You already know bias and stereotypes can sit inside digital media. Today you connect that to something closer to home: your own feed.

Search is one place personalisation shows up; your social feed is another. You will compare the same search across two result lists, spot how the same query can look different depending on history, and decide when a narrow, personalised feed helps you and when it costs you.

A personalised feed is a stream of posts, videos or search results ordered for you, based on what you have watched, liked, searched or stayed on before. A filter bubble is what can happen when that personalisation keeps showing you more of the same: you see a narrower slice of what exists than someone with different habits would see. That narrower slice is one way bias gets stronger, not only what a post says, but what never shows up beside it.

Personalisation is not automatically good or bad. It can surface things you care about quickly. It can also hide other angles, other evidence, and other people's experience of the same topic.

Work in pairs. Compare the same search across two result lists and catch three concrete differences.

What to do

1. Choose one search option below. Write down the top three result titles from List A and List B side by side for that option. If your pair has two clearly different logged-in devices, you may run the same phrase live on both instead and use those two live lists.
2. List three concrete differences. Difference means something you can point at: a different angle, a different type of site, a different tone, or a result that appears on one list and not the other.
3. For each difference, answer in one line: what might this list "think" you care about?
4. Be ready to share one difference with the class and say whether it would change how someone understood the topic.

Choose your search

Option 1: benefits of walking to school

List A (a profile that often opens fitness and product content):

• "10,000 steps before class: why walking works" – fitness blog
• "Walking burns more than you think" – health app promo
• "Best walking shoes under €50" – shopping round-up

List B (a profile that often opens local news and school content):

• "Council plans safer walking routes near schools" – local news
• "Why more Irish teens are walking to school this year" – education site
• "Walking vs bus: time and cost compared" – consumer advice

Option 2: best beginner tips for football

List A (a profile that often watches skills, drills and gear):

• "10 ball-mastery drills before training" – skills channel
• "Best budget boots under €40" – shopping round-up
• "How pros warm up in 5 minutes" – fitness creator

List B (a profile that often opens local and youth content):

• "GAA club beginner sessions this term" – local club site
• "Football vs study time: what Irish teens say" – youth site
• "Free public pitches near you" – council page

Apply the same idea to a topic a feed already knows well.

Use a topic your feed already knows you like, or pick one from this list if you prefer not to use a personal one: football highlights, gaming setups, K-pop, GAA, cooking shorts.

Before you finish, check:

• You named one topic (yours, or one from the list).
• You named one sign a feed on that topic may be showing a narrower slice than exists (for example: mostly one opinion, mostly one format, mostly one country, mostly one type of creator, almost no opposing or specialist sources).
• You named what might be missing (a different angle, a slower long-read, local facts, a counter-argument, beginner vs expert content). If you are stuck on what is missing, use this prompt: what would probably appear on a family member's phone or in a signed-out/private window that does not appear on yours — a different country, a slower explainer, a local fact, or a counter-argument?
• You named one thing personalisation does well on that topic (saves time, finds new creators you enjoy, keeps useful tips coming, surfaces events you would miss).

Look at the differences on the board from the experiment.

• Which list would make someone think the topic was mainly fitness, products, drills or gear?
• Which would make them think safety, school life, cost, local clubs or free pitches?
• What does that say about relying on one feed alone?