
     Researching where/who the website came from is also an effective tool in verifying websites as accurate.  The publisher/designer of Furnetics.com is listed SM Unlimited Ltd., which made no sense to me because ltd. stand for limited.  After searching Google with quotation marks, there was no information or evidence that SM Unlimited Ltd. existed.  Another clue that the website was a hoax, was that Furnetics.com referred to a group called the Hephaestus Group as its "research and development arm."  However, the information I found out about the Hephaestus Group was that it was a staff that researched the California health care system, not biological genetics.
     The major indication that it was a fraudulent website was the Q & A section.  The website explained that it would not send or post photos of previous clients to prove its services.  Also, the biggest red flag was that the services were "prepaid in US dollar cash-equivalent instruments" prior to receiving the service.  The services ranged from $100,000 to $7 million.  There were also no names of credible sources, only a list that stated "genetic therapists, biochemical engineers, doctors, and dreamers."     
     Being aware of scam/phishing websites can protect yourself and your money.  Be sure and research a few key components when doing online transactions via credit/debit card and websites that ask for personal information.  Become your own detective and help to reduce the number of identity/money thefts.

What is the Noösphere?

     What is the geosphere, the biosphere, and the noösphere?  Geoscience and biology have helped me to understand the first two, but I had never heard of the noösphere before reading “Information as a Resource.”  The geosphere includes physical aspects of the Earth such as all rocks, mountains, and the Earth’s crust.  The biosphere consists of all living things.  The noösphere is where we have our thoughts and it is intangible, unlike the geosphere and biosphere.  Singing one of your favorite songs or recalling what the Statue of Liberty looks like is using the noösphere. If someone destroyed every copy of your favorite song, you would still remember it even though you could never physically put the CD into your CD player. 

     All of these spheres interact together and are not static.  Rocks, even though they can take numerous years to shift, are not unchanging; humans and animals are also active, and information is changing constantly.  The noösphere is perpetually evolving every day.  Take the Twilight phenomenon for example.  Fanatics of Twilight will pass their books, movies, and thoughts of Twilight onto their children.  I believe the next generation will look at Twilight like our generation looks at Star Wars.  And again, to reinforce the idea of the noösphere, if every copy of Star Wars were to be destroyed, we would still remember the idea of Star Wars. 

     The noösphere holds information that is extremely important to history, cultures, and our everyday lives.  Information has been passed on through books, stories, and archeology.  The information we gain helps to expand and broaden the ideas for today and the future.         

Information Obesity

     Information obesity is the overload of information a person has or is able to obtain.  To avoid information obesity, a person must be able to use filtering strategies.  Information obesity is partly due to the Internet, the 24-hour news cycle, misleading material, and enclosed information.  I was surprised by how many questions we should ask ourselves when obtaining information; such as, who is paying for the information to be made public?, how credible is the source?, and what information did not get out? 
     Misleading information can affect not only the way we think, but how future generations perceive information passed on through our generation.  As an advertising minor, I have experienced advertising's influence on how people think and the information they receive.  A company will advertise only what they want the consumer to see or know about a certain product or service.  Take Enron for example.  The company projected a certain amount of positive information and made the public and investors believe whatever they said was true.  In the end, everyone was misinformed and the information was false. 
     Many people also believe that technology in the workforce is a positive step towards the future.  Companies want the public to believe this because it cuts down on labor costs and in turn, saves the company money.  However, the big picture is that replacing human labor with mechanized labor can hurt people, their families, and even communities. 
     The Internet is a vast resource for information.  Anyone can put anything on the Internet.  To avoid information obesity on the Internet, verify sites and double check with other websites to make sure the information is correct.

Cleveland's 7 Characteristics of Information

     Harlan Cleveland developed seven characteristics of information: human, expandable, compressible, substitutable, transportable, diffusive and sharable. Information can come from people, scientific data, art/pictures, storytelling, cultures, music, books, etc. The word information is derived from the Latin word “informare” meaning to give form to the mind.

      Many people believe that information is human because only humans can communicate with one another. This theory is arguable because animals can also communicate with each other by the use of sounds and movement. This is proven by the “dancing” of honey bees. For more information click on the following link for more information in bee communication http://www.polarization.com/bees/bees.html. Several people argue that instead of information being human, it should be referred to as mental.

     Information can be expandable. As a child I thought that the only way to get food was from a restaurant drive-thru or a microwave or my mother. As I grew older and had to prepare my own meals, my knowledge of food and food preparation expanded greatly. Food can even be prepared by using liquid nitrogen! As much as information can be expanded, it can also be compressed. Cliff notes® are a perfect example of how a novel or book can be condensed into less than half the amount of pages.

     Information can be substitutable in many ways. One way is through labor. My uncle worked at a factory on an assembly line for many years. With recent technological developments, his job is now done by a machine. According to Cleveland, information is transportable. I totally agree with this statement because as a public relations major, being able to get information to the public is extremely important. With the use of social media and the Internet, information can be transported in seconds.

     Identity theft is a common occurrence in today's society. This confirms Cleveland's diffusive characteristic of information. This characteristic reminds me of being in high school and how if someone told one person something, the whole school knew the next day. Information rarely stays clandestine, especially with the Internet, cell phones, and e-mail. Relating to being diffusive, information is also sharable.  Information can be keep to ourselves, but if one of my girlfriends would like to know how to make a recipe I brought to a dinner party, I can share it with her.  Although I share the information with her, I will still have the information and know how to make the recipe.  Just because information is sharable, does not mean that it is lost once it is shared. 

     Information is the fastest growing thing on the planet and most people don't realize how much information they receive and is being developed annualy.