Bubble is a social network where users selectively pop bubble links that have not been generated by algorithms. These bubble links are loosely categorised by photos, news, memes, videos and user created posts. Social media networks are computer-meditated technologies that allow users to interact, share, create and express information through virtual communities and networks. This electronic communication can take away from our day to day decision making where we find ourselves reading a headline, tapping and scrolling endlessly under a controlling algorithm.
With social networks like Facebook, an algorithm feeds up data we are most likely to engage with – Bubble seeks to give the user an unbiased way to engage and find content relevant to a core set of structured interests. To create a social network that doesn’t selectively guess what the user what’s to see is a goal – the network will show information that the users may disagree with, forcing out echo chambers, allowing for all viewpoints and expressions to be fully networked. The term filter bubble - a term coined by internet activist Eli Pariser - is a state of intellectual isolation (Technopedia, 2018). Resulting from user generated searches, a website algorithm formulates what information a user would like to see and engage with based on the information given by the user, such as location, click-behavior and search history.
(Technology such as social media) “lets you go off with like-minded people, so you're not mixing and sharing and understanding other points of view... It's super important. It's turned out to be more of a problem than I, or many others would have expected.”— Bill Gates 2017
Following research into the core functionality of this project I have narrowed BUBBLE into a position in relation to what is out there on the internet that allows user generated links to discussions, videos, images etc. Websites such as Reddit, Voat (reddit alternative) and various other reddit alternates that comprise of communities connecting via user generated links reflect what I want for the core functionally of this project to be. The ideas stemmed from the minimal and novel website design from The Useless Web (https://theuselessweb.com/) where the inspiration is drawn from the random weblink concept.
In the early prototyping stages I delved into wireframes and template website editing and creation. Starting with the 'BUBBLE' - the link- I have built the concept of a random link generator that takes the user to another site when interacting with the bubble link. Breaking it down at this point - the aesthetic doesn't bring the user to information of what the link will be and I believe a general interest and exploration on the users side is made.
Reasons to expand on this aesthetic with the colours mentioned in the proposal would be to develop on the community aspects of the experience. Further developing this idea would mean to give the user a defined approach to the random content link as If many where to develop a central place for random yet collectively similar links promoted via the set colour.
An example of this being the colour yellow - Users would generate a random link connected to the colour yellow (News) -This would lead to, if populated by user generated links, users scoping the underlying direction of the yellow links and potentially agreeing and generating similar links to resources OR disagreeing and generating opposite views via a link.
Reaching this point of hidden psychological user generated expression I believe it keeps up with the rapid consumption of media on the Internet in relation to Reddit (https://en.reddit.com/) with the use of Reddit Enhancement suite (https://redditenhancementsuite.com/). The use of reddit in this way from links that are clicked in rapid succession to which the community is brought together on a general agreeableness to what users are sharing at the time. For Bubble to keep up in this fashion - at its stage now it then ultimately disconnects the components driven by likes/upvotes and connected dopamine 'hits'. The Filter bubble and driven ideas in these bubbles, related to their respective colour, bring a hyper, more deeply unbias way to direct conversation in an anonymous way. In this early thinking I have created mock websites to reflect the core functionality with now further efforts into the expansion into the mentioned colour related concepts and how the user will flow into these linear colour link paths. Websites containing the bubble and a link to a random website.
On the more artistic side, the bubbles are created in blender for an easy base line for the prototype as any style of the coloured bubbles could be changed on the fly and rendered out as PNG's for the website build.
The website prototype consists mainly of a random link generator (found at http://www.javascriptkit.com/script/cut1.shtml) which allowed me to use the images to act as links to the arrays of links in each category. The main layout is sections of 'tiles' containing each coloured bubble that will, in each colour, link to each - News, Videos, Images, advertisements and random in order on the page.
With the final prototype completed it's clear to see the projects functionally in motion. With the use of the scripts to list an array of generated links it can create a strong direction for future iterations of the platforms user input into each array. It sticks to the minimal design I was hoping for and gives the user an interest it what is found in each bubble with somewhat the direction of ideas in each. The prototype uses the Phantom HTML5 Template by UPhtml5up.net | @ajlkn which gives the images a responsive feel and minimal aesthetic. The move to remove a thumbnail on each bubble was a good choice as it doesn't indicate what the link is going to be and keeps it simple.
Reflecting on the individual colour link components - I believe it would be more beneficial to start the site with no advertisements and to keep the content fairly concentrated with general ideas rather then pushing the monetisation of a project like this. Each bubble and its colour could also be more pronounced and an addition to possibly indicate what is found in each should be considered and not left to interpretation.
Overall this prototype makes use of the random link concept and has the potential to create a structure in each of the bubbles colour direction
- if implemented on correctly.
