Observing and recommending from a social web with biases

The research question this report addresses is: how, and to what extent, those directly involved with the design, development and employment of a specific black box algorithm can be certain that it is not unlawfully discriminating (directly and/or indirectly) against particular persons with protected characteristics (e.g. gender, race and ethnicity)?Comment: Technical Report, University of Southampton, March 201

Online Search And Society: Could Your Best Friend Be Your Worst Enemy?

Online search is becoming the main source individuals use to find information about sports, politics, health, religion, world issues, and other subjects that shape our views on the world and how we live our lives. Of all internet users, 92% use online search and are doing so on desktop and mobile, with an average of 129 searches a month per person. Search is designed to keep users engaged and serviced with speed and brevity. As search engine usage increases around the world and impact on behaviours becomes more of a concern, we must understand how might the design of search engine algorithms be affecting society’s ability to shape the way we see the world. Is commerce compromising community in user experience and design? Are we unknowingly being sent into echo chambers with predictive and personalized search algorithms. Is the fast and wide internet actually narrowing the doors of perception we have been walking through online for the last 30 years? It is the right time for through exploratory research to better understand the current and potential future impacts and implications of search on society and citizens. I will employ a literature review, first party participant research and document a chronology of knowledge discovery and capture in context to searching, sharing and storing of information, along with a horizon scanning exercise with a focus on trends research. The first-party human-based research will involve the segmentation of Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants to explore whether there are patterns emerging within distinct age groups. These methods will be deployed and findings will be analyzed to ascertain what the issues might be and whether people understand the complexities, powers, and abilities of search engines