Why blogs/websites may lead to a narrower world view
Posted: May 11th, 2011 | Author: Michael Moore-Jones | Filed under: Thinking Out Loud, Web/Tech | Tags: Economist, magazines, newspapers, Social Media | 13 Comments »One of the only magazines I read every week is The Economist. And I make sure I read every article in each issue. Give me a minute to explain why, and the significance of it.
My generation, more than any other, is growing up solely reading things that conform to our pre-held view of the world. We read only things that interest us, or things that we agree with. Why? The Internet allows us to be selective. The cost of clicking off of an article that doesn’t interest us is practically nothing. Compare this to other generations who have grown up with newspapers. A newspaper is purchased each day, and therefore has a value that people can easily see. But more than that, it was one of the only ways people could receive news – and therefore they felt compelled to read most, if not all, of the articles inside.
The difference here is that people who grew up with newspapers, and still read newspapers, are exposed to a broader range of opinion and topics. If I’m visiting the New York Times website, I will go straight to the technology and business sections, but from there I’ll only click on articles that seem interesting. In a newspaper, the text of the article is displayed straight below the title – it is more compelling for people to read the article because there isn’t that extra step. Sure, a click doesn’t seem like much – but in my opinion it is a mental barrier that stops us from reading articles that we could find useful. And there are other reasons why we don’t read as many articles, too – simply the amount of information vying for our attention means we can easily switch to something else if an article doesn’t interest us.
Blogs are another issue. Because there are so many blogs, each one is very specific. They will hold a specific view of the world, likely that of the owner or founder of the blog. And therefore just reading blogs that share your view of the world will mean we become very narrow minded.
That example of blogs touches on the danger of online media. Some of you may have picked it up. I believe that my generation, growing up with the Internet, could become more narrow-minded than other generations. If we solely choose to receive information that fits with our pre-existing view of the world, then these views will become solid. We won’t be as accepting of other viewpoints, or open to new opinions.
In reading the whole of The Economist each week I hope to avoid that danger. Sure, The Economist does have a particular point of view – but it’s not as narrow as blogs. And I read all the articles, even ones on topics that don’t interest me – I suppose that’s how you become open to new information and ideas.
This is just one of those consequences of the Internet – one that we won’t see the effects of for years, in any major way. But I reckon it’ll be there. And I don’t see a solution to the problem other than individuals choosing to read widely.
