Final Blog Post

 The Relationship with Social Media

        Social Media has been on the rise for years and years now and it's become more of a double-edged sword.  I've somewhat beaten this topic to death this year with the amount of projects I've worked on this semester about the platforms.  But whether we are ready or not for it, social media is here and it is growing in popularity.  

        There are several pros and cons for social and some go hand in hand as well.  Social makes many tasks so much more convenient for us.  However, it also a medium that can be used for deception and to spread false information more easily and quickly.  

The power of social media on our brains is a growing issue, according to the documentary “The Social Dilemma”.  Social media, especially on our smartphones, has become so commonplace in our society today that many of us don’t even realize how much time we are spending with our technology.  Because of its success, the social media market is now being driven by their lust for profit rather than their desire to improve the connection of humanity.  Many platforms are using personal user data to take advantage of those who use the platform.

 

 

Social media used to be all about the people.  It was about bringing people together, keeping families close, and connecting friendships. However, it has slowly evolved to be about making money off of people. Unlike in other industries, where they promote physical products to consumers, in the social media industry, the consumers are the product.  In the documentary, it mentioned how the like button on facebook and/or other platforms has evolved in value over time.  The incentives are now different.  Some people, specifically young/middle teens are so obsessed with how many likes they get on their posts, it’s what determines their mood and self-worth is.  If they are not satisfied with their numbers, some become depressed and some even go the length to commit self harm and suicide.  This is a huge problem and it was definitely not the intent of social media.

        As a result of the way social media companies are marketing their platforms, we are losing connections with each other instead of building them because of the way that they are trying to get money over actually bringing people together.  Just like the family example from the documentary, people feel like they are missing out and being excluded by just not being on their phone.  For them, it becomes a mindset of “If I’m not always online or posting, it’s like I don’t exist”.

Blog Post #10

 The Sherman Anti-Trust Act

For my second EOTO, my group and I covered Policy.  I specifically talked about the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890.  The Anti-Trust Act was a legislation put forward by the United States Congress in hopes to restrain concentrations of power that interfere with trade and reduce economic competition.  It also was enacted in attempt to monopolize any and all parts of commerce in the United States.  As a result of this happening, it invalidates many from having a place in the market and economy.  

The Anti-Trust Act was named for U.S. Senator John Sherman.  He was a politician from the state of Ohio during the American Civil War.  He was also an expert on the regulation of commerce which makes a great deal of sense as it pertains to the Sherman Anti-Trust Act.  

I think that one of the most important things to point out about the Sherman Anti-Trust Act is that it was not aimed at stopping the healthy monopolies and healthy competition.  These healthy ones actually contributed dividends to the economy.  It was more aimed to target those that resulted from attempts to dominate the marketplace.  

When the Sherman Anti-Trust Act was first passed, it proved to be quite popular and it signified an important change in American strategy towards markets and business.  However, the Anti-Trust Act was passed during a time of high tensions, where there was a lot of public hostility.  Specifically, there was alot of hostility towards large corporations that were taking alot of economic space.  A great example of this was the American Railway Union, which was unfairly monopolizing in several industries.  Now this wasn't uncommon for railroad companies but this was a big one and the fact still stands strong.  The American Railway Union and other large corporations that were doing this caused economic problems for many.  Consumers had to deal with high prices, and competitors were shut out of the market, some of which were shut so completely that they didn't bounce back.  

Blog Post #9

 Bandcamp Users Diffusion Theory

     Bandcamp is an audio/song sharing and streaming website that was founded in 2007.  It serves as a tool for hundreds of thousands of artists and is used by millions of fans all around.  They strive to "create the best possible service for artists and labels to share and earn money from their music, and for fans to discover and enjoy it".  

     Bandcamp received around 50% of it's social traffic from YouTube and around 30% from Facebook.  This platform grew and spread most likely because of its simplicity and ease of use for smaller and less popular artists to share and make money off of creating music.  It's also great for the fans of these smaller artists and groups.  This idea is also what caused it to get so many early adopters.  I think many people are either late adopters or not adopters at all (laggards) because of the fact that this platform is more less common and less popular artists and music, which doesn't always draw in as many followers.  In addition, there are other platforms that are available that are defined competitors such as Spotify, Apple Music, SoundCloud, and others.  

Blog Post #6

 EOTO

     Video streaming services have been on the rise for a while now.  The first video streaming platform was in 2007 and was actually called 'Live Stream'.  It was started the trend of live streaming platforms to begin with.  Video live streaming was really popularized by YouTube in 2008 with its feature.  These services really promoted the idea of real-time video streaming and live feedback.  It was promoted to bring communities closer together with being able to communicate more lively.  Some examples of popular live streaming platforms include Twitch (https://www.twitch.tv/),  Periscope (https://www.pscp.tv/), as well as many other platforms, sites, and apps.  Some streaming services have extra aspects to them such as rewards systems, live location sharing, and other interactive features.  For example, I know that Twitch has a reward system where you can earn points by watching and interacting with certain users for periods of time.  

     One great thing about video streaming services is that there is so much more interactivability due to it being live.  There is a live chat that allows for real-time feedback as opposed to a comments section on let's say a static YouTube video.  This, in effect, creates a greater sense of community between streamers and their viewers.  Because of this, these people, including the streamers/creators themselves are more easily approachable.  

     However, being easily approachable can also lead to some downsides.  One issue with this can be bad relationships that may form between.  Anyone can be a streamer on a wide variety of these platforms with little to no experience.  As a result, you get some immature and toxic users streaming and rallying up a different group of followers.  

Blog Post #5

 In the Age of AI

     From watching the documentary "In the Age of AI" by Frontline, I could definitely sympathize with alot of what was said by the speakers.  After watching the movie, I found myself thinking about the concepts and ideas talked about for the rest of the day.  What would it really be like if and when the world becomes much further advanced in technology and artificial intelligence?  What happens when it becomes so mainstream that it essentially controls the world?  

     Social Media and technology has become so commonplace in our society today that many of us don't even realize how much time we are spending with our technology.  Because of its success, this social media and market is now driven by their lust to profit rather than their desire to improve the connection of humanity.  Many platforms are using personal user data to take advantage of those who use those platforms.  

     Some very positive aspects of this new age of AI from the documentary are where the the woman with breast cancer had a computer locate problems.  The artificial intelligence by deep learning was able to understand language and was able to predict early stage conditions after it analyzed data and from mammograms and diagnostic notes.  This is a huge deal because if you have the ability to locate the problem early, it is so much easier to diagnose and cure it before and major issues form in the body.   

     On the other hand, the situation about the self driving trucks presented a different reaction among certain people.  The truck drivers, for example, definitely lose out here since there are now machines and technology that can do their jobs for them.  It's become increasingly more difficult for veteran independent drivers to make a living because they are being replaced.  Another example being the situation with Harry Cripps, who is an autoworker and a local union president.  The employment in that area where he worked was near six percent with poverty being around 30 percent.  He mentioned how robots don't have to pay taxes and other things like that which was comedic but also very true.  He exclaimed that "If we continue to go in an automated system, what are we going to do."

 

Blog Post #4

Twitter's Suspending of Users

     For this prompt, I referred to the recent news of Twitter and Snapchat suspending Trump from their platforms due to his social media posts. The FA allows for Freedom of Speech, so that anyone can say whatever they want, provided that it does not risk serious harm to others. This is one of the most important freedoms of the United States--the freedom to speak out your opinions and give a voice to your thoughts. However, the FA does not condone hate speech or speech that incites violence, as this can potentially hurt other people.  

This is particularly relevant to private companies, who can dictate their freedoms according to their own desires. In the case of Twitter and Snapchat, they decided that Trump's language violated their speech policies, and he was therefore suspended from their platforms. Private companies are allowed to do this because their platforms are individually-run, without government interference. Therefore, Twitter and Snapchat are not violating Trump's FA rights to free speech. Rather, they are utilizing their own rights to decide who can say what on their respective platforms. 

If people feel censored online, they can view the policies of their social media site or platform to view what their rules and guidelines are. Typically, sites can choose what is said on their pages, and they can remove a post or user if they feel that there is a violation. Unjust censoring should be challenged, however, as it's important to stand up for one's rights and for freedom of speech.

Sources: https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/08/tech/trump-twitter-ban/index.html

Blog Post #2

 The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court plays a super important role in decision making among Congress and the government.  I was a little surprised when I heard that there were only just over 100 Supreme Court justices and that many members served over 36 years, decades after the president who appointed them had left office.  I was not aware that some people called the 14th Amendment the Second Bill of Rights and I can see the parallels drawn between the two.  Another thing I found out was that the Supreme Court receives over 100 new cases each week, which to me sounds like a bunch.  So they have to diligent in how they work because of the high demand. 

I think something that the video mentioned that is humorous but also very important was that the the people of the Supreme Court are real people, not disembodied souls.  I think the most important takeaway from the video is where one of the members said "A court has no secrets because it's all out there in the opinion, and the inside story of a court is that there is no inside story.  It's people simply thinking."  This was his response to the question that was asked about the court keeping it's distance between itself and the larger public.  One of the members said that from their experience standing in the room and arguing a case, that it's really good to have a strong opening sentence and a great closing one as well if there's time.  Towards the end of the video, it was said that "If the court ever stopped defending the Constitution or the people ever stopped listening, then one of the treasures that keep this the freest nation in the world would cease to exist."