Don’t Pop My Bubble
Just Another Sign of How the Technology to Bring Us Together is Just Pushing Us Further Apart
So let’s start here. With this, because this is important.
If you’re asking why I’m glad, and I’ll tell you.
My goal as a writer is the make an argument and convince you that I’m right. Ideally, I want you to be someone who doesn’t agree with me when you start but completely agrees with me when I’m finished. That would make me happy and feel good. That would be called progress.
I’m also here to tell you how that most likely won’t happen. Most people who don’t already agree with what I have to say will never waste their time coming here. I am not supporting their conceived existence, and that’s no fun. I would only be killing their buzz, and no one likes that.
We as a society are getting less interested in discovering the new, questioning the differences among us, or listening to anything that isn’t already supporting the bubble in which we live. What has been disguised as more choices to appeal to the individual is just algorithms learning and reacting to our consumption and entertainment habits. Once this has been established it is easier to cater to the person’s desires; therefore, niche marketing is now a thing.
As different as we have always been, there were always some elements to life that brought us together. In his recent speech in Berklee, CA, former President Obama spoke about how the internet has changed our lives. He mentioned that not that long ago, there were only several national broadcast television stations that the entire country watched. Although they did not represent all of American culture, it was what we had; therefore, people could relate to something on a national level. The networks would lose money on the news because profit was not as important as the truth and integrity a fine national station would send into the airwaves.
Today, we are in misinformation overload. There is too much content out there to even come close to consuming. This is another cause of the bubble. When there is too much information to take in, the obvious thing to do is only let in what you like the best. It’s not surprising that we like things that we agree with, and tech companies were happy to feed us exactly what we (and them) thought best.
Let’s face it, there is so much information out there we have the luxury of filtering anything out on a given website. If you’re dating and want men between 6'1" and 6'3 with blond hair, just filter the rest out. If you are a die-hard Republican, Fox News has more content than all the networks put together from back in the day. They will be happy to feed you a line of ego-pumping propaganda to keep you full until the next insurrection.
On that note, let’s look at that last line about the propaganda. Yep, that’s right, all this information breeds some lies also. One of the fun facts about the internet is that misinformation can be weaved into trusted sites and sources. Social media sites, and others with deceptive features like newsfeeds, somehow got people to believe their sites contained mostly truthful information. Call me crazy, but if your screen name is catUPmya$$, I’m not betting your posts aren’t well-sourced and supported by a major news organization.
With the increase of people who don’t leave school with the critical thinking skills they should, a whole new generation of graduates is falling into this trap of lies and propaganda. And let’s face it, what corporations want to sell you and get you to believe for their agenda is the real fake news.
So beware of the bubble. It is a place where minds go to say “ignorance is bliss” and avoid and hate people who are not like them. In the bubble, you stop learning new information, stop challenging your mind, and no longer fight against injustices. The bubble is comfortable and catered to. Most people in the bubble did not intend to end up there. They are just the product of a lot of tech money that successfully worked hard to create them.
If you see someone in the bubble, try to pop it and wake their ass up. And my friend, be careful yourself, as you are always at risk of ending up in the bubble yourself.
Oliver Andrew Wells
