Mindful Browsing

Build Proposal - “Mindful Browsing”

Elevator Pitch: Mindful Browsing is a Chrome extension that empowers users to browse the internet safely by proactively tagging search results known to be toxic, false, or misleading. This extension offers users a way of viewing content when they are prepared to do so.

Features: The first features we will build seek to address unreliable information, SEO manipulation, and personally uncomfortable material. This program will be able to limit spread of false medical information around issues such as vaccines and homeopathic medicine by flagging sensationalized articles. It also will allow users

Target Audiences: Parents, the elderly, and individuals who feel that the internet can have negative effects on their mental health.

Why Users Want This: The low barrier for publishing and broadcasting content is the Internet’s greatest strength as well as its greatest weakness. We have lots of information, but much of is of poor quality or deliberately crafted to work against the users’ interests in ways that lead to or exacerbate mental illnesses. Vulnerable populations such as children and the elderly are using the Internet regularly, but are not always prepared to digest some content. More research is needed but we believe that repeated exposure to such content can lead to depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses.