Final Blog Post

        My relationship with technology started in 3rd grade when my parents got me an iPad for Christmas. Before this, I had very little interaction with technology. My parents wanted my sister and me to grow up playing outside and using our imagination to expand our knowledge and have fun. I remember using my first computer in school around the first or second grade. I didn’t really know how to use it compared to the other students so I struggled in the technology class at first. Because I was young I was able to pick up the new information quickly and learn how to use it. This new technology in my life pushed me to ask my parents for an iPad. I wanted to explore the world of technology and see what it had to offer. My parents were hesitant because they felt I was still too young for the internet and everything that can be discovered on there but they got me one anyways. Shortly after receiving it, I was swept quickly into the world of technology and absolutely loved it. Fast forwarding to the 5th grade I got my first iPhone and from there I was locked in obsessed. 

Ever since then, technology has taken over my life. I spend countless hours on social media scrolling through nonsense and talking to friends. When I try and do something productive, like homework, I see a notification on my phone or laptop and easily get distracted. It saddens me that such a small object, like my phone, has such a hold on my life. With all the time I spend on social media, I am unable to decide if I'm being misinformed or gaining information. I find that a lot of educated people post content on social media and you can find valuable information, but if you don’t do enough research you can also be easily miss informed. There is also a lot of entertainment-based content on social media, that isn’t persay posted to teach or inform you, but isn’t good for you if you watch too much of it. (studies have shown). I worry constantly about how much time I spend on social media and whether what I’m watching is going to affect my mental health. I also am concerned about the mental health of my friends and family and how much time they spend on technology. 

When spending time with friends and family, I find often they will sit and text or scroll through social media while being with people. Why would you ask someone to hang out if you aren’t going to talk to them? Society is forgetting the value of quality in-person interactions because they can just speak to people over the phone or text them. I find it rude if you are sitting with someone and they are texting someone else or scrolling through social media, but this is the world that we have come to live in today. People need to learn to put down their phones and appreciate the people in front of them. 

If I was to Google myself currently, nothing much about myself comes up. I am very lucky that I don’t currently have a large digital footprint. There is an island off the coast of Ireland called Tory Island and you take a ferry to get there. Tory Island Ferry and my name is Tory Ferry, so when you search my name it’s all about the island, its history, and how to get there. Some information about me does come up like my Instagram, Facebook, and my great-grandmother’s obituary where I am mentioned. Even if you search “Tory Ferry Rhode Island”, the same information about me appears, and the boat information appears again as well as the Block Island Ferry, which is located in Rhode Island. I am one of the lucky few who does not have a large digital footprint, but I am sure as I grow older and buy property and work full-time jobs my digital footprint will expand.

Blog Post #11

        While watching the EOTO presentations I personally was intrigued by the online influencers presentation. While there are many different forms of media and ways to get your information, influencers are an upcoming way for not only branding but the spread of information. There are many different kinds of influencers on all platforms, you can find one for pretty much any kind of niche you have, but political influencers have been making a big up-and-coming because of the lack of information coming from MSM on big and small topics. Political influencers have all ages and affiliation viewing their content because they talk about all ranges of issues and hide no details from the public. This is a big problem with MSM which I talk about in my EOTO which can be found in blog post #9. The reason influencers can say all their information without hiding anything is that they don’t work for a media company or corporation that tells them what to do. They freely post these videos on social media and make money because people are finally getting the answers they deserve and are happy so they follow, like, and share which brings in the influencer profit. 

Many people assume that all influencers don’t have any background knowledge on what subject they make content on and it’s a “hobby” for them. When it comes to political influencers many of them actually do have background or even studied in the field. One influencer named Rogan O’Handley (@dc_draino) was a lawyer who turned into a political influencer who has spoken on several MSM news stations because his following has become too strong. Because he has a government background he can be a reliable source into the world of politics. He is also an influencer known for sharing lots of information on stories that MSM does not share which is why his following has become so large. Not all influencers are like Rogan Handley which is why you should do research on the person before trusting their word, but influencers still can be a source of information when MSM doesn’t cover a story or isn’t giving the full information. 

Blog Post #9

        Gatekeeping and Agenda Setting, differing theories yet they piggyback off one another. Gatekeeping is the human or technological process used to control information flow. Agenda Setting is the ability to influence the importance placed on the topics of the public agenda. Looking at these definitions you can see how Gatekeeping controls what issues the world sees and Agends Setting controls the importance of those issues. 

Gatekeeping is considered a role of surveillance or monitoring of data. This means it’s supposed to show the most valuable issues and topics to the country. These gatekeeping decisions are usually made by someone called the “gatekeeper”. This person is of a higher level of decision-making and decides daily what information is relevant for the public. This information is usually based on professional experience, personal preference, or bias. This is why gatekeeping obtains a lot of criticism. Gatekeepers themselves have their own opinions and are wired to think a certain way. This creates problems for gatekeepers deciding only information they think is relevant should be sent out by media instead of thinking like others and how they may feel about other topics. Gatekeepers also can change the priority of news causing the influence of sexism, racism, etc. For example, many stories get shared about violent attacks against black people, but when I searched “hate crimes against white people”, the only thing that came up was “

hate crime cases examples”, but why? If you watch the news, you see stories about white men getting shot by the opposite race several times a month, but the media doesn’t promote the story as a hate crime so we don’t see it that way which creates more racism in the world. 

Gatekeeping is going to affect society if it continues to block us from knowing issues. Whether it’s a city, state, or country issue, the people are a right to know. People should not have to rely on social media hoping that the small political influencers are telling the truth over mass media because mass media won’t give us the whole truth these days. It’s sad to hear that we are a country of freedom, yet it seems to be that freedom is taken away from us because so much is hidden. 

Agenda Setting Theory is how media can determine which issues are the most important to the public. There are two assumptions about the theory that is; Media filters and shapes what we see rather than just reflecting stories to the audience or, The more attention the media gives to an issue, the more likely the public will consider that issue to be important. If this media was to shape issues this would be “gatekeeping” or hiding us from information and the truth. The public has a right to know the whole truth and all information about the issue. This theory can be seen during election season. Many news channels are biased toward certain candidates and tend to shape the stories so they don’t lose the election. After the 2020 election, there was a lot of controversy about Hunter Biden’s laptop and the information found on it. If this information was broadcasted to the public by media, people say he would have lost votes, and others say he even lost the election. These are the type of stories that are shaped and misconstrued so people don’t understand the reality of them until the media wants them to. 

Unfortunately, when it comes to Agenda Setting theory there is no proof of whether or not it is actually being used or not. Research has been largely inconclusive connecting public prominence and media coverage. Now with the influence of social media, small political influencers, and other voices can spread their opinion and get their voice out there. It is hard for the media to hide the truth about issues in the world when others can also post their experiences and thoughts to the world. 

Blog Post #4

The Eight Values of Free Expression were new information that was yet to be added to my education. After looking further into them, I am glad that I am able to look further into these topics and increase my knowledge of them. Though these theories were created long ago, they can still relate to the world today. One theory I see being used, the most, in action today is Individual Self-Fulfillment. 

Individual Self-Fulfillment is the idea of free speech, giving citizens or individuals the right to express themselves. This seems like such basic freedom, but in the world today not everyone has such a luxury. It wasn’t until 2015, with the Obergefell v. Hodges case, same-sex marriage became legal. The LGBTQ community continues to fight for rights and the ability to express themselves without judgment. Though we are finally getting to a place where it is acceptable there are still struggles in the world. Transgenders are a huge topic in mainstream media currently after Hershey’s Chocolate released an advertisement on International Women’s Day featuring a transgender woman. This created lots of controversy about how it’s a day celebrating women and technically she is a “man”. Through all this controversy the LGBTQ community never fears to express themselves. They are open people, through their personalities, clothes, and also their fight for equality. 

Promote Innovation, which is free speech that is valued and protected and is likely to be an energized and interesting society. This can also be seen in the LGBTQ community. The way they express their freedom of speech is in new and inspiring ways. Many are very open on social media about how they feel, and what they want for the future. The community also has many protests, not only will they protest for things that affect them, but other issues that may be going on in the country or world. Whether they are protesting against a bill or protesting to express themselves and the problems in their community, the LGBTQ never fails to make their points clear and make themselves known. Being energetic and expressive, more people are likely to look at what you are fighting for because they are so passionate about it. 

The 8 Values of Free Expression are going to be valuable to our country and others for a long time. Some might say they lasted this long because they are broad statements, but if you look further into them, they all have their own meaning and they connect to each other. These are not broad statements these are detailed and well thought out so they would last this long.

Blog Post #10

AI becoming more powerful and more commonly used in our daily lives. When people think of AI they usually think of Chat GBT or Deepfake which are commonly used websites today, but AI runs much deeper than that. 

AI runs through every computer, phone, and tablet algorithm and collects data about the user. It wants to know what you shop for, what games you play, and even who you text the most. Ai can even pick up on how you respond to comments on social media. Its algorithm keeps track of how you write so it can accurately store data about you. 

This worries me very much about the power AI holds. I don’t like the idea of “technology” knowing so much about me and storing so much data about me. Personally, I think an AI would know more about me than I do. Many times I scroll through my social media and advertisements for clothing store brands pop up in my feed and they are a perfect match for me. This is because the AI algorithm stored the data of what I shop for and what I like and advertised other options to me. Many people see this as beneficial but after watching the “Age of AI” video in class, I am also not the only person afraid of the AI takeover. 

Already many are losing jobs due to AI and technology in general. Most people in the US can’t afford a 400 dollars random expense. Many also can’t afford to take a course if they want to change their careers. It can be scary to think that such a small portion of people have enough money to be comfortable going through life. Many people are worried AI is going to take over to a point of no return and the world will “crash” and that is how we will come back from AI technology. The idea that people believe we have to “crash” and there is no way of fighting this beforehand is even scarier. 

In 2010 there was an experiment taken place called “Social Contagion”. During this experiment, they wanted to see through online messaging if they could influence real-world behavior. So, while the 2010 election was happening they placed an “I voted” button on social with the friend's faces of the users, and this experiment enabled 340,000 people to vote. It amazes me that social status and making sure your friends know you voted got people to go out and vote in the election. The smallest things on the internet can influence people. Just by seeing that their friends voted these people went out and voted that year. 

AI is surely taking over whether people want it or not. Some may find it beneficial and don’t care, and others like me may but scared for the future. Either way, we don’t really know what is coming in the future with this upcoming technology. 

Blog Post #8

Diffusion of innovation, a theory created by Everett Rogers that argues innovation is communicated over time among the participants in a social system.  There are 5 major elements to Roger’s theory, the innovation itself, adopters, communication channels, time, and a social system. Innovation is seen as a broad term, but here, innovation is seen as a product or object that is seen as “new” that is available to be studied. Adopters are a minimal unit of analysis, most of the time they are individuals but they can also be organizations like schools, companies, etc. Communication Channels allow information to be spread from one place to another, for example, from organizations to people. Time is also necessary for innovation because it is rarely adopted quickly and on its own. Lastly, the social system, which is a combination of external and internal influences and combined will influence a potential adopter. (“Diffusion of Innovations,”n.d.,1-3)

After reading about this theory and looking back on the EOTO inventions, Many forms of social media were hard for people to adapt to. Younger generations, were early adopters of this new technology and adapted to it very quickly. 95% of Generation Z has access to a smartphone and uses social media every day. This generation and Generation Y grew up with the inventions of digital technology, which brought along social media and made them adapt to this change the easiest. As for older generations, they did not grow up with this technology so the change was much harder for them. It took them much longer to learn how to use the apps and their purpose as well. Because they did not grow up with technology, the older generation tends to not see the purpose of social media and spends much less time scrolling. As for the people who opt out of social media, there could be many reasons for this, one being that social media is known for having many strong opinions and controversies posted, and a person may not be interested in reading that. Social media is also known for causing depression and anxiety, so a person may stay off to keep their mental health up. One last point is some people just don’t enjoy posting their daily lives on the internet for everyone to see or seeing other people post about their daily lives on social media, which is what these platforms are mainly for, so they don’t have a need to join. 

With every technological advancement, it is going to be hard to get everyone on board right when it is created. Not everyone is going to have the same views on whether or not they need it in their lives. Most of the time younger generation is more likely to adapt to change first because they are used to the change and growth of technology. As for older generations, for many years of their lives, they had the same technology with few advancements and it’s harder for them to see the need for change. With new advances in technology happening like social media, communication is becoming faster and easier. You can keep in touch with friends and family from all over the world, and see photos of what they are doing. Though not everyone may want to participate in this advancement it’s handy to have.

Wikimedia Foundation. (2023, April 13). Diffusion of innovations. Wikipedia. Retrieved April 20, 2023, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations 

Blog Post #7

Technological advances have made some of the best innovations in our history and are used in our daily lives today. During the EOTO presentations, many amazing inventions were spoken of, and the history of how they came about. Though many people use these inventions every day, they may not know how they came about or the stories behind them, and unfortunately, I am one of those people. Many inventions start with a very different purpose and as the product develops it creates a path and new ideas for itself. 

One technological innovation talked about was the invention of Snapchat. Snapchat is an app used to communicate with family and friends by taking pictures and adding texts to the photo. You can also save the photos you take on the app in the “memories” portion of the app so you can go back and look at them whenever you want. Snapchat wasn’t originally created for this purpose though. After watching the EOTO presentation I was shocked to find out that the original purpose of the app was created was to send photos and they would disappear after a few seconds. Nowadays this is still an option on the app but few people use this feature. I also learned that “Snapchat stories” weren’t created until almost 2 years after the app was created. This really shows how the once the app becomes popular it will evolve on its own and soon gain more aspects to the app. 

Another app spoken on during the EOTO presentation was Instagram. This was another app that started with a different purpose. Instagram started as an app called Burbn which was for picture sharing, posting plans, or check-ins. Though the post-sharing feature was unique to the app it was still similar to other apps on the market which were taken down and reworked into the app people know and love today, Instagram. Instagram is mainly for picture sharing and liking other people's photos, to see what they are up to in life. In 2012 Facebook purchased Instagram for 1 billion dollars and since then the app has taken off even further with new features like stories, reels, and “for you page”. With more than 2.35 billion users many people follow friends or even influencers. Many people make a profit now off of Instagram by posting certain content that people enjoy watching. Instagram has changed very much since its Burbn days, but it also has gained success since then too. 

In all technological innovation doesn't always start with success, many times it starts with a failed invention with a good idea within that invention that sparks success on the next try. Whether it took one attempt or a few these innovations changed social media and how we communicate with each other. 

Blog Post #6

After further research into antiwar.com, I have concluded that I have never seen a website like this one before. The media hides the opinions of this group or political party. This website has strong opinions yet backs them up with factual information which makes them reliable. The only reason you will never see this type of information in mainstream media is that the writers of this website have different opinions the media wants to relay. 

Many mainstream media outlets will only produce content based on their opinion. This is why media outlets get a reputation for being biased and not having reporters that share their opinion for both sides, left and right. So when it comes to an antiwar story, it’s a matter of if the reporter believes in antiwar or not. Antiwar is also not something that the government believes in, they wouldn’t want it promoted on the news and stories being shared about it, knowing that people could agree with the beliefs of this party and go against the government. Mainstream media has become a top source of information, especially for politics and global affairs. These are two main topics highly spoken upon by the antiwar group. If mainstream media was to post the beliefs of this group, the government would lose a huge following. 

This runs into my next topic, that is, many antiwar websites have never even been heard of. The government doesn't want you to know about these websites so they make sure it’s hard for you to find them. They want you to continue to believe what they are doing in their global affairs and other countries as well is correct. So by making the websites hard to access, a regular person will continue to believe in what the government is doing. 

While looking through the Antiwar.com website, I found that even though they were opinionated, the information was factual and important. This is global affairs information that is important and could cause future problems, so why wouldn’t it be on mainstream media? “Finland formally became the 31st member of NATO on Tuesday, officially ending the country’s post-World War II policy of neutrality and raising tensions between Helsinki and Moscow” (DeCamp 4 April). This quote is from an article posted earlier today. I decided to do further research and see if any other articles were posted on this topic. Not many were but the articles that were posted lacked the information that this one had and were more focused on why Finland joined NATO and not Sweden. 

https://news.antiwar.com/2023/04/04/finland-formally-joins-nato-doubling-the-alliances-border-with-russia/

In conclusion, I don’t believe that any of this is fair. I think that everyone should have a voice. The United States prides itself on freedom of speech, which means that the government should be making it hard for people to read what these people have to say. If people want to read and agree with the antiwar group, well then maybe it’s time that the government makes some changes.

Blog Post #5

Smartphones, a device that society has adapted into our daily lives and has become a necessity for many things. Smartphones originated from the camera phone, which was first invented in 2000. Camera phones were invented so that sharing photos with friends and family was more convenient than ever. Though the camera phone was the start of a generation of new technology, it also came with its concerns and disadvantages by creating a decline in social interaction and an increase in depression. 

The first camera phone was invented in Japan in 2000 by Sharp. This camera phone was the first released of its kind, and because of this, it lacked a good quality camera and the ability to share photos with others. This camera phone did start the generation of smartphone imaging and inspired many companies to create their own version. One year later, the Nokia 7650 was released in the U.S. featuring a VGA camera and a slider design keyboard. This phone had dramatically improved from the last with a higher quality camera and the newest feature being the ability to share photos with family and friends across the world. 

From here, technology advanced quickly. New camera phones were coming out yearly packed with all types of new features. These features varied from autofocus, and LED flash, and finally in 2006 touch screen came to the market with the first Apple iPhone. Though many of the camera phones were better quality than the iPhone, the people at the time were more fascinated by the touchscreen than the quality of the camera. 

From here smartphones took over the camera phone industry and the cellphone industry in general. The first iPhone had similar capabilities to the camera phone by texting, calling, and taking photos. Since then the iPhone and other smartphones can pay bills, navigate, hold your calendar, use face-to-face communication, and even watch TV. With all the technological improvements communication around the world has become easier than ever. People can communicate with family and friends from anywhere and they can also get news from not only their country but other countries right on their smartphone, in real-time. Also, because of the endless “apps” you can download to the smartphone, you can stay very organized with all appointments, reminders, or notes and access them at any time. 

With all the new technology brought by smartphones, many concerns and problems have come along with it. The younger generations have struggled with social interactions because they spend so much time on their smartphones. This new generation would rather sit and scroll through the internet, social media, or text each other rather than meet up in person. Social media content nowadays had also been proven to increase numbers of depression and anxiety. Many young adults and teenagers find themselves scrolling through pictures of “ideal lives” or “ideal bodies” which makes them look at themselves and compare. 

https://community.thriveglobal.com/how-smartphones-are-affecting-our-lives/ 

The camera phone has evolved significantly over the years. This technology has grown to change the world of innovation and will continue to seek new ways to better smartphones. With all technological advances comes the good and bad, but at this point, it might be time to take a step back and look at the bigger picture and the mental health of this younger generation. But that’s a whole other story. 

Blog Post #3

The  U.S Supreme Court court is argulby the most powrful branch of the government. Leanring from a young age the three branches of government and the different types of power they hold, the Supreme Court always seemed to be able to over-power the other branches say. Though, growing up I found that the Supreme Court was the least spoke upon branch so I found this article very knowledgeable. 

 One large takeaway for me was how that couldnt decide on a set number of chairs to have in the Supreme Court. The number of seats was chnaged six times over the course of several years changing between the number five and ten. It was until 1869 that they decide on nine seats, which would always give one side more votes than the other, never giving a case a tie. I think this is a smart decision because if they had an even amount of seats and several cases went in with an even number of votes on both sides then decisions would never be made. Also having more seats means more opinion and ideas throughout the table which can be beneficial. 

Further into the History.com article it spoke upon important cases that the Supreme court worked on. This was an important part of the atricle for me because it truly showed how important they are because they truly work on cases that affect our world today. Cases like Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) impacted our society giving the LGBTQ community rights to marriage in all fifty states. Supreme Court not only works to make sure these cases follow the Constitution but also make the people of America happy. 

When reading about the first 6 Supreme Court justices that were picked it started the branch it was shocking to me that Robert Harrison declined to serve the position.  I position like that is highly elite and to denyy a lifetime job is not something I would except. People working in the government today would love to be elected to be a Supreme Court justice is an honor. To make the highest decisions for the government and make a difference for the country.

After watching the video on the Supreme Court I was taken back by how these retired justices spoke about their first few years serving. I never realized how stressed and overwhelmed the job can feel at first especially for up to three years. This gave me a new perspective on how these justices do their job and the level of difficulty that comes with it.

Blog Post #2

Modern technology is developing everyday and is influence the way we live our lives. Technology can seen as a brillant and innovative, but it can also be terrifying because many don’t know the extent of how powerful technology is. 

On a daily basis people can affected by technology through tracking, hacking or even Digital Domestic Violence. Though companies like Apple have there sofware encrypted so that hackers cant access peoples texts and phone calls, not all websites and apps have their software like that. So many apps deem themselves safe when they do not have encrypted code and hackers can easy get a persons personal information. This makes me personally uncomfortable because I have always believed that everything on my phone was safe and private. “Terms and Conditions” is how a lot of companies get away with this. No one is going to read 500+ pages of print, so they just press accept so they can continue. By pressing accept though you truly don’t know what you are allowing them access to. This automatically puts you at risk and really anyone that you may talk to. 

These issues are becoming more serious because other countries are gaining access to information about Americans. The government should be more worried about this topic and they are because of the recent use of the app Tiktok. This app is owned by a company in China and the app can learn an immense about user while they are using the app. U.S government officials are pushing for the app to the banned because they don’t want China have that much access to U.S citizens personal information. Though when it comes to our calls and texts, it has been said that the government does not like the idea that Apple had encrypted codes that can’t be hacked. The government wants access to phones for the purpose of “terrorists and hacker” so they can stop them before they attack. This would take away our fifth ammendment right though, and it would never get passed. 

Technology is going to keep advancing so we will need to keep up as well and understand how to protect ourselves from the invasions of privacy. One of the biggest ways is to use apps that have encrypted coded software that can not be hacked. These are apps like Imessage, What’s App, and Facetime. These apps are safe to use and people can not track calls or messages. Social media is another way they track people. So watch what you post and limit the time you spend on the apps especially Tiktok. Unfortunately many of our daily apps are can be used against us to invaded our privacy so we must learn which are safe.