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