Tuesday, 1 October 2013

The Bubble #nursinginformatics

          Today's class discussion was surrounding evidence informed practice in a technology enhanced workplace, and after viewing the following video in class, I'm still unsure how it makes me feel:

 
          The video informs viewers that the internet is more complex than some of us may have known. The internet is essentially keeping track of your usage - what sites you visit, your previous searches, etc. and uses that information to help pre-populate your next search!  I personally was oblivious to this information prior to today's class, but now, as I continue to use search engines, I can see that it's quite apparent. 
 
          Although I've become more aware of this now, I still don't know how I feel about it. On one hand, it allows you to narrow down your searches making things easier to find - but how much stuff is being left behind? What information am I missing out on because 'Google' assumes it knows what's best for me? Are reputable websites being filtered out when I'm looking for important searches because of my previous online shopping searches? I may continue to struggle with how this affects me specifically but what implications does this have on my practice as a nurse?
 
          It's not unheard of for patients to 'Google' their symptoms for themselves or others. And now I wonder, what information will these people be seeing? Is it relevant? Is it credible? Is it accurate? And whether it is or it isn't - will people take the advice as if it were? How many clients may be missing something important when caring for their health because of this 'filter bubble'?

          I consider myself quite lucky as I currently have access to hundreds of thousands of online scholarly journals and documents allowing me to understand questions I have. Many people don't have access like this, and if they wished to, it may come at a monthly fee in order to subscribe to this valuable information. Are we actually harming clients by having this filter bubble in place?

          Should there not be a way to 'disable' the filter when we choose? 


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