HOW SEARCH ENGINES HAVE BECOME MORE INCLUSIVE WITH DIVERSITY

It’s no secret that diversity and representation is at an all-time high, and search engines are a part of this revolution as well.

The amount of ways they have developed their inclusivity, be it a change in language or imagery to suit an audience is amazing!

But there is so much more to consider when it comes to the development of inclusivity and diversity, something that you may not have even considered but do naturally yourself. Keep reading to find out what this is!

A Change in Language

The change in language that search engines display and convey is so important to the development of diversity. More articles with the use of different pronouns including they/them are becoming more mainstream in society as well as electronically as well. This is really helping to bridge an inclusivity gap, as those who use search engines are massively seeing an increase in the representation of themselves. This also extends into other forms of diversity, as posts including highly sensitive language to a particular group or culture is becoming increasingly phased out by filters applied by search engines, making the use of them a much better experience for everyone.

A Change in Imagery

A similar scenario can be seen in the change in imagery displayed in results from search engines. With the exact same example above, we can observe the filtering of sensitive information graphically as well. But we can also observe the involvement of minority communities within said images as well. For example, the average stock photo may not include racial diversity, allowing engines to amend their representation of said inclusivity gaps in the media that they promote that are generated from their search engines. We can also see this in the increase in LGBT representation, with search engines increasingly generating more LGBT friendly images, promoting inclusivity and diversity this way.

Useful data collection

But the real question is, how do these search engines tailor their experiences to the general consumer will? When you sign up to a search engine using your email, the search engine itself will not necessarily know exactly who you are, but the information you provide can help tailor experiences more inclusively. We can see this in the provision of information from the BAME community, or the disabled community, making search engines aware that they should include content generated in their searches that allow full representation of said communities in order to facilitate diversity.