My Relationship With Technology

 03/09/2022

My Relationship With Technology 

Growing up in this incredible age of technology, I am constantly examining the role technology has in my life, and my relationship with it. For as long as I can remember, every technology class I have had has warned me about my Digital Footprint, which is the information you post online. It gets left online, forever, like a footprint in concrete. Personally, I find this concept terrifying, and I always have. The mere thought of all of the posts I have put online since 5th grade, will live on way after I am gone, makes me nauseous. 

Despite this fact, I still engage and use many online platforms to connect with friends and share posts. One of my favorite apps ever is Instagram. I have had Instagram since the summer before 5th grade. Since then, I have posted anything from selfies, to photos of my dog and family, to photos of my friends and even videos of my running around my backyard. Many of my posts from my early days on the app have been deleted. Over the years I have witnessed Insta start as a casual app people used to post funny pictures, turn into a platform only used or likes and bragging rights. I have seen many of my friends get obsessed  with the amount of likes or comments they get on a picture, but they are not the only ones. There are blogs, such as this one, which tell people how much engagement they should have per post. This constant comparison leads to depression and anxiety. Taking into account the digital footprint and mental strain that social media has on people, one would think that this might be a huge deterrent for those considering starting a social media account. 

Your mental health may be at risk when you are using social media, but you digital footprint also grows at anytime you access the internet. Something I did not realize until recently is that we are all being tracked on the internet. I was fully aware that what you post does not go away, even if you delete it. But the fact that it is so easy for someone to hack into your email and use or sell your information is just as scary as leaving behind your posts. One way sites can track you is if you allow the site to use cookies. When you allow a website to access your cookies, it lets the website remember you and what you looked up on it. The use of cookies not only makes it easier for people to track you, it also makes your digital footprint grow. 

After discovering these facts, I am definitely going to be more careful with what I post online. I want to decrease my digital footprint and keep my information safe from people who will use it. These facts really put into perspective the amount of information that is actually accessible online. Hopefully after reading up on these topics, it encourages you to take into consideration how much of your information you are actually putting out there. Stay safe on the internet! 

Diffusion of Innovations

 2/21/2022

Diffusion of Ideas: TikTok

TikTok has 1 billion people use this app monthly. 20.83% of international internet users have TikTok. Almost every teenager I know has a TikTok account. On average I spend an hour to two hours a day on this video app, but I have friends who spend over 3 hours on TikTok every single day. TikTok was launched officially in 2017, almost exactly a year after Vine, the 6 second video app, was shut down. I had Vine in middle school, and it was a big deal, but nowhere near how HUGE TikTok is. 

Why did TikTok catch on and spread so fast? As humans, attention span our has decreased to about 8 seconds, simply based on the fact of how much information we now consume daily. TikTok's videos range from 2 second - 3 minute videos, but the most popular videos on the app range from 10 - 15 second clips. This app is highly addictive the videos on it reward our brain with dopamine. These facts have also played into why so many people became early adopters. With Vine shut down, people were looking for an app that only had videos on it to reward their brains. 

With as many people are on TikTok, there are many reasons why people do not have it, or have even deleted the app. TikTok has been infamously known for promoting negative behaviors. This app has become a safe haven for inappropriate behavior, such as promoting eating disorders and it opens the floodgates for predators with the amount of young children on this app. People who do not have TikTok might actually benefit from it. 

Those who are not on TikTok do not have to worry about many of the issues I named above, but those issues are going on with almost every app these days. The positives of not having this app definitely outweigh the positives of keeping it. The only reason I have not deleted it yet is because I genuinely believe I am addicted to it. I hope that the internet can become a safer place, but I do not see that happening anytime soon. 

EOTO: Spiral of Silence

 2/18/2022

EOTO: Spiral of Silence

The Spiral of Silence is the idea that if someone has an opinion that is not necessarily in the majority, they will be scared to share it. Thus leading to only the popular opinion being shared, making people think that it is the only opinion that matters. This idea was created by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, a German researcher in the 1960's and 70's. She wrote a whole book about her research on this topic and how it affects our world. We are hardwired to go with the grain when we are uncomfortable in a situation, this discomfort creates the Spiral of Silence, a pattern that is almost impossible to break. 

The implications of this idea, in my opinion, are mostly not very good. When someone has an idea that could help with something going on in society, but is too afraid to share their view, all of us as a whole could suffer. Most people are scared to have different ideas when they do not follow the majority. But on the other hand, it sometimes is good when people keep quiet about an idea or agenda that could harm society. These implications lead to ways that these ideas can influence society as a whole. Listening to people in power can be a good thing, but if they are doing something bad and everyone feels like they are the only one who is having thoughts against that person, they may not speak up, which would lead to a possible disaster. 

This idea affects different segments differently. An example I saw was about the safety of people who might identify with LGBTQ in societies that promote tolerance. Obviously it would be safer for those who identify as LGBTQ to live in a society where the majority is more accepting of them. But if they live in a society where the majority is homophobic, they are less likely to come out and they definitely would not feel safe. This idea is the same for other segments too, anyone who is not in the majority may not feel comfortable sharing their ideas out loud. 

I find the way that it may affect my family and friends very scary. I have no problem sharing my opinion even if it is in the minority, I do not think it is embarrassing to think differently. But, it is very disheartening to think that the people I love could be in a situation where they do not feel comfortable sharing their opinions because it is not what everyone else thinks. Listening to the majority on an issue is just as important as listening to the minority. The difference in opinion is what keeps our society running and functioning. What we need to do is make it more acceptable to share your opinion no matter what. We need to figure out how to make those who are uncomfortable feel like they will not be judged no matter what they think. The Spiral of Silence is an idea that clearly does affect our society today. The best advice I can give on this situation is that if you have an opinion that does not agree with the minority, there is no shame in expressing that feeling you have. Be proud that you are different and always speak your mind so that we can break the Spiral of Silence. 

Privacy On & Offline

 2/16/2022

Privacy On & Offline

There is no privacy in the Digital Age at all. Everything we put online lives on forever, even after we are gone. Watching Darieth Chisolm's Ted Talk really proves the point that after we post or take a picture of anything on the internet, the content is no longer private. Anyone can access what you have done on the internet, everything you do leaves your digital footprints behind. That is a scary idea in itself considering all of the "privacy" measures our social media accounts that create this false sense of security in the photos we take, media we save, and messages we share. 

Not only are these conversations, images, etc, not really private; they can be used against us too. Mentioned above, Chisolm talks about how revenge porn almost ruined her. Even after the initial website was taken down, the explicit images her ex had posted remain on the internet, and will forever. Obviously, she cannot control her ex, but it is extremely disgusting and upsetting to think that these photos of her will live on forever on the internet without her permission. 

Taking a look at another Ted Talk about privacy in this day and age yet again proves how our supposedly private conversations are not. Christopher Stoghoian's Ted Talk touches on how our conversations we have on the phone are being wiretapped. Our phone companies systems can be hacked, leading to our phones possibly being wiretapped, and our conversations being listened too. But with modern phones, the phone companies can encrypt our devices, making it harder to wiretap, which leads to governments being upset. Many government officials feel like they should have the right to be able to access the private conversations, emails, and etc. that many are having in their countries as a safety precaution. 

These privacy issues effect all of us, when we accept cookies on a website or post something on the internet, we lose a piece of our privacy. Specifically speaking, this effects me every time I have a conversation with someone that I believe is private. I find it utterly disturbing to think that someone could be listening on my mom and I as we talk about what is going on in our family. I am not quite sure how I feel about government involvement on these issues. On one hand I feel like it is a total invasion of privacy if they are listening to everything we say; but on the other I feel like with them listening, it could stop a terrorist attack or something of that nature.  Things we can do to protect ourselves of privacy invasions are not accepting cookies on websites or using a fake email for spam. With so much going on in the world today, privacy should be something we take very seriously. 

EOTO: Presentations

 2/9/2022

EOTO: Presentations

In class we learned about many inventions that furthered technology and daily life for the better. I personally cannot imagine our world without many of the inventions we use every single day. I took time to look at how television changed our world, but there are many other inventions that are just as (or more) important to our world. 

One of my favorites was learning about the mail/postal service. This is an invention that seems to have been around since the beginning of time, which is almost accurate. The first mail service was put into place by the Persian Government 550 B.C. The first U.S. Postal Service was created by Benjamin Franklin on July 26, 1775. He was also the first Postmaster General for our country. The mail/postal service is definitely one of the most influential inventions that mankind has made, but there are other inventions that have made an imprint on our lives. 

Another incredible invention that has changed daily life as we know it has been the invention of video games. Spacewar! was the first video game created by MIT students, Steve Russel and his friends, in the 1960's. At first, only college students could play this video game, but as time went on, people created game consoles, and eventually games you can play on the internet and your phone. Steve Russel and his friend's creation has launched many other video games and changed the internet and the way people spend their time for the rest of human existence. 

These two inventions are excellent examples of how far human created technology has come since the beginning of time. As time goes on, technology will only continue to advance and build on top of each other. Each invention has had an important hold on our world, I can not wait to see how much new inventions will change the world!

Silencing Anti-War Voices

 2/6/2022

Silencing Anti-War Voices

War is something that I have grown up with my entire life, the Global War on Terror started before I was even born. I have seen the news, watched movies, read books, and studied all of the wars America has been involved my whole life. But something that I did not learn in school, was Anti-War voices. Other than the hippies during Vietnam, history makes it seems like all of America is armed and at the ready when it comes getting involved in world conflicts. Now obviously not every single American is Pro-War, but you definitely hear their voices louder than the Anti-War ones. 

I would have to agree with the fact that as Americans, we hear more Pro-War voices, than the ones against it. As of late, Russia appears to be planning an invasion on Ukraine. A conflict of this proportion could send us into World War III, which is seriously the last thing we need. Many news outlets are reporting on this issue as if they have already accepted the fact that the world is being thrown into this massive conflict, and not reporting on ways to possibly prevent this catastrophic event from happening. 

Anti-War voices are being silenced right this very instant because they do not make it into mainstream news. I believe this is the case because the cost of war is so high. It is so incredibly expensive to go to war, but war can also be incredibly lucrative. Therefore, when news outlets report on war, they make more money because the ones paying for the war are going to want to watch the news about it. I had never heard of Antiwar.com or The American Conservative before having to read them for this class. The people writing on these websites are incredibly intelligent and share some very important views on how to handle not going to war. Because of the censorship of news outlets, unfortunately, Anti-War voices get lost in all the panic that Pro-War voices cause, making it difficult to find these obscure websites. They have important ideas that need to be shared with mainstream media, to prove that war is not the answer. 

EOTO: Television

 1/31/2022

EOTO: Television

Many of us cannot even begin to imagine our lives without Television, I certainly cannot. It is a piece of technology that has seems to have been a part of our lives since the very beginning. But the truth is, this incredible technology is not even 100 years old yet. The modern electronic TV was invented in 1927 by Philo Taylor Farnsworth. His invention scanned beams of electrons into images, thus creating what we now know as modern Television. 

Farnsworth was trying solve the problem of how slow the images on the screen by speeding them up. He achieved this through the electron beams. Television is now like an electronic flip-book  because of the electronic beams. This created the images we can see on Television everyday. Farnsworth is credited with creating an invention that has undoubtedly changed the course of human history for all of mankind, but he was not alone in this venture. Many other scientists also get credit for the work they have done, such as John Logie Baird. He helped televise objects in motion, which added to the flip-book like creation Farnsworth worked on. 

With the invention of Television, our world has definitely changed in ways many could not have thought possible until the 20th century. One of the largest ways our world has changed as a result of Television is our access to information. We can view world news, sporting events, and expand our general knowledge on the world as we know it. Television has not only created easier access to knowledge and world events, it has improved communication in extreme ways. Now we can communicate with people from all around the world on multiple platforms, making it easier to access world news and different people that would not usually be in our line of communication. While Television has definitely improved many parts of our day-to-day life, it also has many drawbacks and negative aspects that have taken a toll on our world. 

Television had increased our access to many positive matters, but it has also exposed multiple generations to violence, inappropriate language and activities, drug and alcohol abuse, and disturbing images. Many blame the violence on Television for many issues in US society today, such as school shootings and glorification of crimes in many shows and movies. While these issues are important and need to be taken seriously, as a society we need to a better job of informing the youth that there are consequences for actions that incite violence. We need to be better all together in making our screens more of a positive place in general. 

Overall, the invention of Television has changed our world in multiple ways. When this incredible creation became more common, communication with different parts of the world also did. As our world continues to grow and improve, Television is one of those things that we will be able to count on. Whether it's in our pockets, on our wall, or in a theater, Television will continue to connect and improve our world!