Soctech seminar, Spring 2006
Society and technology seminar: SLN 2932 CSE 590 SO, Tue 12:30-1:20, CSE 403
Spring 2006: The Social Ramifications of Search Technologies
(note: this page is under construction...)
It is an oft-quoted cliché that in today’s “information society” there is no shortage of information, but rather an inability to actually process the available information in meaningful ways. The main contemporary response to this information inundation has been the search. As a consequence, although many do not recognize it as such, the search engine has become one of the most important transforming social institutions of our time.
As the search is at heart a mechanized process of associating user queries with authorities on the subject, search algorithms are implicitly a new way of judging quality of content. What does this mean for power relations between social actors? Do the search algorithms themselves open up new avenues of political participation and expression? Do they work toward social exclusion?
Google in particular has been in the news recently for a variety of essential topics which demonstrate that search engines are raising many questions about the organization of content and access to it and in the process, clashing with many different institutions and cultural values. In regards to privacy: should the US government have access to privately held information about user search habits of its citizens? In regards to political change and censorship: what role are search engines playing in China (this part needs elaboration, else it’s a really stupid question)? In regards to current copyright institutions, what content should be searchable?
In this seminar, we will be discussing a wide range of topics related to the search engine, drawing on sources as varied as current news stories, social science research, and algorithm design.
Contact information: This course is being organized by Travis Kriplean (travis at cs), David Orange ...
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Possible Topics
- Introduction: The Search Engine as a Social Institution
- Brief History of Search Engines: Survey of search engines, how they’ve developed, and the evolution of the services they provide. From WebCrawler to Inktomi to Yahoo!. Talk briefly about search business models as well.
- Basics of Search Engines: Basics of search engine algorithms (web crawling, building indexes, etc.). How does PageRank work? The use of WWW link structure to identify authoritative sources for user queries.
- Users searching: How should user’s search? What should be the atomic element of the search? What comes after keywords? What form is the answer (sentence, academic paper, etc.)? What might search look like in the future?
- Agglomeration of Personalized Data: Search engines enable users to parse the overload of information available online. But there is a trend for search companies to track personal search histories as well in order to provide customized content. Private companies now hold vast databases of information about the behavior of large portions of populations. What implications will this have?
- Fair use of content: What fair use currently entails and where should it go. What can we understand about it by analyzing it from an economic, legal or social perspective?
- Relevant current issue: GooglePrint
- The Search, Customization, and Media Content: What are some possible results of customization? How far can it go? Will it help create cross-cutting communities as people find each other with similar interests, or will it serve to isolate people as they are served information that continually reinforces social boundaries that have already been constructed?
- [GoogleZon]: A dystopic story of the future of media content. Far-fetched? Maybe, maybe not! Regardless, it raises interesting questions. (8 minutes).
- Privacy rights in the US and elsewhere: What new issues does the search raise for privacy? What complications arise in terms of national governments?
- What could Google do in China?
- Search as Political Statement: Is the use of link structure to evaluate quality a democratizing force? Or does it reinforce the status quo? Are phenomena like [Google Bombing] quirks or do they open up new avenues of serious political commentary?
- Expert Info:’’’ Does democracy work for search? What if we tapped the deep internet?
- Information quality and responses
Mailing list
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Administrative info
Course grading and credit-load policies: Subject to change, but variable credits are available to meet differing levels of participation:
- Sign up for 1 credit if you plan to attend, do the readings, and participate in discussions.
- Sign up for 2 credits if you wish to lead a discussion/present, OR write a short paper.
- Sign up for 3 credits if you wish to either (a) lead a discussion/present, AND write a short paper, or (b) write one long paper. (Note: you must contact the course organizers in advance if you plan to take this course for 3 credits.)
