Blog #12 - Final Post

Throughout this semester we have discussed all different types of technology and the positives and negatives that come with them. It has forced each of us to think about the role that technology plays in our lives and whether or not it is healthy. I think that my relationship with it is more of a frenemies type of situation. Sometimes we're good and sometimes we're not. Sometimes I sit in bed trowing my phone over being left on read on snapchat and sometimes I'm connecting with people that I haven't seen in years. Just like many things, I feel like a relationship with technology can't be all good or all bad... unless you're my eighty-two year old grandfather who still can't comprehend an email let alone a text message. 

I'm not sure about other companies but for anyone with an I Phone, there is a setting that allows you to see

how much time you spent on your phone that day and what apps you spent it on. Some days my screen-time is as little as an hour but on other days it can be as much as seven or eight but in all of those days, my most used apps are social media. Tik Tok is usually the front runner because come on, it's hard not to get stuck in a hole of cute puppy videos for hours at a time but after that comes snapchat as that is my primary means of communication and instagram for reasons unknown. 

Technology plays a different roll in the lives of each of my family members. I use it to communicate with people and do my homework. My little sister uses it to watch Netflix and gossip with her friends over FaceTime because she's seventeen and has nothing else to do. My built his career designing computers and even now that he's retired, he uses technology to mess with cars and race them. My mom works in business and spends at least fourteen hours of the day in video calls with people halfway across the world or typing up reports for her staff.  Technology is not the same for any two people even if we use it for the same things sometimes. 

In all honesty, I'm not entirely sure what my online footprint looks like. I know that there are some articles written about me on the internet about awards I won in high school or accomplishments that I made but there are also probably some videos of me out at a party doing something stupid somewhere. When I google myself, more comes up about my parents than me. My mother is extremely high up in one of the largest banks in the world and my father races cars. They both have careers that follow them around, so much so that they come up even when my name is searched. Being a college student, there isn't much about me to find. I found links to my social media accounts and a couple articles written about me but that is about it. 

I do think that technology can be great but I also hold the belief that just like in Michael Andrews and Gary Jules' video, technology could be humanities downfall. There is a careful balance that must be kept in order to reap the benefits of it. 

Blog #10 - EOTO 2 Reaction

 For our second Each One Teach One presentations, we had the opportunity to learn about different terms and concepts
. It was incredibly interesting to learn about not only my topic but many others. I particularly likes Shanice Gamble's presentation on misinformation, disinformation, and fake news.  

Shanice likened misinformation to a game that we played as children called "telephone". In this game, one person made a statement and it was repeated down the line until it came out as something completely different at the end. Disinformation on the other hand is the deliberate misleading of a narrative or facts, often called propaganda. 

The term here that we hear the most about is fake news. This frase has been used everywhere but was most famously used in abundance durning the presidential term of Donald Trump. This is the manufacturing and fabricating of false information that poses as real news in the mainstream media. 

All of these stem from one issue: confirmation bias. This happens when people ignore new and possibly more true information because it does not correspond with the beliefs that they already hold. This is becoming more of an issue now-a-days with social media companies like instagram and snapchat pushing articles with misleading titles or even downright incorrect information. 

These things can impact us in so many ways from bad grades on assignments to incorrect medical advice. It is always important to double and triple check your sources especially when it comes down to things like vaccinations and illness symptoms because it could make the difference between life or death. 

Blog #8 - EOTO - Spiral Of Silence

She believed that humans inherently have a "quasi statistical sense" of the popularity of our own opinions. If a person believes that their opinion is not high in popularity, they may choose to stay silent in fear of repercussions. The primary reason that this spiral exists is humanities fear of isolation or some sort of reprisal.



By definition, the Spiral of Silence is the term meant to refer to the tendency of people to remain silent when they feel that their views are in opposition to the majority view on a subject. In simpler terms: the Majority will speak out when praised and the Minority will silence when shunned.

This Theory was originally published by a German Political Scientist named Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann in 1974. She used this theory to come up with a possible explanation for why many Germans did not oppose the Nazi party.



The media effects this theory both negatively and positively. On the negative side, words commonly used in media like "all" or "most" lead people to believe that their view is not seen by anybody else and that they must be wrong. This furthers peoples tendencies to stay silent. On the flip side, the media does manage to impact the effects of this theory in a positive way through social media. Through apps like instagram, twitter, or snapchat people feel more comfortable voicing their opinions that may receive backlash as opposed to speaking face to face.


Statistically, we are less likely to speak out against people who's opinion matters to us or someone with whom we share a relationship with. For example, a person is less likely to voice their true opinions with friends, family, and neighbors due to fear of damaging that relationship.


Just like any theory, this one comes with a few criticisms. Some have questioned Noelle-Neumann's proposal of a quasi statistical sense and whether we truly can sense the popularity of a viewpoint. Others have asked if fear of isolation is strong enough to deter people from voicing their opinions.

Blog #7 - TED Talks and Privacy

After viewing multiple Ted Talks about privacy with todays technologies, I am left more aware than ever of the lack of privacy that we as twenty-first century humans have. 

In a Ted Talk by Juan Enriquez, he related our online trails to tattoos. These Cyber-tattoos will be around long after we are gone and will in some ways, immortalize us. In this day and age, we are all on the internet. From the photographs on the day we are born to the obituary on the day we die. These things and everything in-between will remain on the internet for the rest of existence. 

Catherine Crump spoke about the military grade surveillance equipment that many local police departments now hold. They use the ability to track faces, license plates, and more for the purpose of learning all about us in the slight case that they may need it later. 

Christopher Soghoian discussed surveillance blockers placed by phone companies to try and block hackers from data about us. He showed viewers how to keep our conversations private by simply using the messaging apps provided. 

Darieth Chisolm explained what is commonly known as revenge porn and how it can destroy lives. With one in ten women under thirty experiencing it, it is not an uncommon issue. As a female under thirty, I have had multiple friends experience this and it is made worse by the fact that there is very little that can be done. 

It is obviously the governments job to watch for suspicious activity and catch criminals but it is also their job to protect or security and privacy. There should also be laws in place with a real punishment for crimes such as revenge porn as there is no way to make it disappear forever. 

Blog #6 - EOTO Reaction

Throughout or Each One Teach One presentations, we had the chance to learn about an array of technologies both new and old. I particularly enjoyed learning about the idea of paper as a technology from Casey Derrenbacher. When we think of technology, we often think of our laptops, cell phones, even security systems but never do we think of something as simple as a sheet of paper. Casey discussed how the invention of paper happened in 105 AD China. 

They originally used bamboo strips and silk to trace but eventually moved on due to weight and cost of these items. Natural materials like tree bark, old rags, hemp waste and fishnets were all pounded down and mixed in water to be spread out and dried into paper. By the end of the Han Period paper quality had improved and was traded along the Silk Road. 

It was the Europeans that invented the paper machine to optimize the paper making process. In 1799, Louis Robert created the first model known as the Fourdrinier Machine in France which was later patented in England by Henry and Sealy Fourdrinier. This spun the creation of paper mills. 

Paper is still used to this day for many different reasons including writing, books, and packaging. Negatively however, paper is one of the largest contributors of solid waste and has led to mass amounts of deforestation. 

Blog #5 - Media Against Anti-war Voices

 We often link the viewpoint of being Anti-war with the "hippies" of the sixties. The United States war in Vietnam stands to this day as the most opposed war in American history. According to an article on USHistory.org, the average ago of soldiers in this war was nineteen and made up primarily of lower class Americans who could not pay their way out of the draft with college. Many Americans retaliated including famous Boxer Muhammad Ali and Civil Rights activist Martin Luther King Jr.. This was the beginning of an anti-war movement that still stands in the US.

When researching the Anti-War movement, it became obvious that it is not being circulated in the mainstream media and was only able to be found on sites that I have never heard of. 

The first site that I looked through was called Antiwar.com. The headlines on this site talked about how the United States is depicting the Russian threat of nuclear weapons as more than it truly is and how Ukraine is arresting their own citizens for supporting Russia. The next site that I searched is called Theamericanconservative.com. Many of the articles on this site spoke about the dangers of entering a war that we don't need and being realistic about relations in foreign countries. 

So why is it that we have to try so hard to find these Anti-war voices? An article posted by Darius Shahtahmasebi  points out that American owned social media companies are blocking posts that go against the United States position in foreign affairs. An article for The Baltimore Sun discusses the viewpoint that being Anti-war is inherently Anti-American and many people believe this to be true. Mainstream media fears streaming information that may make them appear this way. 

Blog #4 - EOTO 1, History of The Camera

    Cameras are something that have become so normal in our everyday lives that it has become difficult to imagine how amazing of a creation they were from the start. Before they were embedded in our phones to take "selfies", cameras took up the space of a room for one singular shot that didn't even last.

While many argue the origin of the first camera, the credit for the first modern day camera is widely given to a French innovator Nicephore Niepce in the year 1816.  According to an article by the Nashville Film Institute, This was the year that the first ever photograph was taken. However, this photograph was taken on silver chloride-lined paper and did not last long before disappearing. It wasn't until 1826 that Niepce created his first long lasting photograph that still exists in an exhibit at University of Texas at Austin. 

Image Source: World Atlas

    The creation of the camera changed our world in so many ways. Not only did it allow for the immortalization of a memory or the art of photography but it also paved the way for film. It allowed for storytelling in multiple forms that have been appreciated for nearly two centuries now. Many more modern inventions like smartphones, social media, and streaming services wouldn't be possible without the invention of the camera and it's advances since. The Camera has paved the way for a new type of communication between friends, family, and even colleagues known as video call. Often referred to as "FaceTime", "Skype", or "TeleMed", video call has allowed for people to converse face to face without having to actually be near each other. This allows for a more natural communication method than a phone call or texting. 

Image Source: MacRumors

 

    The Society of Women Engineers has an article that talks about how the camera has shifted our perspective of the universe. We see more of the world and beyond due to photographs and video than we will ever see in person with our own eyes. The use of cameras has also impacted scientific innovation greater than any tool that came before it. According to an article by The NYU Langone Health Online Journal of Medicine, cameras are used today in many aspects of the medical field like tracking disease, three dimensional imaging, and much more. 

    With all of the positive impacts that the camera has had on our lives, it is important to note the negatives as well. Privacy has become a thing of the past with cameras everywhere, watching our every move. There are traffic cameras on the road, security cameras in shops, people with camera phones, and for many people there are even cameras in our own homes. 

Blog #3 - 8 Values Of Free Expression

As Americans, we hold tightly to our First Amendment and the rights that it gives us. Freedom of speech gives us more than simply the ability to speak our thoughts but also the freedom to practice our religion of choice or write what we believe. These ideas took shape through eight theories: Marketplace of Ideas, Participation in Self-Government, Stable Change, Individual Self-Fulfillment, Check of Governmental Power, Promote Tolerance, Promote Innovation, and Protect Dissent. 

There are a few of these that stand out to me but first and foremost I believe that promoting tolerance is by far the most important. According to the National Partnership To End Interpersonal Violence Across The Lifespan, Tolerance is about accepting others even when they don't look like you, act like you, or have the same values and beliefs as you. 

Because the first amendment is so important in our society, it tends to get thrown around willy nilly without thought for the consequences. First off, the first amendment only applies against the government. Secondly, freedom of speech does not equil freedom from consequences. Finally, there are exceptions from the first amendment. You cannot scream fire in a crowded theatre, you cannot incite violence, you cannot use speech to ruin another's reputation, and most importantly, you cannot use hate speech. 

All that it takes to understand why we need more promotion of tolerance is two minutes on any social media platform. There are plenty of people  out there who genuinely believe that some people are less than them due to the color of their skin, the religion that they practice, or the country that they were born in. These people are easy to call out and blame but what about the people who do it unintentionally? We have all been guilty of it at one time or another because many of us have subconscious biases that we aren't even aware of. The more that we get to know people with different backgrounds and beliefs, the less different we will feel. This is tolerance, the acceptance of others that may not be the same as you. 

The best way to combat intolerance is to get ahead of it and teach our children how important it is to treat others with care and respect. In 1995, UNESCO declared November sixteenth an international day for tolerance in order to spread awareness. 

Another value that I believe is relevant to what we see today is the check on governmental power. With polarization getting worse and worse, our two main political parties have become sticklers about pointing out what the other side is doing wrong but we fail sometimes at seeing what our own side is doing wrong. 

It is our duty as Americans to learn about what is happening in our government and to keep it in check. While voting is not required in America, I believe that it should be. Since 1924, voting has been required in Australia for all citizens over the age of eighteen and their voter turn out has not dropped below ninety percent since compared to the United States' record high of 66.8%. 

Blog #2- Supreme Court

For class we were asked to view a two part video about the United States Supreme Court. I learned plenty of things about them including the fact that they don't have the ability to propose issues and instead have to wait on a ruling from a lower court to appear to them. 

In my opinion, Supreme Court judges stay in their position for far too long. Both the Executive and Judicial branches have term limits set on the people within them but as for the Judicial branch, Supreme Court judges are appointed for life. It is difficult to stay relevant with opinions on issues over the course of decades. 

It did surprise me how willing the judges were to admit that the constitution does not apply the same way to modern day Americans as it did to citizens when it was first written. It had been my assumption that they lived by the constitution and stuck to it like a rule book. I had always known that the Supreme Court had the ability to pick and choose what cases they see but I was not aware that they receive about seven-thousand cases a year and only accepts about one-hundred. 

I think that seeing these Supreme Court judges and hearing them speak makes them seem less formal in a positive way. It made me think better of them knowing that they have opinions but aren't truly allowed to vote based on them and instead are required to vote by law and follow what is best for the people. 

Blog #1 - Top 5 Sources

As college students, I believe that many of us receive our news fairly differently than most  of the adult population. Young adults generally don't spend their time watching the news or reading the daily paper, we get most of our information from the little computer in our pocket known as a smartphone.

1. Snapchat

While not always the most reliable, snapchat is quick and easy. It takes less than five seconds to find a dozen news headlines everywhere from celebrity gossip to political updates. For me and many other young adults, we use snapchat as a primary source of communication and spend quite a bit of time on it. News articles on the primary display screen draw in users and make it the simplest way possible to see what is going on in the world. 

2. Tik Tok

Tik Tok is simply another social media platform similar to vine where people can post short videos of them talking, dancing, or doing pretty much whatever they want. This platform is used by a variety of age groups and features a home page called a "For you page". This Home Screen can consist of random videos from anyone around the world but uses an algorithm to determine what each individual person wants to see. Plenty of people use this platform to spread information but it is always best to double check sources before believing everything that you hear. 

3. CNN

When it comes to news, it is difficult to find a source without bias. I watch CNN with an understanding that it reports information under a slightly left leaning view point. Contrary to popular belief, CNN is actually a much more moderate news source than Channels like MSNBC or Fox News. I view CNN updates through the news app on my iPhone. 

4.  The New York Times

When googling information, it is hard to know what cites to trust. I usually look for an article posted by the New York Times when searching for updates. This is one of the most widely read papers in the United States and has now become more than just a paper. 

5. My Friends

Often as college students, we simply don't have the time to spend catching up on the latest new stories. We spend our time studying or working on homework so when we do have some free time, we simply just want to hang out with our friends. I have friends with all different political leanings which is pretty helpful most of the time. While we don't always agree on subjects, we are able to bring up things that are going on in the world and discuss them in a civil way.