If the past twenty years have taught us anything, it’s that a) the internet is ruining everything, and b) most of all, it’s ruining your brain. From language to sustained thought, our digitastic, over-connected lives are turning us into distracted, ill-informed dunces. Right?Among the more popular accusations leveled at the ole internetz is that, as the web becomes more and more curated and filtered, it’s robbing us of the pleasures of randomness and serendipity. Instead of stumbling upon something while browsing a newspaper, we instead get Google results that reflect what our friends shared on Twitter (really) and news sites organized by who liked what on Facebook. Most recently, the feature appeared on The Economist‘s site.It’s a bad argument, for a hundred reasons, but not least of which is that social media used right can create more, rather than less serendipity. But swirling under this, there’s a much more interesting idea: in its immediacy and its personalization, the internet is really good at appealing to the worst in us. You can get what you want, when you want, and it’s easy to simply live in what Eli Pariser calls a filter bubble.But using the web is like using any other technology: in order to be a smart, well-rounded individual, you have to do it right. And if you are finding your experience of the web is limiting your world view, you’re doing it wrong. So, being the helpful sort here at the Standard, here are five ways to use the web to expand, rather than shrink, your intellectual horizon.1. Be socially savvy by following the right people. While there is obviously no right way to use social media, to only use it to share what you’re interested in is to miss half the point. Search out those who are great at curating links, like Maria “Brainpicker” Popova or – yes, I’m serious – Alyssa Milano. Inevitably, you will not only be introduced to ideas you probably would have missed, the vaunted “serendipity” of the newspaper will look downright archaic.2. Infuriate yourself by going against your gut. The idea of deliberately following publications and people who infuriate you seems like a good way to raise your blood pressure and make you hate everything. But it’s also the only way to keep yourself intellectually honest. If you’re a lifetime left-winger and you only follow lefties, your world view is hopelessly skewed. Luckily, the web makes it infinitely easier to find reasonable, intelligent views from “the other side.” A good place to start is with reputable, centrist-ish columnists and commentators (like Andrew Coyne and Doug Saunders) and go from there.3. Immerse yourself in the flow. So often, the constant flood of information online is seen as a downside. It certainly can be. But if you put that flow somewhere unintrusive, like say on a smartphone or an email newsletter, dipping occasionally into that constant stream can introduce you to some brilliant ideas. Perfect example: Rhizome editor Joanne McNeil put together this very useful bundle of “Rhizome Recommends” that is filled with digital art and concepts. It’s the perfect thing to check now and again, because whenever you do, you will find something new and surprising.4. Use curation apps wisely. If social is one way to inject new, unexpected ideas in your life, the other is algorithms, bits of software that parse and sort for you. You might think that would amplify the problem of filtering, but used right, it has quite the opposite effect. For example, Zite for the iPhone and iPad is great at not only curating things similar to your interests, but also those that are not. Simply select a category you wouldn’t usually read – say Art History or Russian News – and find new stuff appear amongst your regular sources.5. Treat the web seriously. That may sound like an odd thing to say about a medium rife with celebrity news, narcissism and degrading porn. But if you are concerned about your intellectual life, then it makes sense to approach your online experience like anything else: as a place to enrich yourself as much as one to entertain or distract you. But that means building seriousness into your web life. It means accepting that our brains are built for novelty, and that you might need to use Freedom sometimes. It means making Feedly your home page. It means using Twitter lists to filter out the junk. It means actively setting aside time to read those serious articles in Instapaper. It means work, maybe even more so than other media, because the web is so good at distracting us. But without that seriousness, you have two options: abandon yourself to your id and read gossip blogs all day; or abandon the web, and miss out on the world’s biggest library. It’s your choice.
Navneet Alang is Toronto Standard‘s tech critic. You can follow him on Twitter @navalang.Subscribe to our newsletter.
