We have always heard that the Internet and social networks have had negative and negative consequences, as it made most of its users isolated from reality and preferred to communicate with their friends and relatives through chatting applications and various social networks such as WhatsApp, Snapchat, Facebook, etc. This may be true. The rates of isolation vary from one person to another in terms of the ages of the users (youth, teenagers, men, women), but the problem is that the concept of isolation has changed recently with the development of technology and has become deeper than it might seem to most Internet users. Even if you are communicating with your friends and people close to you in reality and through the Internet, things may seem normal to you, but hey, this is not all because things are not so simple as the artificial intelligence, modern algorithms and tracking technologies that have become used by websites and applications have become complex and in most cases make you Secluded in a bubble you cannot get out of easily.

You think the world revolves around you, but you are isolated in your Internet bubble

Algorithms and how do they work?

First, what are algorithms. An algorithm can be defined as a set of rules or calculations used to solve problems and provide a result. Algorithms are used in social media to deliver content to the user. These sites use algorithms to select content to appear to you based on your interest, activity, and interactions on the site.

Facebook bubble

Algorithms monitor and understand who you are, what you like and what you dislike? What do you prefer and what do not you prefer etc ... and this happens through many buttons whose shapes and types differ from one platform to another, such as the Facebook and YouTube Like button, like Instagram and Twitter, and many others, where when you click on Like on Facebook on a post, image, video, or even you Commenting on anything, whether negative or positive, here is the beginning of your entry into your bubble and exiting it is very difficult, and for the topic to be more simple and easy for you, it will be like search engines where we have all been exposed to this situation before where we search for example About an iPhone, you will find for at least a day that you are surrounded by all the websites that you visit with announcements of prices and offers on the phone, accessories, cables, chargers and iPhone applications.

isolation

Still convinced that you do not live in isolation yet and see that you are a social person, interacting and aware of the latest trends and news that occur in the world? What do you think? Imagine with me that you are a recent user of YouTube, for example, and a whole year has passed since you logged in to YouTube with a Google account, and during this year the YouTube algorithms kept knowing more and more information about you, and let's assume that you are interested in technology, cars and documentaries, in a large proportion The videos that YouTube proposes to you will be one of the previous things or the three combined together, and the opportunity to suggest a video that contains political, educational or entertainment content, etc. will be little or no because the algorithms and tracking tools on YouTube know that your interests focus on three or four things and will You view this category of videos always and forever, and it will get worse if you are one of the people who do not look for new things in various fields ...

Sometimes you come to believe that the world and people all talk, think, and have interests the same as yours.

From here the real isolation begins, because all the different social media sites, search engines, and most sites use the same method.

what's the problem

isolated

The problem is that some users get used to and continue to see similar content, whether it is visible like YouTube or written like Facebook or Twitter for long periods that may extend for months and years, leading to the assumption that people and the world have interests and opinions like yours and from here begins the real isolation, where the possibility of thinking In a different way, or accepting opinions that differ with your opinions, they gradually decrease, and this is because you have followed people who offer things and write articles that always appeal to you and suit your way of thinking. For example, it is possible to find a group of adolescents between the ages of 14 ~ 19 years who follow some people from a non-Arab culture on social networks and YouTube, and we find that the culture of these people differs with the Arab and Islamic identity completely, as we find that it is permissible for them. Drinking alcohol, wearing clothes that do not fit our culture and Islamic identity, and with the passage of time we will find that these adolescents gradually affect their behavior and way of thinking affected and change by seeing things that do not suit us and things get worse when algorithms and tracking tools interfere in these matters, where we will find that they display and suggest things It is similar to what he follows up, where we find that things have changed 360 degrees, where these things become normal and normal for them, and they think that the whole world thinks in this way, because the bubble that has been detailed according to their size prepares for them that the whole world thinks in the same way.

Now I know that you are confused and wondering if the algorithms will benefit or harm us as Internet users? The algorithms and tracking tools that know what you prefer and do not prefer have a positive side. I cannot imagine that I would do without them as a daily user of the Internet, as for example if you are looking for a job on a job site in the field of architecture, you will find that it is always proposing similar jobs For what you are looking for, it will save you a lot of time and effort, but it can be harmful in another way, like what we saw in the previous example, as the dilemma lies in understanding and determining the work of the algorithms and tracking tools in the context and the content in which they work.

The solution

Free from social networks

You (my friend) must first realize that you are in a bubble, and that social networking sites offer you things that have been carefully chosen for you, and you know that there are many people who disagree with you, and you have to understand this fact and accept the difference, and do not think that the world revolves around you, but that it has prepared for you. Modern technology that and always try to get acquainted with the new and use old methods such as reading books, perusing newspapers and applications that do not work with these tools, synchronize as an example a news application that does not use this type of algorithm and presents you comprehensively with the sources that you follow without selection, and without collecting information about the user.

This app is no longer available on the App Store. :-(
Open in store Search for it on Google
Tell us how algorithms influence your opinions and ways of thinking about different areas of life. Do you think that algorithms and tracking tools are beneficial or harmful to you as a daily Internet user?

Source:

edrawsoft | fs | wearsocial

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