Blog #10

What I learned EOTO Part 2

During this round of EOTO presentations I felt more interested than the first set of presentations because I feel like this time every subject that someone had was actually very interesting, and they are subjects that people my age should know about. The one I found interesting the most simply because I have never heard the term "Citizens Journal." This one for me made me learn just off the start of the person who presented it. They started out by stating the definition which is "The collection, dissemination, and analysis of news and information by the general public, especially by any means of the internet." I learned a lot from this because I feel like I should have known already what it was. The citizens journal has its pro and cons. For example, a con of the citizens journal is that the news might be fake or misleading and this is why you should always fact check when you get news from social media platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, or Facebook. The thing that is good about it is that you might see news that is not covered by the big programs like Fox or CNN. So you get to see news that maybe not everyone has seen and sometimes you might stumble upon it and find it very interesting.

This to me is a very impactful thing towards society, because it allows people to get an alternate view and different angles from other citizens. For myself, I get most of my news from social media because that is half the reason I use certain platforms like Instagram. Whether it be sports news or even news about other countries in the world. I learned that society has been more leaning towards this way of getting news and I really like that. I like that because it does not split the country in two like Fox and CNN do where there are two sides to every story because everyone likes to hear their opinion is correct. In the future hopefully this will help not divide the country like it has been the last few years. I picked this mainly because when they were presenting this topic of discussion I was thinking about the effects the Citizens Journal has as a whole. 

Blog #11

Artificial Intelligence has been expanding over the last few years crazier then we could ever imagine. It is crazy that it was just a concept in movies and just a few years later our technology is so advanced we have AI at our fingertips and even in apps like TikTok. Artificial intelligence is making it possible for machines to learn from experience just like a human mind. It takes inputs and then outputs human-like tasks. In the past few years artificial intelligence has taken over since the new evolution of technology such has software updates, new cell phones with 3D cameras, even your everyday Alexa that is in most houses nowadays. I find artificial intelligence to be more scary then it is helpful mainly because people who actually know everything about artificial intelligence are terrified at what it is going to turn into. 

I thought the video from what I watch on "In the Age of AI" was very interesting in what it was talking about since I have never really learned about artificial intelligence before. All I have ever heard about artificial intelligence was from movies or when Elon Musk said "it is more terrifying than nukes. The fact it is possible that a computer can learn just as quickly and easier than a human mind is scary especially when you start arming computers with military equipment such as guns and other things.

On the privacy topic of artificial intelligence I believe that with the facial recognition on all new iPhones is very scary. The fact my cell phone can recognize my face from someone else's is crazy to me and I think thats only the start. Also it is not only facial tracking but, also tracking all the data you search on social media or safari. Artificial Intelligence learns what you search and better habits your social media feeds with things of your choosing. Although there are some upsides to artificial intelligence like when a criminal gets caught by the government for a camera recognizing his face or being able to see where and what he looked up on his phone. Although this might seem like an invasion of privacy I feel like sometimes it can be used for the better good. 

Yes, Artificial Intelligence is helping the world expand in many ways but I would enjoy it not to be so much in our daily lives. For example, what if our phones did not track and learn from everything we look up. To me it is quite weird when I look up something online than an advertisement pops up on my Instagram feed a day or two later.There are definitely upsides to artificial intelligence but I think in the future we are not prepared for what it will turn into.

Final Blog Post

My Relationship With Technology and its Impact on the World

 Technology has impacted my life a lot especially since the advancing in social media platforms. I like the way I use social media instead of a lot of other people because I do not edit my photos or show my best moments I post what I like and what I believe to be funny that will maybe put a smile on a few people's faces. I do not take my Instagram or Snapchat to seriously like how others will only upload their best pictures and their favorite moments that the believe other people will be jealous or whatever. I do not enjoy even going on Instagram anymore because how everyone is so fake with their pictures and how they hide themselves with filters and face tune. That is enough of talking about how other people use their platforms but yes, technology has impacted my life greatly, from being bored just seeing whats going on with other people to showing who I am, and sharing my hobbies with others and honestly just connecting with other people as a whole. Social media definitely has a role in my life but not as much as you would think for the typical 20 year old person. 

My so-called "digital footprint" is not all that, and I would say it is lower than most people my age. When you look up my name on the internet you can not even find my Instagram, you might be able to find a picture under images from my Instagram. I am actually quite proud of my digital footprint just because I would feel uncomfortable if you could find everything about me just by looking up my name on the internet. I do not believe that my online presence needs any editing because of how fine I am with being low key on the internet. The internet and social media in general have made the world a completely different place, and you see it everywhere you go whether it be at college or even in a city like New York, everyone nowadays is trying to be an influencer. Social Media and the internet have made it easier to find jobs and get connected with people from around the globe. 

I truly believe the effects of technology are more on the dark side and I have been thinking this for the last few years. Although there are definitely upsides to technology I think in the bigger picture it definitely has more downsides then good sides for the younger generations to come. I truly believe just like the video said the dark side like loneliness and FOMO are the terrible things that not a lot of people realize. For example, if you are laying in your bed and you did not get invited to go out with a group of people and you see all their posts on Snapchat "looking like a lot of fun" you may get depressed just from FOMO. I see it all the time whether it be girls or guys posting on their "fake stories" in bed looking sad because they are not out on a Friday or Saturday.  Although there is a balance of good and bad in my opinion I believe something needs to change, but I do not know how it will I only think it will get worse over time because of the impact social media already has on everyone. 

The dark sides of technology will only get worse over time because of cyber bullying and comments on other peoples posts. I see it all the time with famous people that constantly get hate comments just because of them living their life and I think that is terrible. What is the point of writing a mean comment on a post of someone who you do not even know? Does this make people feel good? Do they actually generally hate the thought of that person? Does it make them feel like a better person? I always went by if you do not have anything nice to say do not say it. I feel like that saying has slowly faded away since the expansion of social media because it is not face to face. It is sad but true that you will even see it on your friends posts from other people that just dislike the person. I hope one day they will figure out a way to make the upsides outweigh the dark sides of technology. 

On another note, Artificial Intelligence and online privacy is a whole different point of conversation with technology. Artificial Intelligence has been growing and is in almost every technology we use now, and I believe that if even Elon Musk says it needs to be slowed down and stopped before it gets too far is a scary thing to hear. The smartest guy on earth no debate is saying that it needs to be contained and slowed before it gets too far, is that not terrifying that no one listened to him years back and he just gave up on the subject? I think people should have listened to him or should start to listen to him now before artificial intelligence gets too far ahead of the human mind where it is not controllable. Online privacy on the other hand is also getting a little bit to crazy for my liking, and I will tell you why. If I am using my phone looking up who knows what then it is my data and I want control over my own data. Privacy rights on every social media platform there is state "that your data can only be used in ways you agree to and that you can access any information about yourself." What they do not tell you is that when you agree to the terms and conditions you pretty much sign those rights away. 

Have you ever been looking up a cool sweatshirt online that is a little out of your price range and your not going to buy it you just looked it up on the internet? Then maybe the next day or even an hour after you look it up you get an advertisement on your Instagram feed about that same exact sweatshirt. This happens to me constantly, even if I am not looking it up and I am just speaking about it to my friends or family. This to me is so outrageous because how many times is a coincidence not a coincidence anymore, and I feel like thats a question we should all ask ourselves. I do not think these major companies respect their users anymore and just care about making money so they take your data and artificial intelligence finds a way to put it in your face when your scrolling through Instagram or on Youtube and an advertisement comes up.

To sum up my thoughts on technology nowadays I believe it needs to slow down and people need to take a chill pill before it is too late. With the new Meta Facebook is releasing I think that is the end of social interaction as a whole because why would you leave your house when you can hop on the Metaverse and be a billionaire there rather than live paycheck to paycheck in your actual life. When human interaction dies in my opinion is when the major companies take full control and that is when your "online privacy" is no longer private. I think everything needs to slow down a bit so that way one day the upsides of technology will outweigh the dark sides of it.

Blog #5

To start out I checked out ANTIWAR.COM which at first site looked like a mess of a website and I did not really understand how to navigate through it because it was all links. I like this site because there are no ads to make money off of it is just very strong views coming from a certain point. I do agree it is an obscure site but definitely one that people should view to see how strong these antiwar views are. We never seem to hear about these views on mainstream news because our news loves to talk about war to hook in its viewers. People much rather watch what is happening in other countries rather than hear about how people are against it. Without displaying the terror to the mass amount of viewers they will not make as much money as they want and they only care about their ratings. Displaying news that is happening in other countries will attract a viewers attention because why would they not want to know what is going on with our country and other countries beef. 

The American Conservative on the other hand is a lot more organized and even has tabs to navigate through the site. It also has way less room for ads than most normal websites do nowadays. I like both these sites because they are so strong when talking about certain topics. This is another one that we will not see on mainstream news channels or websites simply because it will not raise the ratings on that station. These websites are so obscure and hard to find simply because not a lot of people are viewing them because "no one wants to hear others opinions" unless it benefits the reader or listener. Uncertainty in our citizens while our country is at war with another country is a big reason why people watch mainstream news. It will make them look for more information which is only on the big channels, and this way it is a win-win, the viewer gets to listen to what they want to hear while the news channels ratings and amount of viewers is going up. It is crazy to me that unjust panic will make these mainstream media platforms gain more money from scaring people. We need more platforms like the two websites I was just reading around, maybe it will make people stop being so crazy when going out in public after they hear prices are going up. 

I do believe war is just one big money making scam for big news companies and other mainstream media platforms. Even for me I get me news from all these mainstream media platforms especially news channels and the more I find out in this class the more I do not care to watch anymore. Something needs to change and certain voices need to be heard. Just like in the picture above, war is "Good for few, and Bad for Most."

Blog #9

Diffusion of innovations is an interesting theory that basically states and explains how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread. 

An innovation I would like to talk about is TikTik just because how much I truly despise that app and how I think it ruined social interaction. I believe it came to be as popular as it is today because of the deletion of Vine and that Instagram never had an all video platform that you could scroll through. After TikTok got popular Instagram added the TV section so now it pretty much is TikTok in itself. I believe that most people my age especially the younger generation have adopted the use of the app and in my opinion use it a little too much. I see it all day, people making videos in public acting a fool, I see people watching them scrolling for hours on end in my own house. I do however believe it is a very good app to get recognized on if you have a business idea or are a music producer, but I cannot stand the sight of seeing people in public "dancing" in front of their phone. I chose to delete the app because how easily it is to get distracted on it, you go on it to watch a video your friend sent you then catch yourself an hour later still on the app. I do see a lot of downsides to the app and I also understand the upsides that come with it. The downsides, for me a big one is the fact how it is slowly ruining social interaction and I especially see it with young teens that missed out on school because of Covid and just on TikTok for a year straight. 

I think people opt-out of TikTok mostly because of the fact of how cringe it is seeing teenage boys and girls dance in front of their cell phone in public. It has been adopted by the younger generation because their role models are the super famous people that they want to be like. They try being like them by trying to go in public and acting like them but it just makes for bad content. Another reason why people are hooked on it is because it uses AI to understand what you are into and will only feed your mind videos that you like, so why would you ever want to get off the app? It is definitely a good technique and marketing tool but I think it is a little too far.

It is crazy to see how far technology has came especially from. TikTok is for sure a well made and thought out app and I am scared for what the next social media app is going to be if AI is already starting to be as crazy as it is today. In my opinion the negatives outweigh the positives for TikTok but I know 75% of the population would disagree simply because how much they are addicted to the app and do not know facts on it. It already has gotten over 1 billion users and I believe around 500 million daily users which if you think about it is just an absurd number.

Blog #7

Privacy:

Most people nowadays understand that everything you do on the internet is recorded but to what extent is it actually being recorded and how must privacy do we actually have. Privacy has been a main topic of conversation over the last few years because of all the platforms that everyone uses daily. Platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and Facebook all have you accept their terms and conditions which pretty much say that they use your information to "make their platform better." No one really knows what information they are taking and why they actually need it and why they are allowed. Privacy is definitely the most vexing issue of the digital age and I think it will continue for years to come unless a new law comes out that says it is illegal to take peoples information when not using the platform or app. I agree that technology is wonderful until it is turned against us and with new recent things happening to famous people such as John Gruden and his emails from ten years back. 

In Juan Enriquez's Ted Talk Your Online Life, he talks about the lack of privacy that the internet has nowadays. He relates the internet and its privacy to a tattoo as he says it is permanent and will outlast most peoples life spans. However he says this kind of tattoo is way more dangerous and that it can actually ruin your life. Also he talks about facial recognition and I always think about that I find it very weird that your phone can tell who you are. I feel like it is going to end up taking a bad turn in the near future, somehow, someway because usually things like that always go back.

Since the world is full of technology and everyone has it at their fingertips it is scary how one day everyones information can just appear out of no where. Just like John Grudens emails maybe one day when someone is getting a job they go back and look at their texts and emails since the world is starting to become softer. I feel like in the near future everyones privacy will slowly be violated and when you look someone up on the internet all their information will come up. I can already look up my name and it brings up what college I go to and where I work.

Who knows what else you will be able to see in a few years.

Blog #8

 EOTO Presentation No. 2.

For this Each One Teach One I am in charge of teaching about Section 230 of the CDA. Although I have never heard of this prior to this assignment I have a pretty good idea about what it is and why it was created. Although I am not a really big fan after learning about it I still understand why it was put in place and why a lot of people love it and why a lot of people hate it.

Section 230 of the CDA is also called "The internets most important law." This is for a few reasons even though it is only 26 words in length. It is in Title 47 of the United States Code and enacted as part of the United States Communications Decency Act. This provides immunity for website platforms with respect to third-party contact. This pretty much means that Internet service providers or social media platforms and even website platforms have immunity from civil lawsuits declaring that they libeled someone by allowing third party to post on their site. Congress states that in the statute, that this was created to promote the policy to "preserve the vibrant and competitive free market." 

This law has protected big companies and monopolies such as Facebook for some time now. Although they are protected by this "blanket" whistleblowers especially Facebook's most recent whistleblower is tired of it and says the big companies should be held accountable because they say that posts on their site "harm children, stroke division, and weaken our democracy."

I could not agree more with that statement because I see what is posted daily on all social media platforms and how it divides everyone. I do believe the world has gotten softer over time and everyone thinks that everyone care about their opinions and this leads to another reason why people get their feelings hurt so much. This leads to "bullying" and other problems that these social media platforms cause. I know it is open internet and there is freedom of speech but sometimes it goes too far. 

To me the Section 230 of the CDA gives these big companies too much of a blanket for them and sometimes I do believe they should be held accountable for some things that third parties post on their sites. I like what the new Whistleblower is saying, she said Facebook needs to change their algorithms which are used to rank content. She says they should cycle feeding harmful, inflammatory or untrue. I like this because this makes it harder to come by content that is offensive and or untrue. Without the changed algorithm I do believe these big companies should be held accountable.

All together I believe that Section 230 of the CDA must be updated so that these companies are held accountable for some things that people see on their site. The reason I say this is because I find it absolutely mind boggling that they are not held accountable for posts on their sites. Yea, I understand that the Section 230 was created years back before the internet was huge but I do think it should be updated soon.