Social Bias and Technology

In How Social Bias Creeps Into We Technology  Elizabeth Dowiski mentions a study that found that Google ads were biased when showing high-paying jobs, showing more jobs to male users than female users. Before reading this article, I had a mindset that technology could not possibly be bias towards people because the algorithms and code behind a certain technology could not possibly have stereotypes and prejudice within it's code.

If we are now seeing bias behavior within technology, then we must take into consideration what our behavior is online so that websites and programs that are tracking and collecting our data, have an appropriate image of who we are. Although the internet is a tool that we use to connect with others, to learn, etc. it has, in my opinion, also become another platform where we are to market ourselves and create our personal brand to potential employers, universities, friends, businesses, etc. If we are to now see social bias within our technologies, then we must continue to be aware of what we are communicating to others by the websites we click, the photos we share, and the things we buy, because whether we like it or not, whether we agree with it or not, we are all now being categorized by our online actions.