You, The Internet, and Data

Back in the late 1990's, when the World Wide Web was in it's infancy, I was in university. Everyone was so excited about how the internet was going to bring a voice to those who have not been heard in the past. It was the democratization of information. We were going to be free and out from under the thumb of the man.

Although I could see this possibility, I also was concerned that without the editorial gatekeepers, holding writers to standards, and ensuring, to the best of their knowledge, the facts they printed were true, we would be in a world of mis-information.

Irrespective if you believe that I had that thought back in the 90's, I think we can agree that the internet has vast swaths of mis-information today.

The latest uproar is the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica use of personal data to change hearts and minds in elections. This is concerning to me but not because they used data from Facebook. I'm concerned that people are so weak-minded that they are swayed by these campaigns. 

There are a lot of factors at play. People don't seek out dissenting opinions anymore. They fall victim to confirmation bias. When they hear what they want to hear they go with it. The problem is people are lazy and are taking the comfortable way out. American voter turnout is so low the path to victory is no longer providing the most appealing platform, the path to victory is motivating the base to actually show up and vote. Politicians don't need to change minds, they need to get like minded people to actually vote.

Let me say this again.

Politicians don't need to change minds, they need to motivate like minded people to actually vote.

This reduces the requirement to develop a platform that is good for all citizens. This encourages stove-piping and not talking to the other side. The lower the voter turnout is, the bigger problem this becomes. This is something that we need to fix.

The good news is we can fix it. The number one thing every citizen can do is vote. The closer a nation gets to full voter turnout, the less a "get out the vote" campaign matters. If you go from motivating your base to talking to the entire population your story will significantly change.

The second thing every citizen can do is seek out people who are different than you and spend meaningful time with them. Don't simply find out what they believe but why they feel it is the best way to do things. It may be frustrating at times but you will grow as a person.

The third thing you can do is questions the hypothesis and source of everything you read. The editorial oversight of the days of old are gone. Nobody is fact-checking for you. Is the source reliable? What is their motivation for creating this content? What are their political leanings? What have they said about other issues? Information on the internet is like advice, it's generally free and you don't have to use it.

The problem we are faced with is not a data analytics company using data about you to figure out how to talk to you. The problem is too many people are being mindless and not questioning what they are consuming.