Blog Post #10

 In this age of technology, I think it’s difficult to say whether or not I have a good or bad relationship with technology. I have grown up with it my whole life. I do think that I use my phone and computer too much sometimes. But it can be difficult to put technology away. 

“A 2022 study in the United States found that consumers were spending on average 13 hours 5 minutes with media and technology per day. Out of this, 5 hours 17 minutes of this was with video, 2 hours 51 minutes with audio, 1 hour 47 minutes with gaming, and 1 hour 33 minutes on messaging and social media”(Daily time spent using media and technology in the US 2022-2026).

Technology informs me and also misleads me. I have learned a lot. There is so much information out there. It can be difficult to dissect and weave through information that may or may not be factual. 

I worry about our society. Technology has been amazing and beneficial for everyone. We can communicate with everybody at any time. We know what is going on in the world within seconds of it happening. 

But I worry that we are going down the wrong path. We are all so connected to technology that we don’t look up from our phones and tablets. We are becoming a society that can communicate using technology, but we struggle with face-to-face communication. 

We all need to take a look at ourselves and understand that the use of technology might be making us isolated. 

Since Covid-19, we have all needed to stay home. But now that all the bans and restrictions have been lifted, we can explore the world around us and be with others. But this does not mean that it did not impact society's ability to communicate. 

“When technology takes the place of in-person relationships, it has been found to increase loneliness and disconnection and reduce well-being…High social media use is linked to reduced positive mental health outcomes–especially feelings of well-being…Maintaining control and self-monitoring technology consumption may be a fruitful strategy to combat loneliness and help people cope with stress and anxiety. Unfortunately, this is often easier said than done. Heavy internet users may interpret their compulsion as a minimal problem, while a disconnection can lead to anxiety and feelings of loss”(Technology Use, Loneliness, and Isolation | Psychology Today).

Blog Post #9

 After watching the second hour of In the Age of AI (full documentary) | FRONTLINE, I have a few comments. Women are being underrepresented. In discussions of robots and automation, almost all photos are of men, even though women are the majority of the ones doing the work.

Women are overrepresented in marginalized occupations like cashiers or fast food workers, as well as in a large number of clerical positions in offices like HR departments, payroll, and finance, these all have potential for automation. Advances in technology are going to take over jobs. 

AI is going to do some of that. software robots are going to do some of that. They are both going to have a role in the workplace. 

Most Americans can not afford a $400 unplanned expense, so if people want to advance in a certain field, different hiccups can make it difficult.  

New machines will penetrate every sector of the economy, from insurance companies to human resource departments, from law firms to the trading world of Wall Street. We are all going to see how and how many robots it takes to take jobs from people.

Blog Post #8

 I think we have not heard of these antiwar websites because the government wants us all to feel the need to go to war. In America, we have had to draft people for wars in the past. I think the government wants us to want to fight for our country. That's why antiwar-related media sources are always somehow harder to find.

All of the normal news sources we watch on television every day like:

• CNN

• MSNBC News

• Fox News

• NBC News

• CBS News

• ABC Live Stream - ABC.com

We also look at newspaper and journalism-oriented news sources. 

• The New York Times

• The Wall Street Journal

• The Washington Post

• BBC

• The New Yorker

• USA Today

Even though all of these different new sources have different perspectives and sides they latch onto, they all talk about war. 

If The American Conservative and Antiwar.com talked about war in a better light, I think we would have better access to these websites overall.

Blog Post #7

 The Spiral of Silence Theory is “a political science and mass communication theory which states that an individual's perception of the distribution of public opinion influences that individual's willingness to express their own opinions. Also known as the theory of public opinion, the spiral of silence theory claims individuals will be more confident and outward with their opinion when they notice that their personal opinion is shared throughout a group. In other words, from the individual's perspective, "not isolating themself is more important than their own judgement", meaning their perception of how others in the group perceive them is more important to themself than the need for their opinion to be heard”(Spiral of silence - Wikipedia).

The biggest implication,  and the worst part of the Spiral of Silence is that no one will voice their opinion that they view to be in the minority. People have a “fear of social isolation that prompts them to constantly monitor the behavior of others for signs of approval or disapproval”(Spiral of silence | Social Psychology, Communication & Group Dynamics | Britannica). 

The good thing about the Spiral of Silence is that “those who sense that their opinions will meet with approval tend to voice them fearlessly and at times vociferously” (https://www.britannica.com/topic/spiral-of-silence).

The Spiral of Silence “occurs only in connection with controversial issues that have a strong moral component. What triggers a person’s fear of isolation is the belief that others will consider him or her not merely mistaken but morally bad. Accordingly, issues that lack a moral component or on which there is general consensus leave no room for a spiral of silence”(https://www.britannica.com/topic/spiral-of-silence).

The theory affects minority groups because of the fact they feel like they can’t voice their opinions. They feel that if they say something that is not what others think, even though many people might feel the same way, they will be isolated from society.

The Spiral of Silence affects different groups of people in different ways. Concerning women and men the theory impacts us differently. A good example is in “A popular movie Mean Girls is a classic example of the theory. Where everyone in the school is afraid to stand up against the majority group “The Plastics”. An important scene when all of the girls in the high school are asked to gather at an assembly on bullying. They are to close their eyes and then raise their arms when asked specific questions. When asked to open their eyes while their arms are risen, all the girls look around and immediately put their hands down in fear of rejection or judgment. This is a prime example of this theory, if they were asked to keep their eyes open, they would have most likely answered dishonestly or not at all. Eventually though, the movie ends peacefully after everyone realizes their feelings are similar and they aren't alone in the minority”(Spiral of Silence: Mean Girls). While this is not real life, the feelings and how they showed it are similar to what it feels like. 

The Spiral of Silence can affect me at home with my family and friends. There are times when there is an argument between me and my family or friends, and I feel scared to state my opinion. My opinion may be valid, but when multiple people feel the same way, and I do not, it can feel uncomfortable to speak up.

Blog Post #6

I am looking at the innovation of TikTok through the lens of Diffusion Theory. Diffusion Theory “seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread. The theory was popularized by Everett Rogers in his book Diffusion of Innovations, first published in 1962. Rogers argues that diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the participants in a social system. The origins of the diffusion of innovations theory are varied and span multiple disciplines”(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations). 

TikTok is a social media platform that has existed since late 2019 or early 2020. “Since its launch, TikTok has become one of the world's most popular social media platforms, using recommendation algorithms that were better than alternative apps at connecting content creators with new audiences. Many of its users are young and part of Generation Z. The popularity of TikTok has allowed viral trends in food and music to take off and increase the platform's cultural impact worldwide”(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TikTok).

TikTok was able to catch on and spread easily because of viral trends. “In the beginning, users could choose and follow the music to disguise that they were singing the song, then share it with friends. This simple trend ignited a lot of users' imitation. Gradually, the app spawned viral trends and attracted more users into the big social app system”(Here's Why The TikTok App Is Taking Over Other App Downloads - Digital Crew).

There are a few downsides to the app and its popularity. There is a downside to online hatred. People think just because they can be anonymous that they can be cruel. That’s with all online platforms. But TikTok showed how damaging people can be. Creators on the app who are very popular get a lot of hate. People will comment about how they look, and what they don’t like about the person, and others will send death threats. This causes a lot of creators to take a break from the app, or post less due to their mental health taking a nosedive. 

Of course, there are always upsides. TikTok has allowed over two billion people to connect. People can post whatever they want and it will find the people who also like the same things. You can learn how to cook, and dance, learn more about the government, hear what people want and don’t like, participate in trends, watch and create “get ready with me” videos, and more. There is something for everyone. 

Blog Post #5

In this Each One Teach One (EOTO), I researched how The invention of paper changed the world. Cai Lun invented paper. “Paper was first made in Lei-Yang, China by Ts'ai Lun, a Chinese court official. In all likelihood, Ts'ai mixed mulberry bark, hemp and rags with water, mashed it into pulp, pressed out the liquid and hung the thin mat to dry in the sun”(The History of Paper). 

Before paper, people would draw symbols on rocks or walls near them. “Before paper as we know it existed, people communicated through pictures and symbols carved into tree bark, painted on cave walls, and marked on papyrus or clay tablets. About 2,000 years ago, inventors in China took communication to the next level, crafting cloth sheets to record their drawings and writings. And paper, as we know it today, was born!”(The History of Paper).

Paper solved a problem, and since then we have not gone back to before then. “Back then, scrolls of silk were being used as books. But the development of calligraphy and the animal hair brush, and the resulting proliferation of literature, created the need for a writing material that was cheaper and more practical than pure silk”(THE HISTORY OF PAPER – Conservatree). 

Paper was a large invention in our timeline, but it also had many impacts to the world then and now.  “Paper was both an exchanged element as well as a vector for further intercultural exchange as it allowed for knowledge to be transcribed and then transported over large distances and in its many production centres often sparked a flourishing in written culture”(Did You Know? The Importance of Paper Making Technology in Cultural Exchange along the Silk Roads). The invention of paper became currency and allowed for more money to be a part of the economy. 

Paper was not just used to sell, or draw on, or write. People used it to communicate. “As a result, scribes could produce books and maps faster and more efficiently. While it took another 300 years for Ts'ai Lun's invention to reach the Middle East, and 500 more to reach Europe, this invention forever transformed the spread of knowledge and human communication”(National Inventors Month: How Paper Transformed Society - DOMTAR Newsroom).

Even though the invention of paper had many positive effects on the world, it also had negative effects. “We know that paper production creates toxic gasses and wastes. Some of these gasses are greenhouse gasses (GHG). According to research, about 21% of these greenhouse gasses come from pulp and paper mills [10]. Most of the emissions take place during the production phase of paper”(The Impacts of Paper on The Environment - CARTLY). We know now that the paper-making industry has had a part in global warming.

Blog Post #4

 The multiple TED Talks all discussed different security issues. The first discusses how what we post online is out there forever, the second talks about how our location is always being tracked, and the third talks about how our phones are giving the government our information.

The first video is by Juan Enriquez, “Your online life, permanent as a tattoo”. He starts the TED Talk by making an analogy between people getting tattoos and how they can make one feel. They may represent happiness, pain, memory, or a mistake. The main point of the video is to tell us that what is on the internet is always there. There is no way to erase anything. Having my life always on the internet can disrupt my life in the future. Potentially something that was filmed or photographed could be leaked. This can happen to everyone. The government could make more security measures that make everything more private. But this is extremely hard to do for millions of people. The best thing anyone can do is be aware of what you are letting people see. Nothing and no one is safe.

The second video is by Catherine Crump, “The small and surprisingly dangerous detail the police track about you”. The main point of the TED Talk was to show how the police can keep tabs on every person in the United States. They use cameras and surveillance video to get pictures of people's license plates. This all goes into a spreadsheet. This makes it easy for police to track down someone of interest. But it also means that everyone is always being watched, even if they don’t commit a crime. Having the government tracking me while I’m driving is a somewhat new topic to me. I did not realize that police cars and video cameras were getting pictures of my license plate. Once again, nothing is private. The government should make people more aware, that they are tracking everyone’s cars and how they interact with each other. We can’t do anything about this issue. Everyone needs to get to where they are going.

The last video is by Christopher Soghoian, “How to avoid surveillance… with the phone in your pocket”. The main message of the video is to show how no matter what people think is private, there is no way of knowing that. Phone companies were made for the government to use, nothing is as private as we think. Like the first video, nothing is private. We may think there are aspects of our lives that can be private, but there is always someone watching us.