The Internet is a wonderful thing. It’s greatly expanded the amount of information the everyday American has access to. A brain-twisting problem that once required a trip to the library now is easily solved with the help of a smartphone, computer or tablet.
However, have you ever noticed when you type one thing into a search engine, searching for travel deals or looking up a new lawn mower, eerily similar advertisements and links begin to appear? This is how these companies make money. Recording your search history and selling it to advertisers helps to market more efficiently. On this note, looking at news articles online works in the same way.
Based on what sites you have visited, search results and news aggregators recommend stories based on what you have read before. This is all well and good until you consider you may have read your news on a site that leans one way or another on the political spectrum. The process will continue until your Internet bubble is created.
What is an Internet bubble, you may ask? Well, to put it simply, an Internet bubble is the condition in which the search engines have you figured out to the point where when you search for news or opinion, you will never encounter anything that challenges your viewpoint. If you have been reading a large number of left- or right-wing sites, it’s very unlikely one with a contrary opinion to these will ever appear in your search results or be recommended to you by a news aggregator.
Make no mistake, it isn’t wrong to find a good place to share views with people who think the same way as you. The problem, though, is being stuck in an Internet bubble can actually reduce the amount of information you are taking in. You are also more likely to encounter inherent bias in reporting. I once found a website that showed images of a conservative news feed and a liberal news feed side by side. These feeds had stories about the same topics. The difference was shocking. Not only did the opposing sides each have a completely different take on the issues, they also used different sources and quoted different people to prove their points. This illustrates the problem.
Sites with one viewpoint or another may downplay or completely omit information that doesn’t help them prove the point they are making in the article. If you are stuck in an Internet bubble, you may only be getting half the story! Being a person who has explored both sides of the political Internet, I find the best way to sort through the biases is to look for similarities. If the conservative and liberal sites both say something, it’s safe to assume it’s true. If there are different figures for the same point, say the economy or crime numbers, I tend to take an average or check the leanings of the contributing organization.
But it’s only possible to break out of your Internet bubble and access both sides of the political Internet if you know where to look. The best way I have found to do this is to find a group of conservative sites, a group of liberal sites and some more moderate sites. Save these in your bookmarks or write them down, and take a look at one of each before you make up your mind on something.
A great place to start is www.realclearpolitics.com. This site hosts web articles from many differing sites across the political spectrum and will help you to build a list of sites you like. Just like getting a second opinion, breaking out of your Internet bubble can help you see more of the world. When we get stuck in information that merely confirms our beliefs, it doesn’t challenge us to defend them, which makes for terrible debates in the classroom and at the dinner table.
An informed society is a strong and prosperous society. We just need to get outside of our bubbles and give multiple viewpoints a look.
Connor Kockler is a student at Sauk Rapids-Rice High School. He enjoys writing, politics and the news, among other interests.
