I've watched the following video several times since it was forwarded to me from a colleague 2 weeks ago (thanks Tim!), and since then I've been letting the concept simmer in order to compile an eloquent blog post.  But the conclusion I've come to is that this video simply speaks for itself, and trying to re-hash the ideas discussed in it would not be able to do it justice.  Instead, I will simply tell a very watered down story of my own experience with this concept of personalization of the Internet, and then let you watch the Ted Talk.  

I, as most Gen-Yers, often get solicited by, ahem, older members of my family to help them with various technology issues.  Oftentimes, I remind these people (Mom and Dad!) that you can often find the answers by Googling them.  Every once in awhile, while Googling the exact same topic as them, a conversation such as this happens (because I'm clearly on the phone walking them through this process):

Me: "Look - there's your answer.  Second link from the top."

Elder Family Member: "What -- the one that says 'Cats for Dummies'?"

Me: "No...the SECOND one.  The one listed as 'Cat Diets -- A Step by Step Tutorial' "

Elder Family Member: "Where? I don't see that one."

Me (with exasperated eye roll):  "Are you sure you entered the search terms EXACTLY as I told you?"

Elder Family Member: "Yeah - pretty sure.  I typed _______, ________, ________"

Me: "Hmmmm...then your second hit should be the one I'm seeing."

Elder Family Member: "Well it's not."

Me: "Probably cuz you're still using that lame Internet Explorer."

In conversations such as the one above, my last comment was often made facetiously.  Because really, I obviously chalked up this miscommunication to user error on the part of the other person.  But my comment wasn't all that far off.

Find out why Google searches are not standardized anymore, but actually personalized:

Creepy, right? I did find a few short articles on how to combat this over personalization, namely here and here.  Check them out for yourselves, and be prepared to have a GREAT discussion with students on how this could impact them in the future.

Vanessa