FINAL BLOG POST: My Relationship With Social Media

 

  

 Social media and the advancement of technology, in general, embody what it truly means to be a double-edged sword. While incredible strides for humanity have been made through the use of technology, our generation today is battling an addiction that is arguably stronger than any other kind-the addiction to social media. We have fallen victim to the instant gratification felt with all of the world’s information at our disposal and the ability to make ourselves known online. Famous singer and songwriter Hozier once said, “Social media is an advertisement for the superficial extroverted self”. People have become obsessed with the idea of portraying a certain persona online and creating an image of yourself that may not be entirely accurate. I don’t say that judgingly because I am guilty of doing the same thing myself. There are times when I have battled depression and gone through dark times behind closed doors but would post pictures on Instagram that depict someone who is happy and doing well. As I stated before, there are certainly benefits to social media and technology as well. Social media has given us a platform to connect with one another, regardless of the distance between us, and again it provides access to information and resources. Per this assignment, I have taken the time to assess my overall relationship with social media and how it has affected me personally. After completing my analysis, I have come to the conclusion that social media has had an overall negative effect, and here’s why:

    

  

 I’ve been on social media for as long as I can remember. In 4th grade, everyone started making Facebook pages for some reason so I also made one to prevent feeling left out. I was also on Instagram and Snapchat by the age of 13, which was fairly young looking back now. Growing up with social media having such a heavy presence gave me a somewhat warped sense of identity. Being exposed to influencers and celebrities that posted certainly contributed to my body dysmorphia and depression. Seeing people like Kim Kardashian advertise appetite suppressant lollipops and teas affected my body image and made me feel like I should be ashamed for not looking like them. When I was younger, I started to measure my worth in the form of likes and comments, but I wish someone could go back in time and tell me that none of that mattered.

    Aside from the damaging mental health effects, social media is also one of the worst distractions. A short study break on TikTok can quickly turn into an hour of being unproductive. It has become increasingly difficult to resist the urge to pick up our phones at every beep, ding, and buzz. Our attention spans have decreased significantly and productivity levels have also decreased as we integrate into more “remote work” settings. Below is a video that highlights the harmful effects that social media has on our brains.

    There are several ways we can combat this issue that is plaguing our society. For one, we can follow the footsteps of Sonia Bokhari, a 14-year-old girl who quit social media to be more present in real life and shelter herself from the dangers of the internet. If you don’t want to delete social media completely, you can also take breaks and utilize app settings that allow you to set a usage timer. Being mindful of WHAT you post on the internet and the information you share are also important steps in protecting your online privacy. Overall, social media can only control you as much as you let it. Take time to reflect on your relationship with social media to determine if it’s healthy or not.

Post #11: Living in the Age of AI

     The use of artificial intelligence and robots has become increasingly popular within recent years. This fact is alarming for several reasons, the main ones being lack of privacy and job security. This PBS documentary was very informative and eye-opening towards just how involved the government is in personal affairs and how almost every aspect of life is being monitored. Artificial intelligence is certainly a force to be reckoned with because it has the power to take over everything.

    In terms of job security, artificial intelligence has been a driving factor in unemployment. Structural unemployment results from increased industrialization and technology use, replacing humans as the main source of labor. Many companies and employers nowadays work to solve the problem of efficiency, questioning how tasks can be completed with as few workers as possible. This is one of the leading factors for the rise in inequality in America, as automation takes jobs that would previously be carried out by people. Karl Marx outlines this struggle between capital and labor in many of his theories, showing a perpetual cycle of the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer. 

    Artificial intelligence also poses a threat to both personal and national security. When it comes to social media, we are simply pawns in a much larger game of surveillance capital. Our search histories, favorited websites, liked content, and more are all tracked and used by digital exhaust to predict user interest. Technological devices that are marketed as “helpful” and “smart” tools such as Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home are actually used to gather data from each household. The data and information that is gathered are then used for micro-behavioral targeting efforts. The video also showed examples of how artificial intelligence can be dangerous on a political scale, such as in the ways it was used by China for political re-education. Surveillance is used to target people of the Uyghur culture and imprison them in camps, essentially committing genocide. Personally, I feel as if the cons of artificial intelligence outweigh the pros.

In conclusion, artificial intelligence tools threaten the system of democracy we have established. I’ve learned that it’s important to protect your data and ensure that your online presence is kept to a minimum to avoid surveillance. Artificial intelligence is definitely a scary innovation, but unfortunately, it is one that will only progress and grow stronger as time continues. I am interested to see what artificial intelligence will look like ten years down the road. 

Post #10: Learning About the Echo Chamber

 

    One of the most interesting concepts to learn about through the “each one teach one” presentations was the echo chamber. In his presentation, Henry opened with several examples that helped introduce the idea of echo chambers. For instance, he asked how many people thought the Lakers are overrated and those who did not raise their hand were seen as the “other side” who wasn’t a part of the majority's echo chamber. The echo chamber refers to a social structure from which other relevant voices have been actively discredited, creating almost a circle of only similar beliefs and opinions. People are conditioned to distrust contrary views or information from the "other side" which only reinforces their own ideas and convinces them that others are wrong. People from the “other side” are portrayed as lacking integrity, morals, and intelligence. 

    Why are echo chambers so dangerous to us as a society? Well, with echo chambers, you can expose the person to new information to try to change their views and open their minds, but it won't work because they don't trust any of the information sources or people that contradict their view. Additionally, it creates a massive divide within our country where both sides ostracize the other. For example, people who watch CNN think people who watch Fox are misinformed while people who watch Fox think people who watch CNN are misinformed. Both news networks have a strong bias towards either the right or left and it segregates people from each other because of their differing beliefs. 

    The only way to escape the echo chamber is by suspending all beliefs about preconceived notions, judgements, and essentially unlearning everything you’ve been told. Another important thing to remember is the importance of utilizing multiple forms of media and news sources to avoid falling into an echo chamber habit. Explore obscure websites, listen to opinions that differ from your own, and gather information to form your own beliefs, not just echo what has been told to you.

Post #9: How the Diffusion of Innovation Theory Applies to Facebook

    Diffusion of innovations is a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread (Wikipedia). One of the most impactful and widespread innovations within the past two decades is Facebook. Facebook was invented in 2004 by Mark Zuckerburg when he was only a sophomore in college. Studying at Harvard for computer science, he wanted to make a platform that connected Harvard students to other Harvard students. Little did Zuckerberg know, he made the first and most successful social media app to ever exist. Zuckerberg as well as the people who helped him create Facebook are known as the innovators, the ones who drive change and aim to fill a gap within society. Apparently, “after one day over one thousand people had registered,” (History.com). So many people became early adopters of Facebook because it was the first of its kind, simply put. Many of these early adopters and the early majority were college students. There was nothing comparable in the world to Facebook, which is how it has the fame it has today.

    As time progressed, Facebook became more popular for people of older demographics as well. Many middle-aged people started making accounts and were categorized as the late majority. People love to be a part of what is new and coming, and Facebook was exactly that. However, as good as the idea of Facebook was, Zuckerberg was notorious for getting himself in trouble. Because of that, there were a lot of people who were late adopters of Facebook and even more who were late adopters who wound up dropping Facebook altogether. After Zuckerberg admitted that Facebook was stealing a lot of their user’s personal data, many people pulled out of using the platform. Plus, lawsuits were in full effect once this information was released to the public as well, giving Facebook a bad reputation that Zuckerberg never wanted. On the other hand, bad press is still press, and Facebook was getting a lot of it. I think the negative effects speak for themselves, but despite all the negativity that Facebook was getting, there are still so many people who stayed loyal. On top of that, there are still over 2 billion active Facebook users (History.com) to this day, which means that there are positives that outweigh the negatives.

     As always, there are laggards who still don’t have Facebook and don’t ever intend on having it. These types of people usually want to stay clear of social media and are rightfully afraid of their personal information being sold or monitored. The selling point of Facebook is the fact that it can connect you to anyone, anywhere, at any time. The potential Facebook had back at Harvard in 2004 was nothing compared to what it blossomed into today and it has certainly made history as one of the most noteworthy innovations.

Sources:

Wikimedia Foundation. (2022, February 13). Diffusion of innovations. Wikipedia. Retrieved February 28, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations

A&E Television Networks. (2019, October 24). Facebook launches. History.com. Retrieved February 28, 2022, from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/facebook-launches-mark-zuckerberg#:~:text=On%20February%204%2C%202004%2C%20a,that%20was%20only%20the%20beginning

Post #8: The Dangers of Gatekeeping

 
    

    The First Amendment reads, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Within recent years, the government has not upheld this promise to the people, especially when it comes to freedom of the press. The press is often censored and if they do publish articles that criticize the government or spread more obscure beliefs, they are usually labeled with a warning about misinformation. The pursuit of truth is tried and tested time and time again as it is becoming increasingly more difficult to find information that does not follow the trend of mainstream media. Gatekeeping describes the process of filtering information for distribution to the public, whether for publication, broadcasting, the internet, or some other mode of communication.

    The Gatekeeping Theory was originally thought of by the German social psychologist Kurt Lewin. Lewin’s studies focused on human behavior and how each person’s experiences and perceptions of themselves and others are affected by the beliefs held by other groups and individuals. The concept of gatekeeping is simple. Lewin’s model to the left shows that N, the news source, has several news items that they would like to push through the channel (N1, N2, N3, and N4); however, there is a gate (perhaps taking the form of the government or other media sources) that prevents some of those news items (N1 and N4) from passing through and reaching M, the audience. News sources might decide not to publish particular stories in order to protect the reputation of their network, but it’s not fair to the people who want to stay informed and current.

    There are several examples of information being gatekept by today’s media. For instance, there was a very important news conference held between Russia and Ukraine on February 17, 2022. It was challenging to find coverage on this critical conference because many American news outlets did not publish any stories about it or live-stream the event on their channels. People who wanted to know what was going on during the conference needed to search for more inconspicuous news sources. Below is a TedTalk by Randall Mikkelsen, a veteran journalist who is now managing editor at Thomson Reuters. In his talk, Mikkelsen describes the importance of being your own gatekeeper and how to combat fake news.

    

    Gatekeeping has many negative implications. It limits the public’s access to seeking out accurate, unbiased information and it blurs the lines of what is true from what is false. Additionally, gatekeeping completely contradicts the principle of the marketplace of ideas. As a society, we are supposed to be exposed to multiple viewpoints and perspectives that way we are able to make informed decisions about which ones are best, but gatekeeping only allows certain voices to be heard. How can someone think for him or herself when they are being spoon-fed by the media? Gatekeeping goes against one of our most valued fundamentals in the United States: freedom. Without freedom and access to knowledge, we are confined to one set of belief systems as a whole and are unable to formulate our own opinions.

Sources:

Davie, G. (2018, November 2). Gatekeeping theory. Mass Communication Theory. Retrieved February 15, 2022, from https://masscommtheory.com/theory-overviews/gatekeeping-theory/#:~:text=Based%20on%20personal%20preference%2C%20professional,pass%20through%20the%20their%20audience.&text=Gatekeeping%20may%20also%20hold%20influence,into%20the%20audience's%20confirmation%20bias. 

DeIuliis, D. (2015). In this gatekeeping theory from social fields to social ...cscc.scu.edu/trends/v34/crt_v34_n1_ ¢  mation - [PDF document]. vdocuments.mx. Retrieved February 15, 2022, from https://vdocuments.mx/in-this-gatekeeping-theory-from-social-fields-to-social-csccscuedutrendsv34crtv34n1.html 

Shoemaker, P., Riccio, J., & Johnson, P. (2013). Gatekeeping. Oxford Bibliographies Online Datasets. https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780199756841-0011 

Post #7: How to Reduce Your Digital Footprint

 

    At some point in every person’s life, we have all been warned of the dangers of our digital footprint. I have heard “Be careful of what you post, your future employer could see that” at least one hundred times. But what if we are leaving a digital footprint without even knowing it? As hard as someone can try to remain anonymous and limit their online presence, it’s virtually impossible with the data mining techniques and website surveillance that we are encountering today. My dad, for example, is someone who doesn’t have any social media; however, when you Google his name, a real estate website pops up providing his address and mortgage price as well as a website called usphonebook.com with his name and phone number attached. No wonder we get so many spam calls! Another example is Face.com. This website keeps an inventory of facial recognition from various sources including social media, tagged pictures, and even security camera footage. Like Juan Enriquez says in his Ted Talk, we all have electronic tattoos that follow us. The amount of personal information that is readily available to strangers on the internet is terrifying, but what’s even more frightening is the fact that companies, such as Facebook, can use that information against us. 

    These issues affect me and my family directly, as mentioned above. There is no such thing as privacy for anyone who has social media, and even for the ones who don’t. My family and I mainly utilize social media to keep in touch with long-distance relatives and to share memories. The fact that sites like Facebook can sell our personal information and data is very alarming. What’s even worse is nothing we can do to stop it because the terms and conditions of many social media platforms include a contract of adhesion. We are left virtually powerless in this fight for digital privacy.

    Currently, there isn’t any regulation for digital privacy. The government should actively work to prevent tech companies from selling and distributing personal data, especially since many people do not realize they are voluntarily providing it. Additionally, phone tapping and social listening should be made illegal, unless being used for surveillance in a case of criminal activity. More legislation needs to be passed to improve data protection and invasive data mining. 

    There are measures we can take to minimize the invasions of privacy we experience on the internet. For example, clearing your cache and search history from your computer or laptop every so often is very important. Having a lot of information stored in your cache can affect the efficiency of your device and invite unsolicited monitoring. Additionally, declining cookies as often as possible prevents websites like Google from gathering your personal information. By taking these measures, you can limit the personal data you share online and minimize the risks that accompany having an online presence. 

Post #6: What I Learned From EOTO

    There were several interesting presentations about communication technology that we learned about in class. Some of the things we learned about, such as paper, the lens, and the carrier pigeon, didn’t even cross my mind as being considered technological innovations. Other presentations covered technology that I use in my everyday life, such as the iPhone, Instagram, TikTok, and laptops. There was definitely a large scope and variety of telecommunication-related topics explained.
    

    As someone who has always enjoyed writing and reading newspapers and magazines, I was quite interested in learning more about the printing press. The printing press was briefly talked about in my high school and maybe even middle school classes, but not a ton of information accompanied those discussions. With this presentation, I feel as if I got a deeper analysis of the printing press’ significance as well as a more thorough historical background.
    

    The printing press, as the name suggests, was a machine used to mass-produce printed materials like books, newspapers, pamphlets, etc. The way it worked was by applying a high amount of pressure to a surface that contained ink to stamp words onto pieces of paper or whatever medium was being used. One of the first versions of the printing press was actually made in China (this I was unaware of). Johannes Gutenberg used that model as inspiration and eventually brought this idea to life in Europe during the fifteenth century. The printing press was an important invention because prior to it, making books was extremely expensive and time-consuming. Because more books were being made, more people had access to education and reading materials. One of the first materials to have ever been mass-printed was the Gutenberg Bible. As the saying goes, knowledge is power, so the printing press was definitely an impactful development that changed society forever.