Research Suggests that Google Search Results Can Influence an Election

Psychologist Robert Epstein’s most recent research seems to indicate that search engines have the potential to profoundly influence voters without them noticing the impact. With a group of more than 1,800 study participants – all undecided voters in India – Epstein’s research team was able to shift votes by an average of 12.5 percent to favored candidates by deliberating altering their rankings in search results. There were also increases in the likelihood of voting and in measurements of trust for the preferred candidates, and there were decreases in the willingness to support rivals. Fewer than 1 of every 100 participants, meanwhile, detected the manipulation in the results. “It confirms that in a real election, you can really shift voter preferences really dramatically,” said Epstein, now a senior research psychologist for the American Institute for Behavioral Research and Technology, a non-profit group based in California, which conducted the study.

Skeptics point out that voters also have other information sources beyond what search engines provide and are swayed by other factors, such as party allegiances, potent issues and ethnic and religious affiliations. The study also recruited undecided voters as subjects and asked them to use deliberately altered rankings in search engines to query information on the major candidates. No matter whether these results can be validated or not, they are a good reminder that we all don’t get the same search results for the same query. What we get is manipulated by Google, for example, to reflect other searches we have done, our political and religious leanings as indicated by those searches and other factors that allow Google to present us with what it thinks we want rather than a wider view of a topic or issue. We all need to remember that how we search the world online is being manipulated by algorithms and that we are not being presented the wider picture necessarily without doing more digging on our own.

Google Tips and Tricks

Part of feeling safe online is knowing some of the secrets – in this case fun secrets – that are part of the tools you use online everyday. Most of us use Google at least for something every day, but there are actually lots of little extras built into everything from the Google front page to the Google search engine. For example, did you know you get the info you need on a flight or a FedEx tracking number just by typing those into the search line? And, here’s a good one for your privacy. Try Google Reverse Image Search. Go to your Google home page and then click Images. You can click the little camera icon and either drag and drop a photo or upload one from your computer. What do you get? You'll get a page listing the other places that image has been seen on the Web - and, in most cases, Google's best guess as to what it is. The practical uses of this, if you think about it for a bit, are many! It can help you figure out everything from the name of an actor in a movie to the brand name of an appliance or piece of furniture to a toy, plant, or animal. It can also help you track down any errant pictures a family member might have posted that you are trying to eliminate.

What Kinds of Decisions Will Autonomous Cars Make?

In an opinion piece for Wired, Patrick Lin, the director of the Ethics and Emerging Sciences Group at California Polytechnic State University, ponders how self-driving cars will handle having to make value calls when crashes are inevitable: "Suppose that an autonomous car is faced with a terrible decision to crash into one of two objects. It could swerve to the left and hit a Volvo sport utility vehicle (SUV), or it could swerve to the right and hit a Mini Cooper. If you were programming the car to minimize harm to others–a sensible goal–which way would you instruct it go in this scenario?" And, the Law of Unintended Consequences raises its head yet again……

Police Get Creative on Pinterest

Pinterest seems to bringing out the creativity in everyone these days including the police. For example, in February, when an officer in Redwood City, Calif., discovered bags of stolen jewelry in the trunk of a car during a routine traffic stop, he turned to social media — in hopes of tracking down the owner of a charm bracelet stamped with names and dates. Eight hours after posting on his department's Facebook, Twitter — and the Pinterest page the agency launched in February — Detective Stahler received information from not one but three people who helped identify the owner of the bracelet. That alone would be a good story — but, when you learn that the jewelry was actually a mother's keepsake engraved with the names and birth dates of her children and stolen during a residential burglary in 1983, well, it's finally score one for technology.

While cops using social media to communicate is not new, there are signs that the practice is becoming more common, experimental — and effective.tA quick search on Pinterest shows about 85 boards from police departments around the country who have used Pinterest to help solve burglary and robbery cases, locate missing people, and educate parents about street drugs their kids may be exposed to locally.

Wearable Devices –In You Ear and Changing the Way We Interact

Wearable technology is coming along quickly and it may just change the way we act, as well. So, what can it do? Hearable tech can help you place the name of someone at a dinner party, give you an alert as you walk past a bookstore that your favorite author is speaking there tonight or, perhaps, it will pick up the words "this Friday" in your conversation and help mark your calendar. But, it will also change the way we interact. Instead of staring at screens, people may look past you as the technology whispers in their ear something else about what is being said, or, worse, the wearer can be even more oblivious to what is going on around them. That will certainly have an effect on parenting ……

Email Down, Sharing on Social Media Up

Sharing on Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, and other social media sites increased during the first quarter of this year, while sharing via e-mail declined 25%, ShareThis reports. Sharing on Twitter was up 43%, Reddit sharing was up 25%, and Facebook increased 14%. Twitter surged in sharing this quarter because it added the ability to send images. So, texting is still good, but email may be a dead end in communicating with your kids.

When a Free App For Kids Isn’t Really Free

Most free apps have a way of making money – and that is not always good for parents and kids. So, how can you find the best free apps for kids? Read Jinny Gudmundsen’s take on the question and find out when free really does mean free and how to find those apps.

Personal Data Breaches Reported Expanding

A new study by Pew Research found that 18 percent of American adults with Internet access have reported that their personal information was stolen in a data breach. That's up from 11 percent who reported the same last July. And, this is serious personal information being taken here -- such as Social Security and credit card numbers and banking information. The percentage of those reporting a breach of their e-mail, social media, or other online accounts held steady at 21 percent in both years. Of course, this survey was done before the Heartbleed bug was discovered making all Web surfers wonder whether they should change their passwords to prevent theft of their email accounts, credit card numbers, and other sensitive information.

Social Media Not Influencing TV Watching As Much as Hyped

The Nielsen-backed Council for Research Excellence has found that the vast majority of people watching prime-time TV are NOT using social media at the same time, even though that is what the folks at Twitter and Facebook would like us all to believe. Only 16.1% of viewers said they took part in "second screening" through mobile devices and laptops, with 11.4% posting to Facebook and 3.3% to Twitter. Also, social media prompted just 6.8% of respondents to check out a new show.

When ‘Liking” Means You Have Voided Your Right To Sue

Many little ones love Cheerios, but might downloading a coupon for the product void your legal rights? General Mills, the maker of cereals like Cheerios and Chex as well as brands like Bisquick and Betty Crocker, has quietly added language to its website to alert consumers that they give up their right to sue the company if they download coupons, “join” it in online communities like Facebook, enter a company-sponsored sweepstakes or contest or interact with it in a variety of other ways.

Instead, anyone who has received anything that could be construed as a benefit and who then has a dispute with the company over its products will have to use informal negotiation via email or go through arbitration to seek relief, according to the new terms posted on its site.

Is this a new trend? Other companies besides General Mills are going in this direction. Big food companies are concerned about the growing number of consumers filing class-action lawsuits against them over labeling, ingredients, and claims of health threats. Almost every major gathering of industry executives has at least one session on fighting litigation. Of course, you have to wonder if this will spill over into individual cases. Will it be that you can’t claim cyberbullying if someone you have friended on Facebook starts harassing you?