The Story of two Countries through the Lens of Search
UNHCR launched the video campaign “ Search for Syria? What do you see? ” on their Facebook page recently. It’s a truly impactful comparison depicting how the lives of Swedish and Syrian people are portrayed differently in Google Image search results. The video appeals to the viewer by addressing just how different the images are when searching for “home Sweden” or “children Sweden” compared to “home Syria” or “children Syria”. Relevancy determines the order of search results for distinct keywords or phrases. Algorithms factor in signals or “clues”, such as terms on websites, topicality or regional determinants, to produce the most pertinent results. Clearly, the news and flood of media coming in from the Syrian conflict led to nothing but images of war and misery to be chosen as the most relevant. Search results have an impact on how we think about and perceive a conflict, a country, and its citizens. Generic words, such as “house” or “car” are put into a particular context and put in