One sentence that really jumped out to me in Noble’s chapter was, “In reality, there is more to result ranking than just how we “vote” with out clicks, and various expressions of sexism and racism are related” (Noble 63). In the previous sentence, Noble mentions this idea of the democracy of web rankings, where we, the individual user, are in charge of what shows up for in other people’s searches. I can’t help but be reminded of the argument that climate change is in the hands of the citizens. Only though changing our habits, recycling, taking shorter baths, can we overcome climate change. Whilst there is no doubt that changing habits may cause some impact, what is lost in this argument is the necessity of change in the habits of corporations. The burden of action is placed upon the individual for change, and to call for change.
We think of the internet as an impartial place, a place where democracy and freedom of knowledge can thrive, as Noble quotes Barlow, “we are creating a world that all may enter without privilege or prejudice accorded by race, economic power… we are creating a world where anyone, anywhere may express his or her beliefs” (Noble 61). The idealization of the internet as a haven for democracy masks what it truly is, a playground for capitalism. Google’s pay-to-play mechanism of promoting sites that advertise and pay google has to be seen in connection with its purported devotion to the dissemination of information. The burden of action, when it comes to what information is shared, and what isn’t, cannot fall as a responsibility for the user. The user has little power when it comes to large-scale change in the digital world, just as we don’t in the climate sphere. We cannot confuse an agent of democracy with an agent of capitalism. Like in the non-digital world agents of either democracy or capitalism are inextricably linked, and thus we should view Google as such.
But it is difficult to see why Google would ever take the burden of responsibility and not merely act in a reactionary manner. Its use is so ingrained in our lives, and I can’t imagine what it would take for the world to turn on Google and move over to Bing. But perhaps the first step to accountability is the mere consciousness of the motives of Google. Or perhaps that is even too idealistic, and we will forever be chained to our capitalism-focused information overlords, hoping that they listen to our pleas.