Final Blog: My Relationship with Technology

    

Since the beginning of the 21st century, several essential inventions have changed how we view the world. Technology is used throughout everybody's lives for unique purposes. I as a college student use it to keep up with family and friends back home. Also, technology today is vital to my success as a student and in my future profession. This brings me to my main point, the invention of social media as a whole has been the biggest technological innovation. Before social media platforms, we could only get news from papers and other news outlets. Also, before social media, we did not have influencers and content creators. Social media created an entire array of new possibilities. However, there were negative sides to the creation as well.

As a communication major, I have to have some idea of what is going on in the world. The news plays a big part in that. Ever since social media around local news stations have become less popular in the world. Social media allows everyone to report the news without a degree. We can go on the internet and see anything news related from different people’s points of view. The positive effect of that is some of the diversity that we see in world issues. However, a negative effect is some of the fake news we see, and the censorship of certain people on these apps. Most journalists believe social media has hurt the news (Pew Research Center). Surprisingly many journalists use social media sites like Twitter, or Instagram to promote their work. 

This brings me to my next point. Social media has completely changed the field of cinematography and other communication majors. Most people promote their work on their social media platforms now. This is not just for communication majors or even college students, anybody wanting to pursue a business can promote it on their profiles. We see this on YouTube, where people promote themselves as video editors. Specifically, to me, I can create reels and showcase these things online to promote myself and get hired by people nowadays. Things like that could not be done before social media. Most people were just hired based on their Resume. Social media gives us a chance to present ourselves in a certain way online, but we have to be cautious about how we do this as well.

Everything that we do online is tracked and recorded. Especially, on social media platforms. This is all called our online footprint. It showcases our entire online presence. This is how algorithms keep up with what products we like, and which ads to recommend to us. My online footprint is clean and it is not much you can find about me. When I searched for my name I saw pictures of my grandfather and that is about it. The only thing that I really showcase on social media is my work. As I stated before, as a media major I have to show the world what I can do to be applicable for a job. Moving on, a digital footprint is permanent. Somebody can always find information about you online just by knowing what to look up. Often, that data is taken and sold to third parties too. Facebook has faced several lawsuits in the past about their privacy settings, and how data is not safe on there. These factors can lead to the negative effects of social media.

Before social media platforms, nobody could obtain much information about you unless they met you in public. Now, because people can interact online we have new terms such as cyberbullying. This brings an entire change to people's mental health. Some people are made fun of in public and they go home to escape. Social media allows people to bother you anywhere. Frequently, social media platforms have a certain image they want to portray, meaning they only promote specific influencers on the brand setting standards for what they decide is beauty. This creates an unrealistic narrative of what people expect to see in the real world. Also, others are bullied for not looking a certain way or feel that they have to act or look a certain way to receive attention. There are multiple steps taken now to put a stop to this.

Social media does a lot of great things for society. It has excelled in business I hope to go into unlike ever seen before. However, the negative side effects cannot be ignored in society, and the constant data tracking. Even though they are private parties there should be laws put in place restricting them from obtaining and saving certain things about us. People make mistakes sometimes and do accidental posts, and that stay uploaded forever even if they delete them. We as human beings need to maintain a healthy relationship with this technology, as with anything else. Promoting our businesses online and using it for news is healthy. However, constantly checking every second of the day and you conduct your entire life online is not smart. I believe I have a healthy relationship with social media. I watch YouTube and TikTok during the day to keep up with sports news, world news, and a few content creators who inspire me, but that is about it. I do not post too much about myself on my social media platforms, because I have always been aware of my online footprint. Therefore, I only posted editing videos I have done. Overall, this technology needs to have restrictions set on it to lower some of the stakes and risks people run while using them.

                                                            Sources:  

https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/impact-of-social-media/

https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/2022/06/14/many-journalists-say-social-media-helps-at-work-but-most-decry-its-impact-on-journalism/

https://www.kaspersky.com/resource-center/definitions/what-is-a-digital-footprint

https://www.stopbullying.gov/

EOTO Review 2

 

Throughout all of the EOTO presentations, there were many new ideas and concepts I had never heard of. The one that stood out to me the most was Ava Daniel's presentation about Media Consolidation. I already knew that all media was owned by big companies. However, I did not know that it was only owned by 6 companies. The six companies are General Electric, Newscorp, At&t(Time Warner), CBS, Disney, and Viacom.

During her delivery, she stated the several problems presented to the mass population because of the poor distribution. The biggest one is, it limits the country of the news that they see. If we can only go to six outlets to receive media the messages shown become biased. So most current events we will only get to see one side of the story limiting our knowledge of what is actually going on in the world. People are forced to go out and find other sources of media not owned by these stations, but not all people are willing to do this. A lot of minority opinions will not be represented on these outlets.

Journalists will not be able to state their own opinion working for these corporations. It is understandable that these businesses have an overall image and message they want to portray to their audience. Journalists who have dreams to work in these stations will be forced to portray this certain theme to the audience.

There were some pros to this problem though. The companies that distribute the media are not owned by
the government at all, meaning it weakens the government's power. Also, if people have an opposing opinion from the government it can be stated on TV. The consolidation is cost-efficient as well. Bringing multiple sources under a big umbrella limits the cost of certain things. Smaller companies get to keep their brand and the parent company takes on other costs, which does not end up being that much for them.

Sources: 

Daniels, Ava. Media Consolidation Presentation

Propaganda

Propaganda has been used all throughout the world for several periods. It is any form of media or even using your voice to promote a specific viewpoint, and it usually targets a large group of people. Also, it is not just a tool used in politics to persuade the public. It can be used in advertisements, etc… When most people hear propaganda, they visualize the Uncle Sam poster used during World War II, which did have a lot of propaganda.

However, propaganda originated during ancient Greek times, when the Greek empire thrived and ruled their world nobody could stop it. That is one of the things they are known for, but what about their art? This is where the concept of propaganda begins. In the multiple plays they performed, and speeches they used for campaigns. For example, the Greek commander Themistocles lured the Persian navy into a battle they could not win in 480 BC. Later, when the Greek empire fell its uses spread to Rome, England, and Spain. They used it for mainly political and military battles. Famous people who used them effectively were Julius Caesar and Martin Luther. Julius Caesar effectively utilized the tool in several political speeches. Martin Luther used it to influence people to move away from the Catholic Church.

Then, the term spread throughout America during the revolutionary period. They used several political cartoons, and books to influence everyone in the country to support breaking away from Britain. This form of persuasion was also used during the Mexican-American war. They needed citizens to be on board with the idea of annexing Mexico, so they used multiple posters to inflict this message. When we must learn about propaganda during both World Wars. In World War I we needed money for military operations. Propaganda was used to influence Americans to buy war bonds and support the war. Also, they began using new forms of media such as radio stations to support the war. When America joined the fight for World War II the country was filled with patriotism, because of the attack, so the majority of the country supported the war.

In 1964 the country saw a political ad used against Barry Goldwater because of unpopular comments he made about atomic warfare. The “Daisy Girl” Commercial illustrated an innocent child being affected by the bomb. This won the election for Lyndon B. Johnson. We also see propaganda today used effectively in politics. For example, we saw it during the 2008 election for Obama. It was also used for the recent 2020 election, and is still in use today throughout all media forms, like during the pandemic.

There were several ads displayed all over the country informing people to stay inside. It made many people fearful too as they did not know what was true. Ultimately, propaganda is used to influence us all; we just have to be aware and remember to think for ourselves. It is used all around us, especially today with how easy it is to access technology. We can see and hear it anywhere now, and it will continue to grow just as technology has over the years.

Sources:

https://www.physics.smu.edu/pseudo/Propaganda/history.html

https://online.norwich.edu/academic-programs/resources/history-of-american-propaganda#:~:text=Propaganda%20became%20a%20common%20term,gaining%20favor%20of%20the%20country.

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

https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/war_peace/media/hpropaganda.html

https://www.incrementors.com/blog/types-of-propaganda-used-in-advertising/

https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297a/War%20Reporting%20on%20the%20U.S.%20War%20in%20Iraq.htm 

Diffusion Theory

   

 Amazon was founded on July 5, 1994. When it began it was just an online bookstore. However, Jeff Bezos, the CEO at the time stated that the company was more than just an online bookstore. He wanted it to be viewed as a new technology for the public to use that made online shopping easier. Multiple people claimed that Amazon would fail because there were already established bookstores that people could go to in person and buy books. They did not believe that the internet would be a tool worth utilizing at the time. In the year 1996 Amazon had its early adopters. Based on the Diffusion Theory this group of people is some of the first people to try a product. During this time the product may still be in the development stages, so all of the aspiring aspects it may have in the future are not there yet. In 1996 Amazon had 180,000 customers with active accounts on the website. These people are the early adopters because Amazon was not at its full potential yet. It was still only a bookstore with so much more to accomplish. Throughout the rest of the '90s, the company continued to flourish, but these were still early adopters because they were still dealing with the primitive stage of the company. They began to start selling other items on their website, and this earned them $2.76 billion by the year 2000. 

    2000-2016 is when the early and late majority came around. Amazon had stepped outside of its comfort zone and began offering more services to consumers. For example, it came out with its cloud service AWS, and it started selling the Kindle. It also started creating plans like Amazon Prime with its customers to develop a better relationship with its customers. This means customers started to feel some loyalty towards the brand, and they began drifting away from Amazon's competitors, like eBay. This was the beginning of Amazon's online empire. Amazon had 180 million active customers. At least, 10 million of them were active in the customer rewards program. This growth was possible during this time because the internet was not as new anymore. People were less suspicious of it, and it began to become a part of everyday life. Malls and other in-person locations would begin to lose business because of Amazon's growth.

    The pandemic that took place in 2020 caused a lot of people to stay indoors. The fear of getting sick kept people inside. How would people continue to go shopping? These fears during the pandemic accumulated Amazon many more customers. They were still open and provided a safe option for groceries and other products. It had over 300 million customers active on its site. These are the laggards. The pandemic allowed Amazon to gain a larger mass. However, there was not really an innovation during this period that gathered these customers. Amazon was a convenient service for anybody during this time, so people were forced to adapt. Now, we are at the long tail, because there are not many new innovations they can do to draw in more customers.  

Sources: 

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Amazoncom

https://fabric.inc/blog/amazon-grow-faster-ebay/#:~:text=Amazon's%20focus%20on%20optimizing%20the,massive%20base%20of%20loyal%20customers.

https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-prime-10-million-members-morningstar-2013-3#:~:text=Prime%20members%20are%20great%20customers,182%20million%20active%20customer%20base.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations#cite_note-FOOTNOTERogers1962150-3

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_adopter

https://s2.q4cdn.com/299287126/files/doc_financials/annual/00ar.pdf

https://aws.amazon.com/free/?trk=fce796e8-4ceb-48e0-9767-89f7873fac3d&sc_channel=ps&s_kwcid=AL!4422!3!432339156147!e!!g!!amazon%20aws&ef_id=CjwKCAiA-dCcBhBQEiwAeWidtcdYXw9_KCqiiIjfAcKxNtG54XfiuetrcGP2R18fvuTMqkLQHOSR3BoC3ksQAvD_BwE:G:s&s_kwcid=AL!4422!3!432339156147!e!!g!!amazon%20aws&all-free-tier.sort-by=item.additionalFields.SortRank&all-free-tier.sort-order=asc&awsf.Free%20Tier%20Types=*all&awsf.Free%20Tier%20Categories=*all

https://www.amazon.com/amazonprime

    

Age of AI

     I recently watched a video called In the Age of the AI and it explained how far AI technology has grown. For example, at the beginning of the documentary to set the tone they showed an AI program playing against the world champion of Go. While watching this there was no way I would have thought the AI would win. This was a surprise to me because the video explained how the program did moves humans would have never thought of which is terrifying. Think about a computer being able to think of things you cannot, and that was just the opener of the video. 

    Throughout my lifetime computer and AI, programs have always been present, but recently they have become a part of daily life. They are now able to perform jobs, think, and learn by just being programmed to do so. Most importantly most AI software is programmed to store data about us, and while doing this adapts to us. For example, anything we do on a computer causes it to store data, because of its program. That is why on social media when we search for certain things we begin to see ads about them. These AI sell our data to big corporations so they can target us. Also, the government watches us using these programs. The video explained how the U.S. and China are the most advanced in tech. China's citizens are already under extreme surveillance, with cameras that can tell you several details about somebody just by looking at their face. That means the technology already exists to perform these invasions of privacy. Glimpses of this technology have surfaced in western countries too. For example, Google is known to track us because we use their search browser. The same company that tracks us is selling voice assistance in homes. Along with Amazon. 

    The downside of these findings is that we are being watched, but being aware of it can limit the information they receive. Also, there are laws being passed to prevent the surveillance they have on us. It is just alarming to know that the technology already exists. It could be being used to watch us from our homes. The only positive side of AI learning about us is that the online world is unique to us. We do not have to put a lot of effort to find things of interest to us. This can also be a downside too because we could become addicted to our computers and other technology. This would open the doors up to be watched more. We would just have to be observant of everything we do online. 

Sources: 

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

Anti-War

  

 Throughout the world, there are many wars that go on. Most of the heard voices in the world advocate for the wars that take place. Recently I discovered Antiwar which is a website that showcases many antiwar voices, and I was surprised to see so many. They are against the many wars that have taken place and discuss the possible outcomes of the wars. Generally, negotiating peacefully is the best option they discuss in their writing. However, why is it that we do not see these same voices in mainstream media? Citizens should not have to search extensively to hear an opposing opinion. We should hear all options available, especially when discussing war because citizens are the ones who will be drafted to fight in it. Not the elected officials. This would not be beneficial to the government. History has shown that war pays a lot.

    Look back during the Great Depression. "Ironically, it was World War II, which had arisen in part out of the Great Depression, that finally pulled the United States out of its decade-long economic crisis" (U.S. Department of State). History often repeats itself, meaning to help out with our economy the government

is willing to go to war. Also, during wartime, the government is more powerful. They can act unconstitutional without immediate repercussions. This is not just happening now, because of the Ukraine war. One example in history I learned about was the Vietnam war. I once wrote a paper about it, and remember reading about the countless protest against that war. It was a lot of news coverage. Eventually, the U.S. withdrew its troops and let them come home. Today voices like that are not in the media. They know how powerful voices are and do not want to lose the power they hold right now. 

   

Overall, war is beneficial to the government. This is why they censor anti-war voices. The national news sources we hear from, such as CNN a mutual relationship with the government. So they keep certain voices out of the media. This is why citizens everywhere have to perform heavy research to retrieve certain information. 

Sources: 

Antiwar

U.S. Department of State

The American Conservative

Privacy

 The four different TED Talks described multiple issues going on worldwide, but all were similar to each other. These issues were all about privacy in the world. It described how easy it is for the government to track us in the world, and the several ways people could harass us online. These are all issues because of the few laws they have to restrict or punish those from doing these acts. These issues affect society as a whole. 

Imagine the government being able to watch whatever you do. That is what is happening around the country. To start everything that you do online is being tracked. Anybody can find out something about you just by searching up your name and seeing a picture. Sometimes this information is sold to third parties to strengthen the algorithm on these social media sites. Police departments and some phone companies are allowing the government to perform surveillance, and very few people know how to put a stop to this. This affects all of us because some of us are law-abiding citizens with families. We should not have police cars scanning our license plates and searching for information about us without proper cause. There should be laws put in place to stop them from watching ordinary citizens with surveillance. The 4th Amendment forbids the federal government from doing this. Also, we as citizens need to be aware of what we post, and the things we share with other people. The laws in place take too long for any action to happen. Therefore, the things that other people share about us could be up for a while, exactly like the things we post ourselves. 

The government should limit its power in surveillance on us. However it is our job as citizens to watch the power that they use, and make sure that it is not being abused. They are not going to stop overusing their power if we do not notice it. We need to vote for laws to change the environment around us. 
 

Sources: 

https://youtu.be/Fu1C-oBdsMM

https://youtu.be/mt4o-R9wzrs

https://youtu.be/ni4FV5zL6lM

https://youtu.be/uuatZO76MgQ