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Maricruz Rosas

Professor Granillo

English 101

04 March 2019

Searching the Web

This world has the power at the reach of their fingertips. This society has created the

internet system where one can communicate, share ideas and research for the gain of knowledge.

In the book They Say I Say with Readings has an excerpt titled “Google, Democracy, and the Truth

about Internet Search” by Carole Cadwalladr presents how this society has made the web into a

controlling search engine. The author explains that typing words in the search bar allows the search

engine to provide bias by making its own suggestions. Cadwalladr determines this as bias because

it does not allow one to fully develop their question. The internet does allow for knowledge;

however, the author finds that this society should be based off of their needs and not interpretations

of the internet. The author strongly agrees that learning should be based off of one’s need, and for

them to develop the research. The author Carole Cadwalladr’s, “Google, Democracy, and the Truth

about Internet Search” relied on Audience, Diction and Logic and argued that today’s society is

in desperate need of an improved internet search that presents Knowledge, Behavior towards the

internet, and tools that benefit the research. However, today’s corporations are manipulating the

needs of the internet; therefore, todays population need to regain their internet access in order to

liberate from controlling internet search.

To commence, the author used Audience, Diction and Logic to present the urgency of

changing the internet search engine. Cadwalladr targets the American society in the excerpt as she

uses both Logic and diction to explain that the search engines create gruesome results from the

internet, and that these tools can be remarkable. Cadwalladr demonstrates, “It enables people to
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do very cynical, damaging things” (483). Thus, referring itself to the audience and being straight

forward in which formal diction is used to interpret the internets impact. The author furthers the

claim by having evidence that communicates the involvement of resources from the United States

of America. The author presents, “It claims to have built psychological profiles using 5,000

separate pieces of data on 220 million American voters” (Cadwalladr 490). The author presented

the audience in its logic where statements are presented alongside its evidence. Cadwalladr’s

statement of wanting to change the search engines for non-bias is presented strongly with the usage

of the rhetorical devices because it engages the reader to agree with her claim. Since her claim was

refuted with evidence from academic journals and credible sources.

Furthermore, the way Carole Cadwalladr expresses her claim of wanting to create a

search engine that allows one to do their own search, provides for knowledge, behavior and

effective search engines that are the opposing spectrum. The opposing spectrum can claim that

suggestions allows for more knowledge even if it creates bias. In “Do Experts or Crowd-Based

Models Produce More Bias? Evidence from Encyclopedia Britannica and Wikipedia” by Shane

Greenstein and Feng Zhu demonstrates, “Some studies show that collective decision making can

generate high quality output and can sometimes be more accurate than experts’ decision making”

(946). This states that allowing search engines to give out suggestions leads to more subtopics

into the research ones is creating. While if one uses a search engine that doesn’t allow any bias

gets straight to the targeted question. Carole Cadwalladr claim is effective because even is one

does allow for bias it does not get one the information they want. Carole Cadwalladr express, “It

strives to give you the best, most relevant results” (48). This explains that a search gives the

topic one needs and furthermore create the bias on their thought rather than having the search

engine creating a bias that is irrelevant to the question.

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For instance, Cadwalladr argues that there needs to be knowledge in the research because

the search engine has developed fake news through bias suggestions. Fake news leads to

unwanted bias such as, “this is an entirely circular knowledge economy that has only one

outcome: an amplification of the message” (Cadwalladr 489). The statement made explains how

websites that are fake news are so intelligent because they hook a suggestion that is irrelevant to

one’s topic by looking like an authoritative website. The author does suggest that the search

engine needs to be in the control of the persons needs because the authoritive websites should

answers the research question. Also, to not aide the side tracking of the suggestion that only

leads to false inaccurate knowledge.

Moreover, the internet needs to be about knowledge just as Cadwalladr stated that

knowledge will bring the restoration of a unique search engine. In “Bubble effect: including

internet search engines in systematic reviews introduces selection bias and impedes scientific

reproducibility” states, “Although internet search engines seem immensely useful, they produce

multiple sources of bias, and are ultimately irreproducible, no matter how seriously one takes

transparency and rigor into account” (Curkovic). The internet search engines are no longer

allowing one for validity and needs to be accurate. As Cadwalladr stated in her claim that having

a good search engine gives the mind knowledge. As Marko Curkovic proves, “Nonetheless,

internet search engines are a beneficial method of reaching specific, predefined sources of data

(such as sites of relevant agencies)”. Having search engines that dispose of accurate knowledge

leads to a beneficial research because it furthers the knowledge without having to stop for

unnecessary fake news or irrelevant topic.

Particularly, in the excerpt, “Google, Democracy, and the Truth about Internet Search”

strongly states that search engines influence the behavior of the user because of its bias. In which

one cannot allow for bias because this can lead to a negative outcome or a research that provides
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inaccurate statements. The author argues, “They’re capturing people and then keeping them on

an emotional leash and never letting them go” (Cadwalladr 490). The author proves that these

corporations are filling the internet with inaccurate sources and feeding the public news they

want to listen to instead of the reality. Cadwalladr presents that, “They need to respond to

complains about hate speech, about bias” (492). In order to have a search engine that allows for

the behavior of learning the bias should be eliminated off of the search suggestions. The bias

causes distortion in the public eye and sooner or later they will start to believe the fake news

instead of searching for the principle question that they needed answered.

Subsequently, Cadwalladr wants the internet to target healthy behavior by using a system

that gives no bias to the internet’s search engines. This will create as the journal “Decision

makers and socializers, social networks and the role of individuals as participants” advices, “The

need for social contact, and the effect of social influence on travel behavior, is one such aspect of

decision making that deserves attention” (Deutsch 756). By having targeted the internet gives

one the target on how to influence the behavior of knowledge. If one targets the aspect of

behavior one can eliminate bias because it allows people to see things through a different scope

and not just the scope the other side want the public to see. Today’s society should be influenced

on today’s problems instead of being hidden. Having bias affects behavior because it makes

people believe things for no reason and defending them because a truth to them is the first thing

they are exposed to.

Afterwards, the author strongly wants the internet to be at the disposition of the public as

a tool because this will fight off the control of the bias the internet has had within the society. By

having an improved internet search bar, it is suggested that, “What Epstein’s work has shown is

that the contents of a page search results can influence people’s views and opinions” (Cadwalladr

493). By having web sites that aides what an individual is looking for will increase knowledge
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and decrease bias because now it will be a proper source that has authority. By removing the

suggestion bar one can, “Reset ourselves to a much more cynical place and proceed on that

basis” (Cadwalladr 498). The whole claim is to regain the control of the internet where its own

search can be done instead of the internet doing the search for the society. When the intensions

of the fake news are to cover up the truths that the public eye seeks.

Additionally, by having control over the internet gives this society the control that it has

never had and can stabilize its networks to provide truthful information about the questions one

seeks. As “Finding research information on the web: How to make the most of Google and other

free search tools” by Karen Blakeman infers, “The move towards open access and development

of institutional repositories has resulted in increasing amounts of information being made

available free of charge.” This is important because once bias is removed the whole society has a

web base that is free of charge and can be manipulated as one wishes. Having removed bias is

the greatest tool one can receive because it allows one to think for themselves and allows for

creativity. This is how this society advances in life because the internet creates knowledge that

one has to seek to get farther in life.

In “Google, Democracy, and the Truth about Internet Search” by Carole Cadwalladr

argued that today’s population is being controlled by the internet bias. Cadwalladr defends her

claim with Audience, Diction and Logic and furthered the search by presenting why the internet

search engine should be fixed; Such as the internet provides knowledge, Behavior, and tools that

benefit the society. The author claims that knowledge increases if the bias is brought down from

the internet because it will allow the population to think for themselves. Similarly, the internet is

influenced by the society’s behavior because as the author suggested that fake news causes many

individuals to believe lies. Once the internet is established without bias it would be a reliable tool

to use because it will give the society the comfort of accurate information. Carole Cadwalladr
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urges the fix of the internet’s search bias because it controls the society and does not allow one to

have freewill. It has to be a technological advantage to the human race not the first engine to

control the human race.

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Works Cited

Blakeman, Karen. “Finding Research Information on the Web: How to Make the Most of Google

and Other Free Search Tools.” Science Progress, vol. 96, no. 1, Mar. 2013, p.

61. EBSCOhost,

ezproxy.canyons.edu:2443/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true

&db=edb&AN=86447334&site=eds-live.

Cadwalladr, Carole. " Google, Democracy, and the Truth about Internet Search.” They Say I Say

with Readings, Graff, Gerald, et al, 4th ed., W.W. Norton & Company, 2018, pp.480-499.

Curkovic, Marko, and Andro Kosec. “Bubble Effect: Including Internet Search Engines in

Systematic Reviews Introduces Selection Bias and Impedes Scientific

Reproductivity.” BMC Medical Research Methodology, 13 Nov. 18AD,

doi:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12874-018-0599-2.

Deutsh, Kathleen, and Konstadinos G. Goulias. “Decision Makers and Socializers, Social

Networks and the Role of Individuals as Participants.” Transportation, 1 May

2013. Springer Science Business Media New York, doi:10.1007/s11116-013-9465-6.

Greenstein, Shane, and Feng Zhu. “Do Experts or Crowd-Based Models Produce More Bias?

Evidence from Encyclopedia Britannica and Wikipedia.” MIS Quarterly, vol. 42, no. 3,

Sept. 2018, pp. 945–959. EBSCOhost, doi:10.25300/MISQ/2018/14084.