Bunka is a cross-platform content aggregator and search engine. The idea is to access the different representations (points of view, ideas, debates, etc.) that people have of a subject (cultural or political). The way to search on Bunka is topological, using the property of maps and territories, in order to "move" through the informational universe in the most natural way possible. It also allows to distance oneself from the algorithmic bubbles, since the map will display the different debates of ideas around the concepts.

 

We believe that exploring empowers peoples’ search. Specifically, exploring produces:

 

- Greater autonomy and greater agency: Search engines are the main tool to browse the web, but users cannot control this tool. They can just read linearly the result of the search. They are passive. BUNKA allows search engine users to have more autonomy by giving them a global vision, a map of the territory they want to explore and by allowing them to control the direction of their searches.

 

- Greater transparency: Search engines do not give access to their algorithms (i.e. Page Rank for Google). Even though they are working ever more efficiently, these algorithms remain opaque. In contrast, BUNKA's maps and nests make the dimensions used by the algorithm visible and allow users to easily calibrate these parameters (semantic folding).

 

- Greater diversity of viewpoints: Search engines do not provide access to all viewpoints, which can lead to polarization, information bubbles and false consensus. In contrast, BUNKA provides access to all points of view, even minority opinions: minority and majority opinions are each part of the map's territories.

 

- Greater epistemic quality of information: Search engines give little indication of the popularity of information, its degree of consensus, its political polarization, its distribution in the population, the quality of its source, the individuals who circulate this information. BUNKA does all that.

- More 'serendipity': Search engines give access to the most relevant result of the query, but they do not allow users to find things they were  not looking for (unlike, for instance, when exploring a book store or shopping in a physical space). By contrast, BUNKA allows users to discover ideas or products they were  not looking for, but that are "close" to the original search.