Opening the black box of search engines Astrid Mager HUMlab, Umeå University/ Sweden Lecture @ HUMlab, April 6, 2011
Opening the black box of search engines Astrid Mager HUMlab, Umeå University/ Sweden Lecture @ HUMlab, April 6, 2011.
Jan 05, 2016
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Opening the black boxof search engines
Astrid MagerHUMlab, Umeå University/ Sweden
Lecture @ HUMlab, April 6, 2011
Googlization of Everything?(Vaidhyanathan)
© Joel Saget/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Microsoft
Critique of search engines/ focus on implications
- „Googlepoly“ (Pasquinelli) / gatekeeper of knowledge- Algorithm: ordering of knowledge based on popularity/ scientometrics (Mayer)
- Business Model „service for profile“/ surveillance (Elmer/ Rogers)
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Opening the Black Box
i) How are search engines socially constructed?
- Who are the dominant actors shaping the technology?- What interests do they follow & what implications result from that?- What is expected from the future?
ii) What „information politics“ do search engines trigger?
- How do search engines present, hierarchize, display their results?- Who succeeds in the battle for attention?
- What broader consequences does this ordering mechanism trigger?
Analysis I
Core Actor-Network
Universities
Start-Ups
Server Farms Websites
SEOMoney
Interests
SkillsTechnology
Economic relations
Universities
Start-Ups
Server Farms Websites
SEOMoney
Interests
SkillsTechnology
Business Model
Brand Value
Advertising
Spamming
User Profiles
Feed-Back
Information society/ economy
Competitors
Search Engines
Facebook, Twitter& co.
Mobile Technology
Contracts
User Data
Information society/ economy
Media
Activists
Hacker
Open source community
ChinaStreet View
Competitors
Search Engines
Facebook, Twitter& co.
Mobile Technology
Contracts
Education
Civil society
AlternativesUser Data
Information society/ economy
Legislation
Politics
Nation states
EUUNO
FTC
Media
Activists
Hacker
Open source community
ChinaStreet View
Competitors
Search Engines
Facebook, Twitter& co.
Mobile Technology
Consumer/ DataProtection
Contracts
Education
Civil society
AlternativesUser Data
Information society/ economy
Legislation
Politics
Nation states
EUUNO
FTC
Media
Activists
Hacker
Open source community
ChinaStreet View
Competitors
Search Engines
Facebook, Twitter& co.
Mobile Technology
Consumer/ DataProtection
Contracts
Education
Civil society
Alternatives
New Actor?
Controlling Institution
Foundation data protection
Mediator
Custodian
User Data
First conclusions
Search engine may be seen as a location where societal values are negotiated
Core network is dominated by an economic logic – political, legal, cultural actors stabilize the actor-network through inaction
Incorporates the ideology of the information economy/ capitalist society Search engine bias/ „exploitation of collective intelligence“ (Pasquinelli)/
commercialization of knowledge
Future developments?
Not enough to blame the „Googlepoly“ (Pasquinelli) understand the mechanisms behind power creation and stabilization understand that we are all part of the picture
Future is not set open to debate and potential social intervention
Questions to ask:
Do we really want to leave the task of „organizing the world‘s information“ to a private firm with a clearly commercial agenda?
Who else could/ should take part in the shaping of search technology/ the culture of search/ our access to knowledge/ construction of social reality?
How could we – as a society – strengthen these actors & their interests?
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