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News & Fact-Checking

What are "Filter Bubbles?"

The most important tool used by Facebook and Google to hold user attention is filter bubbles. The use of algorithms to give consumers “what they want” leads to an unending stream of posts that confirm each user’s existing beliefs. On Facebook, it’s your news feed, while on Google it’s your individually customized search results. The result is that everyone sees a different version of the internet tailored to create the illusion that everyone else agrees with them. Continuous reinforcement of existing beliefs tends to entrench those beliefs more deeply, while also making them more extreme and resistant to contrary facts.
-Roger McNamee
 
Please watch the following 9-minute TED Talk by Eli Pariser, internet activist, organizer, and author. Pariser explains how we get trapped in filter bubbles, which prevent us from being exposed to information that could challenge or broaden our worldview.
Additional viewing options: Turn on closed captions with the "CC" button, or use the text transcript if you prefer to read.
McNamee, Roger. "How to Fix Facebook - Before It Fixes Us." Washington Monthly, Mar. 2018.
"Beware Online Filter Bubbles" by Eli Pariser for TED is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Pop Your Filter Bubble

Get Rid of Your Search History

Your web history provides Google with a lot of information about you and is used to help determine what results Google gives you. To delete your web history:

  1. Go to Google's homepage
  2. Click on your username in the top right corner
  3. Click on "Account Settings"
  4. Click on "edit" next to the "My Products" header
  5. Click "Remove Web History Permanently"

Delete your Cookies

The first thing to do to mitigate the effects of the filter bubble is to "burn" your cookies. Cookies are data that your web browser stores when you are on a web site. If permission is enabled, other sites can then tell what you were looking at and use that information to determine what to show you next.

Click on the links below to learn how to delete your cookies so ad companies can't use them to personalize ads to you:

​Disable Tracking Cookies Feature Altogether

You can also disable tracking cookies altogether. Follow the directions below for each browser.

Keep your Facebook data private, and hide your birthday

Facebook oftentimes makes changes that cause private data to become public. There is no 100 percent effective way to stop this. Below are instructions to make your data as private as possible and turn off instant personalization. 

Go Incognito, or better yet, Anonymous

Personalizing your browser gives websites information about you. You can stop this by using default settings. You can also use an incognito/anonymous browser, like the ones below: