Pros and cons of filter bubbles

There are definite pros and cons of filters on social networking websites. On one hand you can get lose a lot of different perspectives but on the other hand even if you see these differing opinions what are the odds that you're going to interact with the people or click on the links they are sharing. According to Clive Thompson you're more likely to get new information from your close friends, who are like-minded, simply because you interact with them more. I tend to be more on this side of the argument because I've noticed I've learned more from like-minded individuals because I'm more open to interacting with them rather than someone I could have a conflict with. However I see Eli Pariser's concern that Facebook filters out information without asking the user if they want that filtered out. If anything it should be at the user's discretion if they want to filter a certain topic or user from their newsfeed.

The implications of Obama's use of social networking tools

Obama's use of social networks was completely revolutionary for it's time. He focused on gaining the votes of a demographic that notoriously doesn't vote and used social networking to get their attention. Obama was pretty much the only candidate with a good presence online. Hilary and McCain deemphasized the internet to their detriment and Ron Paul did not have the organized and effective website and social network that Obama had. Obama's team set up his website to cover an entire spectrum of people from SMS messaging, Phone messaging, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. Obama even had a campaign song created by Will.I.Am. of the popular group Black Eye Peas which got millions of views on YouTube. Obama basically set the precedent of how much internet interaction that has to occur between a campaign group and it's voting base. No longer can you be non-existent on the internet and expect to be elected.

Thoughts on Frontline: Growing up online

In my opinion, the documentary Growing up Online focuses way too much about potential dangers of social networking. Overall it feels like this film was made in order to scare parents into micromanaging their children's activities on the web. The documentary does not give the teenagers enough credit when it comes to knowing the internet and what potential harm they could come in contact with. For example, the film spends the vast majority of the time telling horror stories about cyber bullying, predators and potential suicide and only glosses over the fact that most kids know how to deal with thing such as predators and don't usually fall victim to that unless it is solicited. I would have liked it if it talked more about the benefits that the internet has given many people, whether it be more access to information, a sense of belonging to a larger community, etc. However when it comes to the potential dangers of the internet it really touched some very important topics in great detail. The part I would've liked them to elaborate on was the potential of kids meeting people on the internet who influence them to do damaging things to themselves like suicide, eating disorders, etc rather than sex predators. To me this influence from peers to do harmful things via the internet is a much bigger issue than that of predators because a lot of kids can easily block someone who is harassing them. However if they are seeking approval of the wrong crowd that can end up being way more damaging to them in the long run.