Final Post: Technology and Me

 

Photo: Propmodo

Technology and social media have always been a useful tool when it came to finding information and staying connected to people. Personally, with my plans to become a journalist social media has helped me tremendously with keeping up with current events.

Although I still believe in the wonders of technology and the many ways that we as a society can benefit from it, I also think there are many ways we can be victimized by it. 

For starters with the privacy infringements that go along with using social media and being apart of the online world. Especially when using social media apps such as Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat. 

Apps like these allows people to see your location at any given moment unless you turn it off. One of the most interesting things I learned from this course was that companies like these also reserve the right to use the content that you post. 

Photo: Mamba Online

Through having this knowledge it has changed the way that I use technology. Though I am still active on social media I see it though a new lens. 

I now try to make sure that I do research on websites before I give them personal information such as my email. Along with clearing my cookies so that the website can’t save any paswords I don’t want it to. This has helped me protect myself as well as my digital footprint. 

Photo: Safe Sitter

Through this course we have learned about the many ways that the internet is forever. As well as the importance of monitoring our digital footprint. 

Because writing is a huge part of my major I have written on several different outlets over the years for different classes and projects. 

When I did Google myself I was surprised by how much of those projects instantly came up. It wasn’t my work that concerned me, rather the information that could be discovered from it. 

For example, I wrote for my High School’s newspaper and that came up, so now a person can see where I went to High School. Little things like that can be concerning to a person who wants to protect their privacy as much as possible. 

However, it can also be helpful for the future if say an employer looks me up they could see my many works over the years.

Social media and technology are really great for keeping you in contact with people. Instagram especially allows users to post clips from their daily lives. This can be fun if you have friends or family members who live far away. 

This allows you to stay connected or stay up to date with things in their life without having to actually be there if you can’t be. Personally, my best friend lives pretty far away and I can’t tell you how many times she’s said over the phone “Did you see my story”. 

It allows us to keep up with each other and it makes it easier to be apart from the people closest to you when you still get to see little glimpses of their lives. 

Photo:Penn State

The problem begins when people use technology as a way of controlling others. As the age old saying goes knowledge can be power. 

The Ted Talk By Darieth Chisolm “How revenge porn turns lives upside down” is a perfect example of this.

She spoke about how being a victim of revenge porn affected her life. It was an abuse of power on the internet that led to her life changing forever. 

Her ex-boyfriend posted nude pictures of her online and it affects her still to this day. However, instead of letting it control her she found a way to regain her power though sharing her story. This same thing can happen to victims of stalking and harassment. The offender can use social media as a weapon to interfere with their lives and keep tabs on them. 

I think more so now we all hear about cyber-bullying, harassment, stalking and the harms that technology in the wrong hands can do. However, revenge porn is something darker it is a form of abuse that is for the whole world to see. Because the internet is forever no matter what legal action she were to take against her abuser, those photos will be in the internet forever. 

Photo: Dallas Morning News 

It is yet another way that the internet has been used in a way to victimize people. As we learned in class the word revenge porn didn’t even exist years ago. 

Something we have to be mindful of as a society is that the more technological advancements we have, the more chances for abuse of it there will be. 

However, I think as things like revenge porn and cyber-bullying become more prevalent there has also been an increase of awareness. 

Specifically organizations like the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative. They work to be victim advocates for people who have been harmed through cyber abuse. 

This is a way we can balance out the harm that social media and technology can cause. By taking it and using it for something that can help heal people. From my standpoint my relationship with technology will always be evolving so it’s hard to say if it is a positive or negative one. 

This point of view only became more strained after watching the Mad World videos in class. 

As morbid as they were the Mad World videos, show where we could end up as a society and more importantly the role that technology can play in that future. Specifically the harms of not changing the way we interact with technology and social media. It shows a world with people surrounded by each other yet everyone is in their own little world.

Since watching that video it has made me more aware of the abundance of technology in our everyday lives. Especially when it comes to my relationships and my family. More importantly it illustrated our need to be constantly entertained even if it is unhealthy.

How many times has the news perpetuated rumors or aided in the harassment of celebrities or public figures? People assume that because a person has chosen a job that puts them in the spotlight that their every move and decision is fair game. 

On the other side of that argument, there are people who feel that commenting of the lives of public figures are their right. If a person wants to be in the spotlight they have accepted the responsibility of occasional scrutiny. Especially if that person is a role model of some sort, because then their image can effect others who look up to them. 

Photo: Mad World

Technology and social media are so embedded in our culture I don’t see it changing anytime soon. Especially with huge technology companies making so much money off of us and our use of their product. 

Apple however, has a feature on their phones that can monitor your screen time for the week. It can be easy to scroll for hours on end. 

Photo: The New York Times

But seeing it at the end of the week or the end of the day is when people start to notice how much they’re on their devices.

My friends and I have even turned it into a game at times to see who can get their screen time down the most. 

If someone asked you to describe your relationship with technology what would you say? Is it a relationship of mutual gain that adds to your life. Or is it one sided and toxic? I think for every person the answer will be different based on their experiences with it. 

Photo: Financial Times

For me I’ve seen both sides of the coin. I’ve seen the ingenuity that technology can foster and the many ways in which it can propel our future forward. I’ve also seen how it can poison our minds and destroy lives. I have found that there is only one thing that separates the two; and that is how you use it. 

Age Of AI: The New Normal

 

Photo: Becoming Human Artificial Intelligence Magazine

Living in a world where technology has been integrated into every single part of peoples daily lives has its ups and downs. 

However, as time has progressed and technology has grown the lines between the regular use of technology and expected privacy have become blurred. The Age Of AI Documentary gave viewers a first hand look at the many consequences of technology.

Two major concerns raised were the future of job security and the use of data by companies to better advertise their products. 

Job security is a real concern for middle class workers who have jobs that could be easily replaced by AI. Especially because in order to try and keep up with the advancement of technology it would cost people even more money, for a possibly low reward. 

For example with companies like Tesla that now have self driving technology that could be used instead of having to hire a tuck driver.

Photo:The Dallas  Morning News

 Now the people who would normally drive the truck have to find another job or get additional schooling to find another way to stay in their company. 

All of this takes additional time and money that most people don’t have.Now they have to school and on top of that have families they have to provide for, so that makes it nearly impossible.

In the documentary Harry Cripps who is the President of the local 668 sector of UAW which is the United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural implement Workers of America. 

Photo:Frontline On Twitter

 He said in the documentary “If we continue to go in an automated system, what are we gonna do? Now I’ve got a group of people at the top that are making all the money and no one in the middle that can support a family. Do we have to go to the point where we crash to come back and in this case the automations is already gonna be there so I don’t know how you come back.” 

This quote sheds light on the real concerns of workers and people who would be affected by these changes when AI is slowly introduced into the work force.

However something far more sensitive such as your own privacy has also been the topic of great discussion. 

With companies like Google, Facebook and Twitter all being an integral part of peoples social media use it is easy to see how they collect so much data on any given user. With every search, eye movement and click companies like there are tracking your use on the app. 

With this information they can tailor ads to you in order to make your experience as convenient as possible. Some people find this to be a great system, all they have to do is use an app they love and then suddenly every website they go on has suggestions and ads just for them.

Photo: Security Current

However, others find this to be a huge issue of privacy. Every single time you use a website or search something there is a log being kept on the kinds of things you like and don’t. However, companies can get away with this because they get every users permission.

Most people don’t read though the terms and conditions when they want to go to a website or creat an account on an app. But in those terms and conditions it is all laid out for the reader. 

This is how easy it can be for tech companies to get access to all the information they want on you. If this concerns you that’s fine but most companies won’t let you continue one the webpage until that little box is checked. 

Other that the privacy issues alone this also has a much darker consequences. For example, imagine the harm that can be caused if a person is only ever exposed to information that directly concerns them. Sure missing out on a couple ads for a product you have no use for is one thing. However, what about now missing out on news that concerns other countries or places that you might want to be informed about?

It could also lead to on overwhelming amount of confirmation bias which is when you only look at things that support your existing thoughts and never anything that challenges it. 

Photo:Sketchplanations

The question isn’t about how much information are they pushing at you it is instead about how much are they pushing away from you? It then becomes a conversation about censorship and how much you are willing to run that risk.

This isn’t to say that all technology is bad but it sure makes you reconsider blindly checking “I accept” next time you long on to a new website.

Personally, I found this documentary to be highly enlightening. Being a college student I am not yet fully immersed in the world where hearing  things like job security would immediately peak my interest. However, it makes me wonder what life will look like in a few years as technology progresses. 

How much will privacy be an issue anymore, will people be outraged by it or will it be the next step in this new age of convenience? 

Photo:TechCrunch

Questions like these help people take a step back at times and evaluate their boundaries and the things that they find important in life. Before this I might not have thought about the major consequences of replacing workers with AI. 

However now I see that it would speak to a much larger issue than just replacing a few jobs with machines that could do it faster and cheaper the humans. 

Privacy: The Daily Give and Take

 Privacy is often thought of as an unspoken yet understood right. You don’t have to tell people around you to not ease drop on your conversations, people just generally know to be respectful of your privacy.

 However what happens when someone oversteps that barrier of trust. Or even worse what happens when it it your own government?

In America and across the entire globe, one thing we all have in common is our use of technology. No matter the level of advancement we all use in some way in order to live our daily lives. 

Whether its driving a car to work, checking the forecast, calling in sick or mowing the lawn. Technology is universal, and it is everywhere for everyone to use. 

The problem is when it gets misused, Christopher Soghoian spoke about the early inventions of cell phones. He emphasized that they were first and foremost created with surveillance in mind. In today’s world they have certainly kept up with that original idea. 

On apps like Snapchat you can go on and see where anyone is at any moment. If you don’t want your location to show you have to go in and manually uncheck that box. It is almost as if having everyone who follows able to track you at any moment is normal. 

The government is not naive of this information, in fact it was their idea in the first place. Cathrine Crump’s Ted Talk topic was on just this the amount of surveillance that the government has on us. She explains that police cars and certain polls on the highways take periodic pictures of everyone’s license plates. 

This information is used and kept on hard drives just in case they will need it later. She also explains the idea of the phone dump. Phone dumps are used by police to see which phones were in a certain area at a given time. If you are hearing these terms for the first time they can sound creepy and like an invasion. 

However, personally this is not the first time that I have heard of such things. Phone dumps can be very helpful for police to solve crimes. For example, lets say a young woman goes missing on a busy street corner with no cameras. 

Cops could use phone dumps to track her phone and see if there is another phone near her during the time of her abduction. That phone likely belongs to her captor and that could help police find her or at least see who has taken her. 

Off all of the Ted Talks that I watched the one that was most compelling was the one by Darieth Chisolm. She spoke about her traumatizing experience of being a victim of revenge porn. When her controlling ex-boyfriend couldn’t accept the break up, he posted nude photos he surreptitiously took of her while she slept.

However finding out was just the beginning of her story. She discovered though this process that there were’t any laws to protect her form this violation. In the study of victimology, which is the study of victims as they are effected by their crimes. She is a perfect example of how trauma can effect victims for a very long time.

 Revenge porn,  is when people post fake explicit photos or videos of a person. Or they post real photos and videos without the persons knowledge or consent. It is something that we see a lot more in the news today and it has had devastating effects on victims lives. 

In todays world technology and privacy go hand in hand and it is looking more and more like you can’t have one without the other. None of these topics made me feel fearful however I do feel more aware of the different things that are possible. 

Especially where there are not that many privacy laws or protections when it comes to social media apps of today. However I am hopeful that with more public concern and with more people advocating like Darieth Chisolm we will see reform in the coming years. 

EOTO Reflection: Gatekeeping In The Media Today

 

One of the terms that was most interesting was the concept of gatekeeping. Gatekeeping is when someone  deliberately keeps information from others in an effort to keep the information to their self. This can be done on a small safely between friends who lie about what perfume they’re wearing. 

Or it can have a much darker side and be between government and citizens. Imagine if instead of a friend lying to you it was your government. This is the main concern with Gatekeeping, some people wonder how we can have a democracy if the government is picking a choosing what to tell us. 

This is why whistle blowers are vital to our society, we as the people have no idea what our government could be lying to us about at any given moment. However by having inside sources and government employees we are able to get access to classified documents. 

The term Gatekeeping has also become way more mainstream in todays world anyway. On the popular social media site TikTok it has become a popular joke that many creators include in their videos. They may say things like “ I got this rug from … because I’m not gonna Gatekeep”. 

Though it is in a more lighthearted setting in todays world it isn’t a term people are unfamiliar with. 

Though it makes you think about it in a political setting how how it could be potentially dangerous. Had Edward Snowden not leaked government documents about the spying software that the NSA we might not have ever known about it. 

I found it interesting the way that both of these topics perfectly overlap. They are also still extremely  relevant topics of today. With the way the terms have come into the media today on more mainstream platforms, I have hope that people will start to take closer looks at things in our government as well. 

 

EOTO #2: The Whistle Blower

It’s a high pitch sound that invades the ears of all who can hear it’s it commands your attention. It’s a the sound of a whistle, and it makes sense that when government employees offer information about wrongdoing that they would share the same name.  

Whistleblowers have been around for a long time since around 1700’s with Benjamin Franklin thought to be the first. He was accused of treason by British Government when he leaked documents for a lieutenant. 

These document included treatment of colonies that he deemed unjust according to a piece written by the National Park Service. 

Though a lot has changed since then, today we still have countless whittle blowers. Two that are most popularly know would be Edward Snowden and Julian Assange. They both leaked government document in the 2000’s. Their lack of silence changed the world at the time and the effects still linger today. 

Edward Snowden, at the time was working as a contractor for the NSA. Prior to that he worked for the CIA so he wasn’t new to being a government employee. However, during his time working for the NSA he discovered a software that the government has created and was working on. 

This software was created with the purpose of monitoring American Citizen’s private conversations. This includes phone calls, emails, things on our webcams, as well as our text messages. 

Snowden leaked this information to the public by working with journalists to help him release his story. After that he was facing treason charges from the US government. Because of this he fled to Russia where he still lives today. 

In recent news he was just granted Russian Citizenship where he lives with his wife and child.His story was so big that it was turned into a moved called Snowden, it details his life leading up to and after the news broke. 

Julian Assange has a similar story, though with not as much of a happy ending. Assange was a talented hacker who ended up creating his own website called Wikileaks. 

The point of the website was to allow people to upload confidential document that revealed wrong doing except it would be completely anonymous. 

Though it sounds like a good idea it caused lots of problems for Assange. Especially when he was accused of conspiring to collect classified documents. After an Army analysts submitted documents to Assange he was accused of helping her retrieve them. 

He has since been detained without being charged which has sparked global outrage. In recent news he is supposed to be getting extradited from Britain to the US where he will face charges. 

It is important that we have whistleblowers because they prevent the government from lying to us. Also it allows us to stay informed about things that are going on in the government. However, even though whistleblowers do a noble job they are the only ones who take the fall for it. 

In both cases Edward Snowden and Julian Assange both lost so much for their involvement. Snowden lost the ability to live in America. And Assange lost something far worse, his freedom.

Personally, as a future Journalist I know that though out my career I will see my fare share of whistle blowers. Especially now living in a society that has become increasingly more an more intolerant of injustice. My hope however, is that people like Julian Assange and Edward Snowden won’t be punished for revealing wrong doing. 

Through out the course of this class I have learned about the injustices that have plagued our America for Centuries. What I want to know is when will we become a society that respects those who chose not to sit in silence but instead stand for the truth, no matter how scary it may be.  

Diffusion Theory: Brown v. Board of Education

In 1954 the Supreme Court ruled that the segregation of schools was unconstitutional. This famous case is know as Brown v. Board of Education, it is considered a precedent setting case that changed history. 

Based on the Diffusion of Innovation Bell Curve the case of Brown v. Board of Education can go though this idea perfectly. The Pioneer of this idea would be Oliver Brown who filed a lawsuit against the board of education. 

This was after he took his daughter to an all white school and she was denied entry into the school. This was a huge issue in the black community because parents felt like their kids weren’t getting a good education at all black schools. 

This was Oliver Brown’s main reason for filing the lawsuit in the first place. He wanted a better education for his daughter and he didn’t want the color of their skin to get in the way of that. 

After the Supreme Court issues their ruling it caused an uproar in the school system. Some people were overjoyed at the decision while others were outraged. This not only meant a change in the legal system but it also meant a change in the social system in the south that was very much still “separate but equal”. 

One of the first early adopters of the Brown v. Board of education was Ruby Bridges. She was a little girl in Louisiana who was the first African American little girl to desegregate an elementary school in 1960. She attended William Frantz Elementary School which at the time was an all white school. 

She cased huge uproar in parents who didn’t want the school to be integrated. However, by her parents letting her go, she made history. Even in present times she still continues to be an activist. The school as also made a plaque that memorializes her bravery all those years ago. 

After Ruby Bridges, people began slowly integrating into schools. However it was dangerous because even though it may have been legal it was still dangerous because there were still racist ideals and views at the time. 

However in 1964 Congress passed a Civil Rights Act. This act encouraged integration as it made sure that colleges weren’t still trying to segregate schools. Universities like Florida State University felt his act as the act made it harder for schools to accept white student only. It made sure that every student had a fair shot at getting an education. 

More recently a school in Mississippi has been in the news for still not being desegregated. In 2016 the school was reported on because they still had a separate side of the school for white student and a separate part of the school for black students. The school had struggled with this for decades, an NPR article talks about the schools struggles to integrate.                                    Ruby Bridges Today vs. When She Was Little

They said “Just this week, a federal judge ordered a Mississippi school district to desegregate its schools.The case on which the judge was ruling was originally brought during the summer of 1965. The first named plaintiff, "Diane Cowan, minor," was a fourth-grader at the time. Now she's Diane Cowan White, a 57-year-old clerk with the U.S. Postal Service.”

In 2017 the school was reported on again as they try their best to integrate the students. The piece talks about the graduating student and their struggle with the issue. 

In today’s world some would argue that we are maybe the laggard bunch. For example most colleges struggle with diversity on campus. Especially with changing politics and different economic circumstances that effect some student.

The Diffusion Theory Bell Curve really allows you to dissect and look at the trends of many different issues. By looking at the Brown v. Board of Education decision though this lens it allows us to take a look at our world today and see where we fall in all of it. It also sheds light on the many ways in which we need to change as a society. 

From Motion Pictures To Steaming Services

Over the course of the years we have always been  a society that generally strives for bigger and better things. 

This is the same thing that has happened with the history and evolution of the motion picture. 

Because I did my story on motion pictures I felt that the best presentation was the one on Netflix.

Originally we started off with a rudimentary zoetrope which evolved into the Kinetoscope, which was the first time we see people paying to consume a mini movie. 

Lastly we had the Cinematographe, which was our first big step into the world of consuming movies. 

Since then we have only ever progressed as far as streaming services go. Now almost every movie and TV show can be accessed though our phones, laptops, and TV’s. 

When Netflix came out in 1998, it was the start of a new kind of media consumption. I found this super interesting because I remember when my mom and her friends would talk about their Netflix movies coming in the mail. 

With most of the technologies that the class discussed they were from a different time frame so I loved being able to have memories of Netflix slightly in its early stages. 

One of the most interesting things I learned from the Netflix presentation was that Netflix has a video game side to it as well. 

Because Netflix has an algorithm it tries it’s best to recommend content to you based on the things that you watch. 

Personally my Netflix recommendations are a mix of true crime stories and romantic comedies. 

Because of that I don’t get any recommendations of any gaming activities. 

So I found it really interesting  that Netflix even has that. It shows how companies like Netflix are able to supply media and entertainment  to many different types of customers. 

This also sets Netflix apart from other streamings services because they offer not only movies and TV shows but also not Video games. 

This shows how the entertainment industry will always continue to create and find new ways to satisfy the public.