Filter Bubble Web Historian

This repository contains the Web Historian browser extension configured for use in the JEDS Filter Bubble project.

Background

Online and mobile news consumption leaves digital traces that are used to personalize news supply, possibly creating filter bubbles where people are exposed to a low diversity of issues and perspectives that match their preferences. The JEDS Filter Bubble project aims to understand the filter bubble effect by performing deep semantic analyses on mobile news consumption traces. This project is a collaboration between the VU, the UvA and NLeSC, lead by Wouter van Atteveldt.

Part of this project makes use of the Web Historian browser extension, developed by Ericka Menchen-Trevino. To configure this extension, the files contained in this repository can be combined with the Web Historian repository, which is added as a submodule.

Installation

Prerequisites

• Clone the repository and its submodule using git clone --recurse-submodules.

Configure the extension

• Move manifest.json to community/.
• Move messages.json to community/_locales/nl/.
• Move config.js to community/js/app/.

Additional commands

• Run git submodule foreach git pull origin master to pull the latest commit for each submodule.

Chrome

To publish the web extension on the Chrome Store, log into the dashboard, click 'Add new item' and upload a zip of the Web Historian directory with the config.js, manifest.json and messages.json in place.

Firefox

To generate an .xpi Firefox extension, first install web-ext. Then create API credentials and subsequently run the web-ext sign --api-key=$AMO_JWT_ISSUER --api-secret=$AMO_JWT_SECRET command for self distribution.

Opera

The Opera browser can install extensions from the Chrome Store once a compatibility extension is installed.

Safari

To build a version of the Web Historian which works with Safari, follow the instructions in the Web Historian Standalone repository.

Repository content

Web-Historian-Community

This directory contains the Web Historian - Community Edition submodule which contains all the source code of the Web Historian browser extension.

config.js

This file configures the Web Historian browser extension. In particular, it sets the URL's for communication with the Passive Data Kit server.

manifest.json

The manifest describes the version of the browser extension, its privileges and other things such as its icon.

messages.json

This JSON file contains all the texts used in the browser extension, adjusted for use in the Filter Bubble project.