Distortions of the Information Environment and Countermeasure Technologies
標準~33 min6 terms0 past questions
Goals of this unit
Sort phenomena that skew the information and opinions you encounter by whether the bias comes from connections between people or from selection by a system.
Explain why a digital tattoo is hard to get rid of even after the original post is deleted.
Divide countermeasures into those that block harmful information and those that check whether information is true.
An echo chamber (エコーチェンバー) is a phenomenon in which like-minded people keep talking to each other on social media and similar services, so the same opinion echoes back, grows stronger, and comes to seem correct or held by the majority.
Connect with like-minded people
The same opinions arrive again and again
Different views become hard to encounter
Opinions intensify and become skewed
Your side's opinion looks like the majority view, and your thinking hardens
3 / 3
With fewer chances to hear opposing views, thinking tends to drift toward extremes. The problem is that hearing others say what you already think starts to feel like proof that the opinion is right.
AnalogySpeak in a small walled room and your own voice bounces back at you. Hearing that echo, you assume everyone is saying the same thing.
How to remember"Echo" is a sound that bounces back, and a "chamber" is a small enclosed room. The name pictures a voice rebounding inside a closed space.
Exam points
Mix-upInside an echo chamber (エコーチェンバー), having many people agree is easily confused with the opinion being factually correct. The amount of agreement is no evidence of truth.
A filter bubble (フィルターバブル) is a phenomenon in which search engines and social media automatically choose what to show based on a user's browsing history and similar data, so what the user sees tilts toward their preferences and their view narrows as if they were inside a bubble.
← Scroll the figure sideways →
An algorithm here means the processing procedure that automatically picks the next articles or posts to show, based on browsing history and click patterns. Information that is not picked never appears on screen, so users rarely notice what has been left out.
AnalogyPicture a shop where the same clerk always stocks the shelf only with items similar to what you bought last time. It is convenient, but you stop noticing the products that never make it onto the shelf.
How to rememberA "filter" is a sieve, and a "bubble" is a clear sphere. Imagine that only what passes through the sieve reaches the inside of the bubble.
Exam points
Mix-upA filter bubble (フィルターバブル) arises when a system narrows what it displays to match your history. It differs from an echo chamber (エコーチェンバー), where opinions echo through exchanges between people, in what creates the bias.
Echo chamber vs. Filter bubble
Aspect
Echo chamber
Filter bubble
Key differenceSource of the bias
Exchanges among like-minded people
Automatic selection by a system based on history
User's involvement
Results from choosing whom to connect with
Happens at the display stage even without the user choosing
A digital tattoo (デジタルタトゥー) is a term that compares to a tattoo the way posts and images published online spread through copying and reposting and keep surviving, hard to erase completely.
Publish a post or image
Third parties save or repost it
The poster deletes the original
The copies remain
Copies held by others or on other sites stay, and may turn up in searches later
3 / 3
Information that lingers can harm the person years later, in school admissions, job hunting, or relationships. So before posting, review the content as something you will not be able to take back.
AnalogyA tattoo, once inked, is hard to remove no matter how much you regret it. A photo posted on a whim can stay around just as long.
How to rememberA tattoo is ink set into the skin. The fact that it is hard to remove once applied is the clue in the name.
Exam points
Mix-upA digital tattoo (デジタルタトゥー) is the problem of information that cannot be erased and keeps surviving. Deleting the original post does not remove copies that third parties have saved or reposted.
Filtering (フィルタリング) is a mechanism that automatically blocks access to harmful or inappropriate websites and information according to conditions set in advance.
Blacklist method
Whitelist method
What goes on the list
Sites to keep hidden
Sites that may be viewed
Sites not on the list
Can be viewed
Cannot be viewed
Best suited for
Browsing widely while avoiding dangerous sites
Keeping what may be viewed tightly limited
Blocking methods include, for example, the blacklist method, which registers sites that must not be viewed, and the whitelist method, which registers only the sites that may be viewed. Besides software installed on a device, filtering can also be offered as a feature by carriers or service providers.
AnalogyIt works like a water filter that strains out debris. Whatever gets caught in the mesh is stopped before it reaches the device.
How to rememberIt is the same "filter" as in a water purifier. Just recall how a filter strains things out.
Exam points
Mix-upThe blacklist method (ブラックリスト方式) stops only the registered sites, while the whitelist method (ホワイトリスト方式) lets only the registered sites through. They treat sites not on the list in exactly opposite ways.
Parental control (ペアレンタルコントロール) refers to features and practices that let parents manage and restrict a child's use of smartphones, game consoles, PCs, and other devices.
Examples of limits parents set
Sites and apps allowed
When and how long devices can be used
Purchases and in-app payments
The aim is to protect children from harmful information and online trouble. What can be configured depends on the device or service, and some let parents review how the child has been using it.
AnalogyIt is like parents deciding in advance which shows the TV in a child's room may play, and at what times.
How to remember"Parental" comes from "parent." Who does the setting up is right there in the name.
Exam points
Mix-upParental control (ペアレンタルコントロール) covers not only limits on browsing but also limits on usage time and purchases. Browsing limits rely on filtering (フィルタリング).
Filtering vs. Parental control
Aspect
Filtering
Parental control
Key differenceWhat it is
A technology that blocks access to harmful information
Features and practices for parents to manage a child's use
Who sets it up
Users, organization administrators, providers, and others
Fact-checking (ファクトチェック) is the practice of tracing the evidence to verify whether information or statements circulating in society are based on fact, and then publishing the result.
Pick up circulating information
Trace the original sources
Judge its accuracy
Publish the result with evidence
Publish the verdict with the evidence used, so readers can check it themselves
3 / 3
Primary information means information that has not passed through other hands, such as material released directly by the person or organization that made the announcement. Fact-checking is carried out by news organizations and specialist groups to curb the spread of false information and rumors, and it also serves as a useful habit for individuals receiving information.
AnalogyIt is like hearing a rumor and tracing it back to whoever started it, or to the original record, to see whether it is true.
Exam points
Mix-upFact-checking (ファクトチェック) does not hide information; it examines whether the content is based on fact and states a verdict. Its role differs from that of mechanisms that stop access to harmful information.
Key points
An echo chamber and a filter bubble are both phenomena in which the opinions and information you encounter become skewed and other viewpoints become hard to reach.
A digital tattoo is the problem of published information being copied and lingering, with the potential to harm the person later.
Filtering is a mechanism that automatically blocks access to websites and information according to conditions set in advance, with the blacklist and whitelist methods as examples.
Parental control lets parents manage a child's use of devices and services to protect the child from harmful information and trouble.
Fact-checking is the practice of verifying with evidence whether circulating information is factual, and publishing the result.