Essay
The present generation is greatly immersed in technology. These technological advancements have impacted on every aspect of human life, directly and indirectly. The internet is one such example of the technological advancements of the 21st century that has both positive and negative impacts on the life of individuals. According to many researchers and authors, such technologies and the internet in particular needs to revise their strategies in order to present minimum harm and maximum benefit to its users. This essay will compare and contrast an article and a video lecture on technology. The basic arguments, style, and the major differences will be discussed in the essay.
It is evident that, that technology is a two-edged weapon. However, according to the video lecture, “Eli Pariser: Beware online ‘filter bubbles’” by Eli Pariser it is told that the internet is not letting us see everything. He quoted the examples of ‘facebook’, ‘google’, ‘yahoo news’, etc. and how these sites and search engines have become tailored as per the individual. He briefly explained that how google is not standard anymore and that the results for a simple search like ‘Egypt’ for two different people are entirely different (Pariser, 2011).
It is because of the technology that is behind these websites and search engines. The author of the video named it as the algorithms that he said can read the searching commands of the individuals and show only relevant results. These results are not standard and are completely tailored. He termed this phenomenon as filter bubble however the individuals were not able to filter things for themselves in fact it was the internet that was showing them only certain things (Pariser, 2011).
He further argued that with the invention of the internet, it was hoped that all information will be available for everyone and that the human gatekeepers will no more filter things for the audience. Sadly, the current technology has reversed the scenario and instead of human gatekeepers there are technological / algorithmic gatekeepers. These technological gatekeepers are not embedded with proper ethics and codes of conduct. Therefore, if the concerned companies do not look into this matter then the individuals will be left in a web of one (Pariser, 2011).
On the other hand, the New York Times article, ‘The Flight from Conversation’ by Sherry Turkle has also discussed some of the untold truths about technology. In the article, she has defined how human communication has been sacrificed for the new technologies. It is not surprising that we live in a society where everyone is busy texting or is having a conversation on their headphones. According to the author, because of such attitude, they are ‘alone together’ (Turkle, 2012).
Both the authors have presented a similar attitude in which they have shown that the present technology is not benefitting the individuals in fact it is spoiling them in a variety of ways. For this reason, they have shown their concern over the increasing technological advancements in the society that is going in the wrong direction. Eli Pariser is highly concerned about the algorithmic gatekeepers and the filter bubble phenomenon while Sherry Turlke has discussed some of the key issues that are harming conversations over connections (Pariser, 2011; Turkle, 2012). Although both the authors have highlighted different issues related to technology, but the key focus of both of them is the same. The main aspect is to look closely into the matter and to revise the strategies or to make new ones if needed otherwise what the authors worry and forecast would become true.
Reference List
Pariser, E. (2011). Eli Pariser: Beware online "filter bubbles". Retrieved from youtube.com: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8ofWFx525s
Turkle, S. (2012, April 22). The Flight From Conversation. Retrieved from nytimes.com: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/opinion/sunday/the-flight-from-conversation.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&
