Editors’ Summary: This series of articles comparing the user experience in DuckDuckGo and Google goes beyond a purely UX analysis. Seeing how these two search engines play in an academic or teacher’s work, we get to see how certain search engines, like Google, are more than just “search engines.” As mentioned, Google also controls our file storage, email communication, foreign language dictionary, and book access. In other words, “search engines” like Google exert not just a mechanical influence on research (i.e., the physical tools we use to communicate) but also an epistemological influence of the knowledge we consume and use. Of course, Google is, in return, challenged by AI tools. Nevertheless, the medium from which we gain our information and knowledge (whether via web search or communication) carries significant weight in how we use the information and produce new knowledge.
Editors’ Choice: Three Months of DuckDuckGo: Reflections after Partially “De-Googling”
