I hate the concept of "personalizing your web experience."

[Nerdius Maximus]

These sites and browsers always assume they know what you want. I hate that. It's like, "Hey, for your convenience, let's install a toolbar featuring links to porn sites you've visited!" And then the way you have to sign in to Youtube now, with a Google account that leaves your Yahoo! mail account open for anyone else using the computer to see if you forget to log out of everything... Lol. It's just really annoying to me. I don't need everything done for me, thanks.

 

[trekkiedane]

These sites and browsers always assume they know what you want. I hate that. It's like, "Hey, for your convenience, let's install a toolbar featuring links to porn sites you've visited!" And then the way you have to sign in to Youtube now, with a Google account that leaves your Yahoo! mail account open for anyone else using the computer to see if you forget to log out of everything... Lol. It's just really annoying to me. I don't need everything done for me, thanks.

I love personalisation; NoScript to stop outside interference in my browsing experience, AutoPager to just keep scrolling through those long threads, Personas to put a bit of mood enhancing colour on the browser, TrackMeNot for privacy...

 

[Goliath]

Amazon.co.uk actually sent me an email recommending my own book to me, the other day.

I'm not altogether enthused about this trend toward personalization. I read an article not too long ago--which I cannot now find, unfortunately--which discussed some of the possible negative consequences. These included the fact that search engines can already deliver completely different results based on your observed preferences. This, it argued, can have the effect of trapping people inside their own personal echo-chambers, and reinforcing instead of challenging their biases and preconceptions.

 

[Itisnotlogical]

I hate 'personalization', too. Really, it's just shorthand for "cramming as many of our sponsors/partners as will fit into your browser window". Often times, when I look in the recommended videos bar on YouTube, I see completely unrelated videos, like advertisements for Glade air fresheners on a guitar video lesson, or some Lady Gaga music video next to the Ink Spots. I don't even check my regular email now, because it keeps "suggesting" that I merge all my accounts into one pain-in-the-ass super account that I don't need. I have separate e-mail accounts specifically to keep certain mail separate.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Stuff like that can be helpful. I've certainly learned about some cool books and movies because they were suggested by Amazon. But narrowing search results and so forth kind of takes the "world wide" out of the web.

 

[Owain Taggart]

I'm not altogether enthused about this trend toward personalization. I read an article not too long ago--which I cannot now find, unfortunately--which discussed some of the possible negative consequences. These included the fact that search engines can already deliver completely different results based on your observed preferences. This, it argued, can have the effect of trapping people inside their own personal echo-chambers, and reinforcing instead of challenging their biases and preconceptions.

Oh, I agree with that. I already see it happening. With Google redirecting search results based on where you're from for instance. This in effect creates a bias. Suddenly you're not seeing it as the world sees it but rather on how your region/country sees it. I'm reminded of when news portals started allowing people to customize what they wanted to see, which is the same sort of thing. It's good in concept, but it also shields people from seeing more of what's happening around them. It's one thing to choose not to see Sports news, but it's different when it's world news.