This blog has, to date, primarily focused on the qualities of networked information technologies and regulatory responses to them – in particular qualities that raise issues of privacy and free expression. This installment of “Tool Without a Handle” looks at the qualities that render these tools influential on artistic and political discourse. In this first part, I will look at one particular quality: searchable text.
The searchability of digital content may contribute to confirmation bias and the “filter bubble” phenomena. A pre-conceived preference as to what news or information is desired can be easily bolstered with references found via targeted searches. At the same time, a distinct value of search technology is that it has enabled a vast number of entertainment and creative works to find audiences. A library of programming the size of Netflix or YouTube is simply not navigable with the rotary dials that graced the television set of my childhood.
Read Full Story from Of Interest http://cyberlaw.stanford.edu/blog/2016/08/%E2%80%9Ctool-without-handle%E2%80%9D-%E2%80%93-tools-art-and-politics-part-1
This article by Chuck Cosson originally appeared on cyberlaw.stanford.edu on August 16, 2016 at 04:23AM
