The Effects of Technology - Blog Post #12

    

    Technology and social media has made a huge impact in my life. From the moment I first downloaded my first social media app, Instagram, my life would never be private again. I wish I would have known that earlier. The older I get the more I put myself out there on social media and the internet and the more I start to learn about how much technology has affected my life. I rely on technology for a lot of things such as navigation, online shopping, ordering food, and more. There are pretty much apps for anything that can be thought of. Need a calculator? There is an app for it. Need a sticky note? There is an app for it. Since I have had social media for about a few years now, I have left my own “digital footprint”. This means I have left my mark on the world through my social media profiles. I left my footprint by liking, watching, and commenting on certain posts. For example, when I like a post that has someone wearing an outfit that I like, I will soon start to get ads that will pop up on my feed showing me where I can buy the outfit. These large social media companies are keeping track of every move I make on social media and are doing everything they can to keep me on the app by showing me what I want to see. This is one of the reasons why apps like Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok have their own versions of a “for you page”, which is a section that shows users posts and pages that they might like to keep them engaged. Personally, I try my best to use my social media for good use and I try to do everything I can to keep my online life private. Such as setting my accounts to be private rather than open to the public, but sometimes that does not work because when I look up my name on the internet, I am still able to find pictures of myself on the worldwide web. In one of the articles I read, I’m 14, and I Quit Social Media, I read about a girl who realized after she got social media that her mom and sister were posting and documenting her entire life on the internet. She confronted them and asked that they not post her without her permission. She never got the chance to make the choice whether or not she wanted her life out there on the internet for the world to see. Her digital footprint was made for her before she was able to even talk. I never realized how much this could have an impact even when an individual does not have a social media profile of their own. If pictures of them are being posted online, they are still being exposed on the internet even if it is not from their own profile. Whenever I post a picture online I make sure that it demonstrates an appropriate online presence because I know that people look through social media of potential employees and I would not want an inappropriate picture to jeopardize that. My parents have also taught that nothing on the internet is private and once it is out there, it is out there forever. 

From the videos that I watched from the final blog post, I believe that the video about the dark side of technology is extremely accurate. For example, if I see someone I follow on Instagram on a vacation of course I am going to get a little jealous and wish I was doing the same. It is human nature to want something we cannot have. Even when it comes to seeing people at an event that I wish I was invited to or if I see my friends post soothing together I tend to feel a little left out if I cannot be there. This is where FOMO, the fear of missing out, comes into play. I start to overthink, feel a sense of loneliness, and it makes me sad because I feel like I am missing out rather than being happy for my friends even if I could not go. This happens to a lot of people especially teens because they want to go out and be with friends and go on fun adventures because they are still trying to find their way and how to socially fit in. After watching the wonders of technology video, I also did realize that there are some good uses to technology. Overall, technology has definitely made our lives easier. We can pretty much do anything from the touch of a finger, which is quite convenient. Due to the pros and cons that technology demonstrates, there is still a truth that lies in between the balance of using technology. I believe technology can be used responsibly. I recently watched a TedTalk in my College Writing class, given by Sherry Turkle, Professor of the Social Studies of Science and Technology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, titled, “Connected, but alone.” Throughout the presentation, Turkle emphasizes on the importance of staying connected to the world rather than just to the small hand held screen that is glued to the hands of millions of people. She not only addresses these concerns, but also provides personal stories, real life examples, and solutions to finally put an end to self isolation. It is possible to use technology responsibly, but that is a choice that needs to be made within oneself. There must be a balance when it comes to using technology. We need to learn how to do things ourselves and that can be as little as going in person to order food rather than ordering it online because that small interaction is already improving human communication. Even the videos about Artificial Intelligence and online censorship plays a part in our daily internet lives. Artificial Intelligence is being made to make our lives somewhat easier when in reality it can still have negative effects such as machines taking away jobs in the workplace. Our lives are being controlled by the internet and if we keep letting it happen, all we will have left is the internet. Having access to so much technology can have its benefits, but can also be taken advantage of leading to many consequences. Maybe they are not consequences that will be paid at the moment, but these consequences, such as the loss of human communication will stay with a person for a very long time until they decide that they need to make a change. Who is going to want to do the work if these “machines” can do the work for them? The dependability solely on technology needs to stop because one day technology could cease to exist. Technology is not forever, but human connection is. 

https://www.ted.com/search?q=connected+but+alone

https://www.fastcompany.com/90315706/kids-parents-social-media-sharing

As I was watching In the Age of AI I learned many valuable lessons to apply to my daily life. The documentary focuses on how the world is changing through all of these new technological advances. Specifically, the technology of artificial intelligence , which refers to systems or machines that mimic human intelligence to perform tasks and can improve themselves based on the information they collect. The documentary talked about how China and the United States are in a race to determine who has more control over the development of technology that is shaping their countries. Technology has had a huge impact on our daily lives and affects the way we communicate, learn, work, and more. One of the key takeaways that surprised me the most was the fact that these machines are made to work in our favor and improve society, but in reality artificial intelligence, also known as “AI”,  is really a form of automation. For example, over the last four decades, automation has taken away more jobs from people, leaving a lot of people unemployed. They are basically being replaced by machines because their jobs are being killed. There is now a fear that AI could greatly keep improving and accelerating in their distribution of machines to replace the jobs that initially belonged to the people. This surprised me because I never truly realized how much of an impact these machines had on our daily lives and that they are leaving so many people out of jobs. Although, there are pros in addition to the cons that were previously stated. I believe that one of the pros is that we can depend on technology and machines to do whatever we want, but the con to that is realizing how reliable a machine really is. What if it shuts down, then who is going to do the work. Humans are more reliable because there are so many to choose from. Personally, I think we should focus more on improving our human qualities rather than AI. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5dZ_lvDgevk

Propaganda - Blog #10

From one of the presentations I learned about the concept of Propaganda, which is the dissemination of information to influence the public opinion. This can happen a lot through the media when they provide their audience arguments, facts, stories, rumors, or lies. These can be visually displayed through symbols, words, objects, pictures, and flags. The purpose of this concept is to convince masses of people to think of something in a certain way. One of the examples that were given was the Nazi salute and the correlation to the Swastika. This was a good representation because everyone thinks the same way that these two words are bad. This causes people to think one common thought that is all relatively the same. The implications of Propaganda is that there is a stigma, which can be considered good or bad. Although  propaganda can lead to people thinking one thought that may be bad or even false, there are still beneficial changes. A few more of the examples that were given were the propaganda that is set out to leave people thinking that drunk driving, smoking, and drug use is bad and could have severe consequences. In my personal opinion, I believe that Propaganda can be used for good through the examples previously given. It should only be used for the good of the people for beneficial changes. It should not be taken advantage of to spread lies and influence people to do bad things that could negatively affect society such as promoting drug use or underage drinking. Social media could also have an impact on spreading Propagandas. 

https://www.historians.org/about-aha-and-membership/aha-history-and-archives/gi-roundtable-series/pamphlets/em-2-what-is-propaganda-(1944)/the-story-of-propaganda

Instagram Through the Lens of the Diffusion Theory - Blog #9

One of the most popular social media apps in the world known as Instagram, was made to give people the power to build community and bring the world closer together. The app allows their users to post pictures and videos for the world to see. They have access to liking, commenting, and following certain posts and pages. This app has given people the opportunity to express themselves and show their lives through pictures and videos. Instagram was first founded in 2010 and officially launched on October 6, 2010 by creators Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. According to the Diffusion of Innovations Theory created by Everett Rogers, which explains the process of how new ideas and technology spread. Instagram started to gain its popularity when it gained one million users in just two months after the launch date. By June of 2018, they reached ten million users. Instagram was the talk of the town because of their integration with other social sites and open social network. It also became a platform where users could follow their favorite celebrities and create a famous platform of their own by selling products, creating content, and more. The app gained 25,000 users in just one day. Investors also contributed to the rise of Instagram. In February of 2011, they had already received $7 million in a Series A funding round and $25 million from Benchmark Capital. They also attracted the attention of other companies such as Twitter and Facebook. The timing of the apps being launched also worked in favor when the world’s most popular smartphone, the iPhone came out with a brand new camera lens.  There have been so many adopters of this app because it became so popular so fast that everyone had to download it and was one of the most trending applications at the time, and still is today. The app provided a way for their adopters to share their daily lives, communicate with their followers,  and live the life of their “inner photographer”. There are still people today that have not become adopters of the app because of the negativity that surrounds the world of technology and the internet. A few of the downsides of Instagram is the lack of privacy and data that is gathered through the algorithms. Once someone posts a picture, everyone can see it, even if they make their account “private”, it is still out there forever. Studies have also shown that social media apps just like Instagram, have caused depression, body dysmorphia, social anxiety, and self esteem issues. Especially for the younger generations that are growing up with access to technology, the internet, and social media have to face these daily battles against themselves. 

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/102615/story-instagram-rise-1-photo0sharing-app.asp

Media Consolidation - Blog #8

  

        Media has had a huge impact on today’s society when it comes to receiving news or information. Media Consolidation is the concentration of ownership of our news sources into the hands of fewer and fewer corporations. This pretty much means that very few large companies are able to own and control what media is out and fewer individuals or organizations control increasing shares of the mass media. The corporations that control nearly all of US media are newspapers, magazines, tv, radio, wire services, and photo agencies. These are typically a part of everyday use when it comes to hearing about what is going on in the news. In 1983, around fifty companies owned 90% of all American media. By 2011, the same 90% of American media is now currently owned by six companies which include Disney, New Corp, GE, Viacom, CBS, and Time Warner. That is not a lot of companies let alone a lot of opportunity for media to come from different sources. 

       Although, there are a few implications when it comes to media consolidation. The implications include and will lead to less opportunity for the local news to gather information, less local staffing, and less opportunity for communities to interact with one another. If the media is only producing their information from one source then there is no point in communicating with others about the different opinions. When all the news outlets are owned as one collective group then the availability to access other information from other sources is no longer even an option, leaving no room for other voices, stories, theories, or opinions to be made. Typically this could be considered to be a bad thing because having one news source may not be the most reliable or credible source considering the fact that the media might not want to cover every detail when presenting to their audiences. Having many other news sources is important because other news outlets could be inaccurate or be biased which will lead to a lot of misinformation. This is not a good thing when it comes to sharing the news about what is going on in the world. People need the cold, hard truth and nothing but the truth. Corporations that own these news outlets are no longer focused on providing the real news to the public because they are focused on how their business will benefit from it. Their profits help the business therefore, they only want news that will bring them money and ratings. 

       This also affects society as a whole by having little to no access to diverse news sources. There is less local news and more of a left wing slant when it comes to what is being broadcasted by the media. It also depends on what source is being used whether it be Fox News or CNN when it comes to a politically biased slant. Due to the huge impact that the media has already had on society, this has also led to the public opinion being blinded from what is really going on in the rest of the world. Media consolidation will only want to show their audiences what they want to hear. This means that people in today’s society might not be able to create opinions of their own and their opinions will be made for them because they are only able to see what the media wants them to see rather than the whole story. 

https://billmoyers.com/story/media-consolidation-should-anyone-care/

The Invasion of Privacy - Blog #7

  

     With today’s constant exposure to the internet and technology, there is little to almost no privacy. I always knew that nothing is private on the internet. My parents have always told me, “once you put it out there, it is out there forever.” Growing up I always heard this saying, but I have never heard about the comparison between online life and a tattoo. According to Juan Enriquez’s TedTalk he says that technology can be considered “electronic tattoos”. Hundreds of friends, followers, photographers, cameras, rewriters, reviewers, cookies, apps, phone trackers, GPS, and security systems are watching our every move. From credit scores to liked Instagram posts, the internet is keeping track of that data. Facial recognition has also changed the game of lack of privacy. The recognition has gotten so good that we can take a picture of anyone’s face and the internet will be able to not only detect the person but can also gather information about that individual in a matter of seconds. Personally, I chose not to have face recognition on my phone because I know that I do not want the government to have easy access to more of my private life than they already do. In Catherine Crump’s TedTalk she talks about the details that the police are tracking us on. The police have so much to work with when it comes to gathering data about certain individuals such as their recent whereabouts, who they are, where they live, where they work, and more. There are Automatic License Plate Readers that capture an image of every car’s license plate as they drive by. They are pretty much everywhere, even on police cars. They are able to track where you are going, who you are, what car you drive, and etc. just by the license plate on your car. There is at least someone who always knows where we are or where we have been; talk about the lack of privacy! Even the smartphones that we carry around with us everywhere are capturing our every move. Telephone companies and the networks that carry the calls have provided wiretapping assistance to the government for years according to Christopher Soghoian’s TedTalk about how to avoid surveillance with the smartphones in our pockets. Just when you think you are having a two person conversation, always remember there might be an uninvited person listening from the other side. Access to the internet and technology has also made it easier for people to violate other people’s privacy. This is commonly known as “revenge porn” or like Darieth Chisolm calls it in her TedTalk,  “digital domestic violence”. This occurs when people threaten to exploit another person’s private photos on the internet out of hate, violence, or for something in return. Chisolm also shared her own experience of “revenge porn” when her photos were leaked from an ex boyfriend that were taken without her consent. Her photos will now be on the internet for the world to see and she will never live a private life again. 

    This is one of the many ways the internet promotes our lack of privacy. These issues affect me because it scares me knowing that the internet knows exactly who I am just by a few photos of my face or by just a few Instagram posts I have liked. Not to mention the fear of people taking photos of me without my consent and threatening to post it to the internet to ruin my reputation. I have built up trust issues because I do not know who or what app or smartphone I can truly trust. This not only affects me, but also my friends and family who are associated with me. For example, Facebook, Instagram, and Snapchat always recommend people I should follow who I already know in person. How could they possibly know that? We are all connected in one big internet circle of life. I believe that the government should provide some form of consent for people to allow them to use them for data. They should also create some sort of website or something to deny and prevent any explicit photo that tries to be posted. This would help stop “revenge porn”. We cannot rely on the government to do everything so it is also up to us to make some choices that will help us keep at least a little bit of our privacy such as making our social media accounts private, not tagging our location or other people, and not putting all of our personal information on any social media or internet platform. The invasion of privacy is a major issue right now that needs to be fixed, no one should be able to access all of our information just from a picture of our faces. The world needs to change and that change can start with us. 

https://www.ted.com/talks/juan_enriquez_your_online_life_permanent_as_a_tattoo?language=ab

https://www.ted.com/talks/catherine_crump_the_small_and_surprisingly_dangerous_detail_the_police_track_about_you?language=yi

https://www.ted.com/talks/christopher_soghoian_how_to_avoid_surveillance_with_the_phone_in_your_pocket/transcript?language=en

https://www.ted.com/talks/darieth_chisolm_why_we_need_revenge_porn_safeguards

The Invention of the Camera - Blog #6

    In 1816 the first photograph came to life. The camera was invented by Niepce and the first photograph that was taken was on silver chloride-lined paper. In 1021, the camera obscura was invented. In 1685, the first portable camera was invented and this was considered to be one of the most monumental moments in camera history because it made it easier to capture more moments in life through photographs. In 1888, one of the biggest camera companies, Kodak, sold their first commercial camera, which helped make their mark on the world. Sales went through the roof because everyone wanted a camera. The camera had many positive impacts on the world which include the art of photography and film, it helped further communication through video chatting, it helped with the development of social media, and streaming services. Although there were many positives, there were also a few negatives such as lack of privacy due to the cameras being pretty much everywhere. The camera allows people to take pictures of anything and with the use of social media, the two go hand in hand causing less privacy among society. Overall, I believe that the camera was one of the greatest inventions of all time because it serves so many purposes that help grow and improve our society today, and not to mention the many memories that are captured that will be saved for a lifetime.