This link was really insightful - worth watching the movie.
I usually try to avoid strong opinions when it comes to this sort of thing because my own service relies on Facebook. However, I agree 100% that Facebook and increasingly other sites attached to Facebook via Connect act as filter bubbles - deepening the divide among people with different points of view by arbitrarily reinforcing content that you're already viewing. Example: if you view something liberal, Facebook cuts out other types of content and feeds you similar stuff. You view something conservative, and the same feedback loop perpetuates itself in another direction. The same applies to just about anything - have an uncanny fascination with cat videos? Facebook will perpetuate that filter bubble too: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dramatic-Cat-Video/41352344010...
Another great insight: Facebook's frictionless sharing is killing taste - see this insightful article on Slate: http://www.slate.com/id/2304425/
I usually try to avoid strong opinions when it comes to this sort of thing because my own service relies on Facebook. However, I agree 100% that Facebook and increasingly other sites attached to Facebook via Connect act as filter bubbles - deepening the divide among people with different points of view by arbitrarily reinforcing content that you're already viewing. Example: if you view something liberal, Facebook cuts out other types of content and feeds you similar stuff. You view something conservative, and the same feedback loop perpetuates itself in another direction. The same applies to just about anything - have an uncanny fascination with cat videos? Facebook will perpetuate that filter bubble too: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dramatic-Cat-Video/41352344010...
Another great insight: Facebook's frictionless sharing is killing taste - see this insightful article on Slate: http://www.slate.com/id/2304425/