meta

Meta is a web application that puts online news meta-data back in the hands of the user.

In recent years, the siloing of content by algorithms have led to concerns about the impact of news curation services on social fragmentation and dissemination of unfalsifiable news. On the individual level, the attention economy and sheer enormity of information makes it difficult for the average consumer to check their personal biases and explore new areas of interest. Specifically, personal data on news articles read are opaque to the user, and any kind of exploration into one's own history is a difficult project.

Meta works as a news archival application with 2 components. Users use a browser extension to add news links to the database. Meta then processes the content of these articles using machine learning to search out qualitative metrics on the user's news history (e.g. frequency of news sites visited / topics most searched), displaying them in useful and digestable graphics. Using this information, the user may begin a reflective process to discover information gaps and one-sidedness in their own readings.

Unlike news curation apps, no news is recommended to the user.