Is the TAG looking at "online filter bubbles"?

Hello TAG,

This TED talk crossed my desk:
  http://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles.html

The question: does too much personalization undermine the universal information space? 

Is the TAG looking at this question? I was thinking about this as a trust issue:

 * Webarch says [1]: "A URI owner SHOULD provide representations of the identified resource consistently and predictably."

 * Predictability and consistency for me includes: "Other people will have a similar experience as mine for the same or similar URI"

 * If they don't have a similar experience, then I would like to understand why. (For instance "Oh, you have a different account with difference settings, ok." or "Oh, you live in another country where the advertising is different.")

 * If the reasons for a dissimilar experience are hidden from me, that erodes my trust in the service.

 * It further erodes my trust if it becomes obvious that I have no way of understanding why I am having the tailored experience I am having, or that I may not be able to "turn it off."

I was curious whether the TAG was discussing this.

Ian

[1] http://www.w3.org/TR/2004/REC-webarch-20041215/#URI-persistence

--
Ian Jacobs (ij@w3.org)    http://www.w3.org/People/Jacobs/
Tel:                                      +1 718 260 9447

Received on Wednesday, 18 January 2012 04:28:15 UTC