FINAL BLOG POST

 My Relationship with Technology

There is No Such Thing as 'Perfect'

When I think of myself and how technology has impacted my life, the first thing that comes to mind is social media. Compared to when I was in middle school to being a junior in college, social media has been a huge part of my life. It has been where I show who I am, what I'm doing, hobbies, and more. However, if I am being honest. I am not completely myself on my social media platform. I am hidden by my best photos, filters, and the best things I'm doing, rather than the real me. Technology has taken over our generation for better and for worse. 

Technology has made the world a different place. Just today I took an interview using my computer. A few years ago I would have had to meet face to face with a hiring agent in new york city. With the rise of covid, we had to rely on our technologies to get through school, work, socializing, shopping, meetings and more. Think, what if we didn't have the technologies we had today in the pandemic? The whole world would have had to pause. Children these days know more about the iPhone than I know, and that's what scares me. I am one who uses my computer and my phone every single day, and honestly, I find these items to be a necessity because of the time I'm living in right now. However, I am not an expert in technology either, I don't use these technologies to constantly talk to friends, I use them more as a communication device for school and also for my family and friends at home. I would rather have the company of a friend next to me than on a screen. Therefore, if I were to explain my role in the media, I wouldn't say I am an avid user of social media, more a user of the advantages technologies provide.

I am not saying I am never on social media, and that is where my digital footprint comes in. A digital footprint is defined as the trail of 'electronic breadcrumbs' you leave behind as you use the internet, and it is important to manage it carefully. Anything you do, say, or look up online, has the possibility to be permanent. The information you share online builds a picture of yourself and your interests. That is why many people show a fake face on their social media platforms to be careful of what people can picture you as. When I was applying for college, I remember going through all my social media accounts to make sure there was nothing that would make a college question the person I am. However, I had to get rid of some of the fun memories I shared with my friends because of alcohol in the background. Personally, I have not been one to open about my views on the world on social media, I keep those sorts of things to myself. But if someone were to follow in my 'digital footprint' they would see a girl, always dressed up, looking her best in her photos, with a sense of fashion, adventure, community service, and happiness all the time. However, that is not always me. Most days I am wearing sweatpants and a hoodie, cozy with my friends watching a movie. I don't put that on social media because I don't want people to find me as a lazy person. I have to say, I use mostly even all social media platforms, I have pages on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Tiktok, Linkedin, etc., and on every platform, shows the exact same perfect person, who really isn't me. It is the best version of myself. 

Luckily I am not exposed online, however, I have had my fair share of ugly pictures posted of me to create a laugh with friends. I haven't put out enough on social media to have exposure, and all my pages are private. Moreover, while writing this blog post, it got me searching back on all my platforms to check again if I need any editing on my pages, that do not provide the right content of who I am. But is this the right reality? Should we be doing this? I think not. It's horrible to say that technology has invaded our privacy in many ways, one being how we cannot share our true genuine lives, to almost put a show on for our viewers to think we are perfect. But at the same time, posting the best pictures of myself have a positive outcome. This outcome is the love and nice comments I receive from my friends and family. I am lucky enough to say that I receive great comments on my posts that boost my confidence and make me feel great about myself. 

This all brings me to the dark side of technology. I haven't brought up the evil side of technology because quite honestly it's not something I like talking about. The dark side does not only consist of cyberbullying and mean comments, it's so much more. There is such thing as the dark web where people around the world sell child pornography, war guns, and machines, criminals interact with other criminals. The evil that is portrayed on the side of the media is horrible. Unfortunately, it's not only on the dark web. People can make websites that give the ability for people to say and post terrible things, and share a love for tragic events. Besides this sort of evil, there is the evil of cyberbullying that has become a major issue since the ride of technologies. Young children are getting bullied and harassed by a hidden figure behind a screen, and this can destroy lives. This semester I have been very interested in how Facebook was aware of the negative effects its platforms have on young children and have done nothing but sell it has data for research. Facebooks whistleblower took the stand against Facebook and outed their reports on this matter, which brought out a larger problem than expected. The media can be a very unsafe place for people who don't know how to use it for the right advantages. 

technology advancements happen almost every single day. My hope is that one day in the future these advancements will prevent the dark side of technology and use its advantages for the greater good. But it also has to do with the people involved, therefore I also hope people can use technology for the greater good, and for the would purpose of positive achievement. There may never be a day where there is a perfect world on social media, but there is always room for improvement. There is no such thing as perfect. 

Blog post #10

 Age of Artificial Intelligence

In today's day and age, the media has taken over. With the evolution of technology, there are new software, updates, new types of cell phones with 3D cameras, and so many more inventions that are occurring every single day. You may not take into account how INSANE new technologies are compared to what our parents grew up with. But have you ever learned about artificial intelligence? Just the name of this shows that you can create intelligence, rather than being born with it. The documentary Age of AI explores how the concept of artificial intellegnace is changing life as we know it- from jobs, to privacy, to growing rivalry between the U.S. and China. 

Artificial Intelligence is intelligence demonstrated by machines, as opposed to natural intelligence displayed by animals including humans. AI applicants include advanced websearch engines, recommendation systems, understanding human speech, self-driving cars, automated decision-making and competing at the highest level in strategic game systems. As machines become increasingly capable to require "intelligence" are often removed from the definition of AI, which is known as the AI effect. In the video we watched in class, AI is being used in a game where they describe it as "one type of intelligence beating another". 

Growing up, we have always heart of the mystery of self driving cars. In elemetry school our teachers would always say when we grow up there will be robots for everything and cars that drove itself, but never did I think this could be possible. However, artificale intelligence, has in fact, made this possible. It is possible because of the allgorythms written by Yoshua Bengio, and a small group of scientists. Cars, trucks, and buses can all be self-driven. But don't you see a downside. I do. This is a huge downside for people who make a living off driving cars, trucks, and buses... this is their job, and with this new invention, these employees could be out of a job. technology shouldn't surround our world in the sense of taking away jobs. I think the evolution of technology is amazing. However, it comes to a certain point. 

In class, we spoke about the invasion of privacy and how new technologies run by the government can uses facial tracking, to gain a better view of what people are doing. There is not only facial tracking, but tracking of what you search on the internet and social media and also where you are using your money. There is a point where I think this could have a positive out come. I watch so many criminal based shows like criminal minds and law and order, and they use facial recognition to find where their supsets may be, and where they have last been. This helps them stop criminals. For advertisement, I think this could be positive for companies to know what their targeted audience is looking for, which will help it pop-up to their feed. BUT, I also agree this is a huge invasion of privacy for people. Its scary to think that you are always being watched, and have to be careful what you do and how you live your life. 

With the aid of AI, the evolution of technology can grow, inspire, and change the world as we know it. But I would like to see a world that is still not fully reliant on technology, and that there is a medium in which the government can be thoughtful about our own privacy. 

blog post #11

 EOTO: What I Learned

For the second EOTO presentation, my group researched and presented aspects of the 'media-sphere. I found this topic so interesting. We presented on topics such as Whistleblowers, Online-influencers, alternative media, and mainstream media. However, the online influencers presented by Claire are what stood out to me the most. 

Throughout the semester, I have learned so much about the importance of online influencers and the impact they have on companies and brands through advertisement. This is why I was so interested in the topic of online influencers in the media sphere. When I think of an online influencer the first person who always comes to mind is Kim Kardashian. This is because she has promoted and posted so much content on specific brands, and we hear how much she can make on just a singular post. But there are many forms of what an influencer can be. there are mega, macro, and micro-influencers. They all have the capability of success for a brand, but it depends on the money a company wants to give to the influencer to create the most benefit for the brand as a whole. 

An online influencer is a user on social media who has established credibility in a specific industry. these influencers have access to a large audience and can persuade their audience by virtue of their authenticity and reach. Depending on who the influencer is, and what their main focus is, affects who the audience will be. Examples of specific influencers are gamers who are on platforms such as Twitch and live streaming, Ticktockers, YouTubers, beauty gurus, bloggers, celebrities, sports professionals, etc. Many influencers actually make a living with their earrings on their social media posts. There are influencer types like brand association, content creators, brand ambassadors, affiliate marketing, social media takeovers, and giveaways. 

Even though being an online influencer may seem great and easy, there are downsides that come with it for the influencer and the company itself. If you are a big celebrity and influence online, there can be a lot of hate and bullying comments attached to this person. There are cases of harassment, invasion of privacy, racism, and a lot of body shaming. One of my favorite influencers is a plus-size woman who does clothing halls for inclusive clothing brands. She is hilarious and upbeat, but recently she has been posting content where she is upset about all the body-shaming comments she is getting. The invasion of privacy for influencers is tremendous, they almost have no private life due to everyone commenting and watching every movement they make. Also, rumors can be spread that are not true, which can lead to a canceled culture. For the company itself, there can be a false advertisement, and a negative advertisement, which can be a down-fall for a company as well.

Blog Post #9

 Whistleblowers

When you first hear the word "whistleblower" you may envision a person blowing a whistle. Not going to lie, when I first searched up the term "whistleblower" it brought me to a whistle I can purchase on Amazon. However, a whistleblower in the mediasphere is much different than someone just blowing a simple whistle. for my EOTO presentation, I was able to dive deeper into what whistleblowers do. Whistleblowers are the most feared people in media and here is why.

Whistleblowing is defined under the law as "disclosing information that you reasonably believe is evidence of a violation of any law, rule, or regulation, or gross mismanagement, a gross waste of funds, an abuse of authority, or a substantial and specific danger to public health or safety". Personally, I would say this is not a positive definition. However, whistleblowers are protected by a network of laws, but the level of protection depends on what they disclose to whom, and how. It may not always be in the whistleblower's interest to work with the press. This means that whistleblowers are protected by what they say to the extent of what they say, in other words depending on what they are leaking to the press. For example, if something is leaked to the press that the government DOES NOT want to get out, then the repercussions outway the protection. 

Whistleblowers must decide who to alert when wrongdoing is discovered. The social science literature focuses on two types of disclosures:

1) those made internally, within the whistleblowers employing organization 

2) those made externally, primarily to government authorities or the media. 

Some examples of whistleblowers include and are not limited to: Employees who report corruption, discrimination, harassment, and fraud. I do not necessarily see a big stereotype for who a whistleblower should be, but If I were to say a specific type of person, it would be a person (male or female) who has a very stern attitude, without bias, to the situation they are reporting on. This type of person cannot be afraid of hate, they need to be a strong person who is working solely for their job. 

Since whistle-blowers speak on the bad things that pertain to the media, they must be protected. therefore, the U.S. came up with the Whistleblower Protection Act, which is a United States federal law that protects federal; whistleblowers who work for the government and report the possible existence of an activity constituting a violation of law, rules, or regulations, or mismanagement, gross waste of funds, abuse of authority or a substantial and specific danger to public health and safety. 

To summarize all of this, Whistleblowing is defined as an action that is taken by an employee or the former employee to disclose unethical or illegal behavior. the employee can report such behavior to higher management in the same organization which is known as internal whistleblowing or a similar act can be reported to public/ external authority. As whistleblowing exposed the wrongdoing act that is being reported, it may carry a huge risk for the individual who is involved in the act of exposing such malpractices. Whistleblowing policy can be extremely beneficial; for an organization, as it gives confidence in fair practices to their employees, shareholders, society, and other organization who are doing direct/ indirect business with the company. All of this information can be found in numerous researches done that report on the cause and effects of whistleblowing.  

Blog Post #8

 

For starters, In class we watched a very impactful video showing the effects of war. This video was far from okay, in total it was almost tragic to watch the innocent lives lost, due to the area they were in at the time. Before I say anything else, I want to let you know that I am not the type of person to involve myself to learn about ongoing wars today. You may ask why? It is because I find that war makes me unhappy and if anything, I wish the world could be in peace, rather then live in a time of war. Luckily, we do not live in a time during a civil war or so forth, but we do infact live in a time of war. Watching that video during class opened my eyes through a lense that made me realize, I need to involve myself in the knowledge of war. 

Just as I did, you may ask yourself, Why do I not see things about war like the video we have watched in class? That is because its not popular to be televised or made seen, because many people arent interested in it as well. I mean, when your watching the news, you do not necessarily want to see people dieing in front of your eyes, and especially Americans being behind the guns, rather then in front. After visiting antiwar.com, I saw things I didn't want to see, just as I saw that video. This website, and other war websites are not popular due to this. Also, take into consideration that the givernment also doesn't want this to be publizied due to it looking bad on us. The government doesn't want us to be apart of "antiwar" groups because it is what they feel we have to do to protect our country. The Government especially doesn't want us to be anti anything that America as a whole is doing. 

Blog Post #7

This week, as a class we presented about the evolution of technology. I learned so much about technologies I wasn't aware of, and also I learned so much about technologies I use everyday.  As being the person I am, I choose to research and present the first Typewritter. Why? Because I was interested in learning about the first form of technology that has impacted our world today. However, this post is not for my knowledge about the Typewritter, this post's purpose is to tell you what I learned about another technology throughout the presentations. What caught my eye was learning about the first telephone. It caught my attention because it, in some ways, relates to the first typewriter, I mean both have "first" in front of their topic. 

Most of us, if not all of us, use a phone every single day, for many reasons. But if you take it back 145 years, the phones we use today are nothing like the telephones then. On March 7th, 1876 Alexander Grahm Bell invented the first telephone. This telephone worked by converting sound into an electrical signal via a "liquid transmitted". This process centered around directing sound through a receiver and onto a membrane stretched over a drum. Other people had idea about creating the telephone but Bells work is mot welly known. However Bells focused on many ideas for the invention of his telephone. Bells became interested in the possibility of transmitting speech over wire. Therefore, in 1868, Joespeh Sterns invented a system were 2 messages could be transmitted over a single wire, with this, Bell was able to create the communication he desired to invent through the use of the telephone. Without the invention of the telephone, we would have the communication we have today.

Because of the first telephone, telephones have rigoursly evolved over time and today the phone serves so many purposes. It is interesting the learn the history behind something we use every day, and how people hundreds of years ago came up with the simple ideas, many of us couldn't live without today.

Blog Post #6

 

Innovation is defined as the action or process of innovating, it is known to be a new method, idea, or device. Technology has been the only thing I have known. It's funny because when I talk to my mom learning about her childhood, technology was barely a part of it. It's very interesting to grow up seeing the evolution of the technology I have used. After learning taking a deeper look into the Diffusion of Innovation theory, I was able to moreover, understand why this happens, and how innovation depends on time. The Diffusion of Innovation is a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and what rate new ideas and technology spread. 

I feel that there has been a huge surge in technology because of the pandemic. For example, ask yourself, have you ever heard of "zoom" or "blackboard collaborate" before the pandemic raised? Personally, I had not, it was new technologies that most of had to learn to use, to participate in studies, classes, and also socializing with many friends. Social media also flourished during this time because it was the way we were able to communicate with friends and family, a way for small businesses to sell their items to stay in business, and also it was something we did in our free time if we weren't walking around our towns or having family movie nights. TikTok is an example of an app that flourished during this time. Personally, I had not heard of TikTok until the pandemic, but it instantly became well known for fun dances, clothing hauls, funny videos, and more.

Many people became early adopters of Snapchat and Instagram when they came out. Why? because it was perfect for the generation that were using it at the time. I say this because if you think of Facebook, it was more for the older generations, not for teenagers. Let us take a deeper look into the evolution of snapchat. On the left, you see the picture of the style of the app that has changed over the years. Snapchat is an app, created in 2011, by Stanford students, originally to send pictures that will disappear in moments. However today Snapchat is used for so many different reasons. You can message friends, post stories, create filters, read news, watch shows and so much more. I mean how crazy is that. We have watched these apps grow and flourish. The Diffusion of Innovation describes why. 

There is a downside to this, I say this because as a young kid I was still playing outside with my friends, playing with my dolls, doing things that didn't include technology. But, today children don't do this anymore, they communicate all through social media. Kids in elementary school have the best iPhones that I never would have expected to have when I was young. I find this to be negative because kids shouldn't grow up in a world surrounded by social media and technology. As for myself, I don't really involve myself too much in social media. I am one to enjoy the company of my friends and family and would rather look at a real-life thing than see it on a screen. It's the way I grew up and I want to keep it that way. I am not saying that I completely don't use social media, It is just not something that is completely a part of my life.