Reversing Polarity

With all the ‘drift’ built into social net,
So more and more we ‘like’ the ones we’ve met,
And automate selection of our ‘friends’,
Perhaps it’s time to change before this ends.

For Amazon selects the books for me,
The ones its software thinks I’d like to see,
Based on perception of my twisted mind –
And does this task in effort to be kind.

Two hundred ‘friends’ on Facebook go through ‘sort’,
For I’ve no time to hear of every wart
And dinner eaten by two-hundred friends;
The software pulls a few, and those it sends.

Then Google tracks the patterns of my thought,
So when I ‘search’ returns the Tommy-rot
It sees I like to think about to date,
Removing other views from server’s plate.

Such ‘drift’ and ‘lists of people just like me’,
When viewed in global scale it’s plain to see,
Encourage inbred thought, for we don’t talk
With folks which software sees have different walk.

The best that we can do is throw a switch,
Which turns the ‘tracking’ off when e’er we wish;
But better yet would turn another on,
So we’d be served selections viewed as ‘wrong’.

For I’m not helped by folks who think like me;
Prefer when there’s reverse polarity;
So I hang out with ‘others’ more and more,
And spend my time at opposition’s door.

For when I need a ‘fix’ of who I am,
The software will affirm what’s in the can,
And bring the folks who’ll say, “You’re right, Sahib” –
But what I need’s reversed polarity.

So Marcus, here’s a thought for ‘beta-12’ –
A simple switch that lets researchers delve
Into a world with antonyms as base,
Returning good results for ‘other case’.

My guess is algorithms we have now,
In Google, Facebook, Twitter, could somehow
Be changed to yield reverse polarity,
So qualitative work has quality.

Perhaps ‘N-Capture’ as a standalone,
Is model best to use to build a home
For such a switch – NVivo sorts and views
Contrasting thought, in ways research could use.

Thanks.

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