FILTER BUBBLE, THE

Imagine a world where all the news you see is defined by your salary, where you live, and who your friends are. Imagine a world where you never discover new ideas. And where you can`t have secrets. Welcome to 2011. Google and Facebook are already feeding you what they think you want to see. Advertisers are following your every click. Your computer monitor is becoming a one-way mirror, reflecting your interests and reinforcing your prejudices. The internet is no longer a free, independent space. It is commercially controlled and ever more personalised. "The Filter Bubble" reveals how this hidden web is starting to control our lives - and shows what we can do about it. An illuminating flash-forward of what might be -- Colin Fraser Scotland on Sunday Highlights an important and easily overlooked aspect of the internet`s evolution that affects everyone who uses it The Economist Pariser is an excellent debunker of internet cliches... [he] comes as close as anyone has to explaining the misgivings that a lot of internet users feel -- Christopher Caldwell The Financial Times A book designed to agitate us into awareness, because this may be the only way we can first discover and then burst the bubble... a polemic and warning -- Brian Appleyard The Sunday Times Explains how insidious customization of the web is limiting our access to information, and narrowing rather than expanding our horizons Observer Well-written, thoroughly researched and informative ... the possibilities become truly amazing - or, if you prefer, scary Scotsman Astonishing Andrew Marr Explosive Chris Anderson