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The internet is increasingly becoming an echo chamber in which
websites tailor information according to the preferences they detect
in each viewer. When some users search the word “Egypt,” they may get
the latest news about the revolution, others might only see search
results about Egyptian vacations. The top 50 websites collect an
average of 64 bits of personal information each time we visit—and then
custom-design their sites to conform to our perceived preferences.
What impact will this online filtering have on the future of
democracy? We speak to Eli Pariser, author of The Filter Bubble: What
the Internet Is Hiding from You. "Take news about the war in
Afghanistan. When you talk to people who run news websites, they’ll
tell you stories about the war in Afghanistan don’t perform very well.
They don’t get a lot of clicks. People don’t flock to them. And yet,
this is arguably one of the most important issues facing the country,"
says Pariser. "But it will never make it through these filters. And
especially on Facebook this is a problem, because the way that
information is transmitted on Facebook is with the 'like' button. And
the 'like' button, it has a very particular valence. It’s easy to
click 'like' on 'I just ran a marathon' or 'I baked a really awesome
cake.' It’s very hard to click 'like' on 'war in Afghanistan enters
its 10th year.'"

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/5/27/eli_pariser_on_the_filter_bubble


What Is The Internet Hiding?
More and more every day, and it's bad for democracy. That's what Eli
Pariser says in this popular TED talk, which received a standing
ovation from the audience.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lB1Z-ILM8yo