The internet is spying on us!!

What’s perhaps scarier than the fact that Amazon, Google, Facebook and other software giants track our every move on the internet is the fact that many of us are becoming compliant with this reality. It seems that we’ve come to accept the fact that the virtual big brother is watching us. This could perhaps be because many feel there is nothing they can or care to do about it. Others might actually enjoy receiving “tailored” search results and shopping items. The TED speaker, Eli Pariser, highlights the inherent problem with this customized web experience in that users are shut off to other ideas that are out there. We are therefore using the World Wide Web to connect with ourselves as opposed to forging a network with others.

I personally believe that we live in a new era of media and technology where almost nothing is unbiased, unaltered or uncensored. Perhaps billions of dollars are generated for companies for producing screened search results, etc. As this won’t likely change in the future, and perhaps even become more entrenched in electronic information, public awareness of the challenges that Pariser posed should be increased. This is where I feel we, as educators, have a responsibility for properly preparing students to learn in a 21^st century environment and to seek out objective facts through mediums that are becoming more and more subjective. This is no easy task since the nature of technology is constantly changing, but a challenge we must take on.