Discovering Knowledge: Search algorithms, metadata and tagging

“Is Google Making Us Stupid”“The Algorithm”

Michelle Gantevoort Z3190452

Does the internet make you dumber?

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TW9HGuWMJo

“Is Google making us Stupid”

• Our minds are changing – “the way we think has changed”

• The media is just not passive channels of information

• They supply the stuff of thought they also shape the process of thought.

Study of online research habits showed:

• It is clear that users are not reading online in the traditional sense; indeed there are signs that new forms of “reading” are emerging as users “power browse” horizontally through titles, contents pages and abstracts going for quick wins. It almost seems that they go online to avoid reading in the traditional sense.

Internet strategist Jessie Hirsh has an interesting take on the issue.

"Google is our brain on the outside... just like in a lobotomy, when we take out a part of our gray matter, it's going to make us a little bit stupid" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwh5S

74E8mk&feature=channel

Concerns

• Developmental psychologists are concerned the style of reading promoted by the net is weakening our capacity for deep reading turning us into mere decoders of information.

• “Pancake people” – spread too wide and thin.

WHY IS THIS RELEVANT?

As producers and consumers of online content we need to understand the nature of the ‘audience’. As producers of online news these habitual practices of the web browser need to be understood so they can be effectively catered for.

The Algorithm

• The pure algorithmic approach

The Algorithm

• Found in this reading when it came to providing a legitimate news web site through a pure algorithm without human interference – “algorithm met humanity and humanity won.”

• The algorithm’s crawlers collect information but does not grow smarter, failing to differentiate what is newsworthy or even real news – see fake press release or space shuttle Columbia.

Search Engine Optimization

• Improving the websites search engine page rank by tweaking the sites susceptibility to algorithmic visibility.

This is done by key wording headings

Build internal and external links

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/09/weekinreview/09lohr.html?pagewanted=all

This Boring Headline was made for Google

• Clever titles and headlines been traded in for literal ones to achieve SEO

• “They are fast yet numbingly literal – minded. There are no algorithms for wit irony, humor or stylish writing. The software is logical, sequential, left- brain reader, while humans are often right brain.”

• This is one of the reasons Google’s algorithm failed to surpass Yahoo’s news website relying solely on the algorithm.

Which heading was made for Google?

References • Carr, N 2008, “Is Google making us stupid?”, Atlantic.com Washington D.C: The Atlantic,

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/07/is-google-making-us-stupid/6868/• Stross, R 2008, ‘The Algorithm,’ in Planet Google: how one company is transforming our lives,

pp.63 – 88. (R)• Lohr, S 2006, “This Boring Headline is Written for Google,” NYtimes.com New York: The New

York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/09/weekinreview/09lohr.html?pagewanted=all

• Krijestorac, H 2010, “Making the process clear: Improve your search engine ranking in 6 steps”, Searchenginejournal.com, http://www.searchenginejournal.com/making-the-process-clear-improve-your-search-engine-rankings-in-6-steps/23023/

• Goodman, A 2005, “Search Engine Showdown: Black Hats v White Hats at SES,” SearchEngineWatch.com, http://searchenginewatch.com/3483941

• Wayne, B 2010, “How to Use Video SEO to jump to the Top of Google Search Results,” TechCrunch.com, http://techcrunch.com/2010/03/10/video-seo-top-google-search/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29&utm_content=Twitter

• Brown, J 2010, “Does the internet make you dumber?” TVO Channel, YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TW9HGuWMJo

• Hirsh, J 2009, “Google makes us Stupid”, TVO Channel YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jwh5S74E8mk&feature=channel