BLOG POST #11 Our Relationship with Technology

        Technology was great, until it wasn't. The internet was great, until it wasn't. Cell phones were great, until they weren't. The unintended consequences of technology have put our society in an entirely different light. Things that weren't even imagined 100 years ago are our new normals. Nobody would have ever thought that teenage girls would be committing suicide over social media, or that kids were being bullied without even having to go anywhere. However, in todays society we see it every day. The internet has become one of the worst things in our world, when it was simply supposed to be the worlds best innovation. 

    Today on average, teens are spending 7 hours and 22 minutes a day on their screens. If we were to break that down, it gets increasingly scary. Teens need 7-8 hours of sleep at night, that already puts them at 16 hours of time that they are awake. Now take 7 hours out of that, and they are only spending 9 hours off of their phones while they are awake. Not to mention that there are some teens with way higher screen time averages, which is pulling the numbers up. If someone spent 10 hours on their phone, they would be left with 6 waking hours. When are they eating? When are the learning? When are they socializing? When are the exercising? Definitely not all within those 6 hours, that's for sure. 

    My personal screen time is higher than I'd like to admit. My average screen time is around 8 hours consistently. When I look at individual breakdowns, I spent 10 hours on my phone today. I wasn't even awake until 11am. That means that in the 12 hours that I have been awake, I spent 10 of those on my phone. My relationship with technology is clearly unhealthy, and I'd be willing to bet that most students could say the same. 

    We live in a world where our life revolves around our cell phones. Sometimes they do come in handy don't get me wrong, but most of the time they are used for unhealthy reasons. Social media is one of the most unhealthy things in our society right now. Everything revolves around how many likes you're receiving on your posts, or who is unfollowing you. It is all a competition now. Who's TikTok famous? Who's post "flopped"? Who is "shadow-banned"? When in reality it doesn't matter a bit. It shouldn't. People are upset because they only recieved 50 likes on their Instagram post. Could you imagine if 50 people complimented you in real life? That would be crazy, and you would be excited that that many people like something about you. However, when it takes to social media, it is disappointing. When you look at the big picture of things, it all seems silly. 

    Many researchers have actually linked suicide rates to social media. According to studies, the rate for male suicides in the years since social media has been out increased by 31% and the rate for female suicides hit a 40-year high. Not only is social media driving teens to suicice, but new trends are also killing teens. Everyone knows that teens are highly impressionable and easily influenced. Trends like the "blue whale challenge" which challenges teens to cut or burn themselves, or even the "tide pod challenge" which challenges teens to consume laundry detergent, are also causing indviduals to die. Why do we continue to let this happen? Why are we starting trends that we know could lead to death? We do all of this because we think it's "funny" but whats funny when you watch your best friend die from a TikTok challenge? 

    Our terrible relationship with technology is news to nobody. We have known for years that social media and cell phone usage is destroying mental health, but it never stops. People will say they're going to delete social media, but they always come back to it. Why is such a harmful thing still normalized in society today? This topic leaves so many of us with so many questions and yet they will continue to go unanswered. Why? Because we will do what society tells us to do no matter the consequences. Even as I'm sitting here talking about all of the negative effects of social media, I'm still going to crawl right into my bed tonight and open TikTok before I fall asleep; and this is why this cycle will always continue.

BLOG POST #10 The Progressive Era

    

    The Progressive Era, also known as the "Roaring 20s", was a time period characterized by social activism and political reform in the United States. The Progressive Era spanned from the 1890s to the 1920s. This time period came as a response to immigration and industrialization in the time period before. The Progressive Era was launched by World War One, and people that did not want America to get involved. Many where persecuted for their antiwar views and some were even thrown in jail for simply voicing their opinions. 

    Most of the individuals that expressed dissent during World War One were pacificsts, anarchists, and socialists. Many of these people were also either Irish, German, or Russian immigrants to America, which led people to question their loyalty to the country they resided in. One of the most major events that marked this time period was the women's fight for their right to vote. Women were finally granted the right to vote under the 19th amendment in 1920, which inspired others to further their activism efforts. 

    Looking at todays world, where the United States government has military operations everywhere, it is important to look at websites that possess strong antiwar voices. Two websites that we may never have hear about (I know I haven't myself) are Antiwar.com and The American Conservative. On both of these sites, writers have a very obvious antiwar point of view, but we never hear about in the news we watch day to day. This is because in todays society, certain perspectives like these can be hidden. This is because of government and institutional biases. Our government likes to shape the narrative about wars in order to shape the publics opinion on them. It is especially a problem because many news sources rely on information from official sources, which often is government websites, so it is easy for the government to put out whatever narrative they want the population to see. The government sees antiwar voices as unpatriotic or controversial in todays society.

    The bottom line is that we have to go out of our way in order to seek out these antiwar perspectives and voices, because today, the government has the ability to shape what we see. The most read articles, or most credible articles are going to be the first that come up when you search things. This is because the government is intentionally making antiwar voices, or even other perspectives they do not agree with, harder to find. They cannot simply ban these stories, because that would be a violation of the first amendment and would be a prime example of prior restraint, but it is clear that they will still do anything they can in order to get their way.

    

BLOG POST #9 EOTO Reflection 2: Online Influencers

    

    Online influencer's have become a lot more popular in the recent years. This is because social media usage has skyrocketed. Today, Paige did her "Each One Teach One" presentation on online influencers and how they impact our society whether it be good or bad.

    Online influencers hold a lot of responsibilities. As the title says, they are highly influential individuals on social media today. Online influencers have a big platform, with a large following. Because of this, they make money from their accounts, and obtain sponsorships along with brand deals. Online influencing can be an entire job within itself, and most people that are in this field make their entire living off of their social media platforms. They develop their own personal brand, and gain support from their followers.

    Online influencing seems like a dream for most people. They are able to sit and work from home solely by posting on social media. However, there are a lot of downsides to the online influencer life that is not shown to the outside world. This career can cultivate a lot of stress because social media can easily affect your mental health in a negative way. It can also be very hard to deal with business interests and generate profit, while also maintaining honest opinons on products. Brands send "PR" to creators in exchange for a post on their platform. This can generate a lot of traffic to their websites and purchases as well solely because someones favorite creator likes their product. However, if a brand is sending you a free product, they are obviously going to want a positive review or reaction to their product. This can become tricky, because they may just be saying what the brand wants them to say, instead of how they actually feel about the product. In turn, their followers may purchase this product just because the creator did, and it may not actually be as great as the creator made it seem.

    Online influencers vary, becuase men and women are interested in different things. Women tend to lean more towards fashion, beauty, lifestyle, and cooking creators, while men tend to lean towards sports, entertainment, and business creators. This creates a broader environment for online influencers to flourish from. Throughout all influencers though, they are always prone to hate comments. People have the ability to say whatever they are thinking on the internet in an instant, which can be hard for online influencers to deal with. Online influencers have to have thick skin, and be able to brush these comments off and continue in their line of work.

    Large online platforms give online influencers the ability to promote whatever they may choose to. They can use their platform for good and change, but they can also use their platform just for fun. This gives online influencers a lot of freedom when it comes to content that they share with their followers. Collectively, online influencers impact our younger demographic more than anyone, because they have grown up using social media, and watching their favorite creators on different platforms. 

    Overall, online influencing can seem like a dream and a walk in the park all at once. Many people aspire to be YouTubers, TikTokers, and content creators, but it is important to know that negative impacts can come from this. Social media is not everything that it is made out to be, and this presentation really brought attention to that. 

BLOG POST #8 EOTO 2: Confirmation Bias

                             

    

    Have you ever wondered why we favor our existing beliefs? Well, that is because of confirmation bias. Confirmation bias, by definition, is known as "our underlying tendency to notice, focus on, and give greater credence to evidence that fits with our existing beliefs". Think about it like you were reading a newspaper that has a lot of information, but you already have a knowledge of the topic. Because of the confirmation bias, you would be more likely to believe the facts that you already know, becuase it is confirming your existing beliefs. In contrast, the facts that you haven't heard and may not be so sure about, you may not believe. It is almost as if you are reading with blinders on, and only believing what you want to believe. 

    Confirmation bias can be good in some cases, but can also be extremely detrimental to us as a society. Confirmation bias helps individuals to stay confident in their beliefs. When an individual finds information that supports their preexisting ideas, it confirms this information and in turn, makes them more confident. This eliminates mental conflict which can also be known as cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is a mental state of discomfort that occurs when something does not line up with what is said. This puts a stress on our minds which obviously, no one is going to enjoy.

 

    However, when looking at the bigger picture, confirmation bias can have troubling effects. Confirmation bias can keep us as individuals from having an open mind, resulting in a fixed mindset. A fixed mindset allows no room for growth. If we are only reading and believing things that confirm what we already think, there is also no room for growth and can be detrimental to our learning. It can almost lead to ignorance. News is one of the biggest problems that confirmation bias affects. When individuals believe one view, they will only read and consume news from networks that align with their beliefs. Imagine you were watching the election and following the candidates from a far right leaning network. This would be ignorant, because you would only get half the facts. This leads to one of the biggest problems in society. 

    Socially, confirmation bias can impact relationships and day-to-day interactions. Since confirmation bias essentially reiterates a belief that an individual already has, it can easily strengthen in-group biases. In-groups and out-groups are the social groups that you identify with. Your in-group is the group who you as a person belong to in regards to the individuals that you spend time with and share common beliefs with. Your out-group is the exact opposite, the people that do not have beliefs like your own. Since these individuals do not share your beliefs, naturally we as individuals tend to not enjoy spending time around them. Confirmation bias reinforces our beliefs, so when we read things that align with what we already know, we believe it instantly. As a group, our whole in-group will tend to believe these things and stick together, which strengthens in-group biases. This can create a huge problem socially because it can create social divides between groups with different belief systems. 

    The effects of confirmation bias are evident in every part of our lives; socially and personally. The problem with confirmation bias is that many individuals do not think this is something that affects them. However, the truth is that it affects everyone whether we recognize it or not. The close-mindedness that confirmation bias enforces can keep us as individuals from growing and connecting with others. As everyone knows, a fixed mindset is one of the top problems with our society today and confirmation bias is only making fixed mindsets more prevalent. So next time you decide to shut your computer after reading what only confirms your own beliefs, try scrolling further, and also recognizing other views in order to avoid this confirmation bias. 

BLOG POST #7 The Age of AI

     Artificial intelligence, known as "AI" is a new technology that has changed the world we live in in numerous ways throughout the recent years. In today's world, it is so easy to look up a question that you might have, and get an instant answer from artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence is on its way to reimagining our world, and changing the world as we know it. After watching "In the Age of AI" by Frontline, I was surprised by what could be to come from this advancement, but also alarmed by the ethical dilemmas that come with it. Artifical intelligence could be a great thing for this world, but it is important to understand the technology fully so that we can outweigh the risks. 

    The ethical concerns of artificial intelligence are huge. Privacy and job displacement are some of the most alarming ethical concerns of them all. 

    Artifical intelligence platforms rely on large amounts of personal data which raises many concerns about how this data may be collected and obtained. Protecting internet users' privacy is one of the biggest ethical concerns in todays society. While artificial intelligence claims to practice ethical values, and that they only collect necessary data in order to produce desired results, with all of the privacy concerns with the internet today, we can never be too sure. Users should be aware of what data is being collected about themselves, and specifically how it is being used in order for this to no longer be an ethical concern.

    Job displacement is a huge concern that I hear throughout my major every day. In many career fields, jobs are being taken over by artificial intelligence, becuase why pay someone to do something that can be done through AI? While there are usually problems with AI doing work, for example in my career field, there have been times that when AI writes a story they get facts wrong, or repeat information, it is still insanely easier to go back and check their facts in order to make that change, rather than hire someone to write the entire story. 

    Even though these are only a few of many ethical dilemmas presented by artifical intelligence, there are some positive effects as well. Artificial intelligence can aid society in a variety of ways. One example includes AI chat bots used in customer service industries. AI chat bots can improve customer satisfaction, and work more efficiently than individuals can. Another example of artificial intelligence being used for good is in the healthcare industry. Arificial intelligence can breakdown medical images and help to develop new treatment plans. This can be beneficial for the healthcare industry in the long run. 

    As I stated earlier, the risks of job displacement caused by artificial intelligence is a huge risk to society. Not only are people going to lose their jobs, but it will be detrimental to the economy in return. There will be no way to support those displaced by AI, and the overall spending in our economy will also plummet, because individuals have no money to spend now that artificial intelligence has taken their jobs. 

    Overall, this new age of artificial intelligence brings many benefits, but with good always comes bad. With all of the ethical concerns and risk factors present in the use of AI, we have to be sure that we are using artificial intelligence the right way, and proceeding cautiously when we do. 

    

BLOG POST #6 EOTO Reflection: Facebook & Instagram

         

    I was able to learn a lot about different technologies throughout our Each One Teach One presentations on Wednesday, November 6th. There were a lot of different inventions that each person put time into researching before they taught us about that specific invention. While I enjoyed learning about all of these differnet inventions and technologies, the one that stood out to me was the invention of Facebook and Instagram, by Tatum James. 

    Mark Zuckerberg and his partners invented Facebook while they were sophomores in college, which was shocking to me becuase they would have been my age when they produced this huge social media platform. It started as just a communication system for their Harvard, for students to post events and other thoughts and opinions. Later, Facebook expanded to other universities, and eventually grew into the largest social media platform. It is shocking to me that something this huge, started so small and by someone my age. I could not imagine building such a popular social media site right now, and eventually becoming wealthy because of it. 

    Instagram came from the term instant camera and telegram, hence the name "Insta-gram". It was originally invented for individuals to be able to edit their photos differently than they were allowed to on Facebook perviously. It opened up a total new way to share information and even created job opportuntities for influencers and other content creators. Instagram is now a bit more modern than Facebook, with a larger demographic of younger users compared to Facebook. 

    I really enjoyed hearing the background of Facebook and Instagram, because while I use Instagram each and every day, my parents use Facebook each and every day. Knowing that an app that I use religiously was made by a group of 19-20 year olds at Harvard University, is totally incomprehensible to me. 

    One thing that I liked about this presentation was the noting of how social media does not always portray the truth. While Instagram and Facebook are fun ways to connect with others and easy ways to get information updates, what your friends are posting is the good of their lives. Nobody is posting their overwhelming breakdowns, rather they are posting their fun Saturday nights. Along with this, people can post any information they want, and it is your responsibility to fact check these post and form your own opinion. 

BLOG POST #5 Privacy On and Offline

     Privacy has become more and more alarming in the recent years. As technology increases, so has surveillance. Each of these TedTalks presents facts that become terrifying for American citizens. The government and internet sites are collecting our information more now than ever before, and there is practically no escape. 

    The internet is constantly collecting information about each and every one of us. Many of us are aware that a lot of our data is collected from our mobile devices. It's obvious when you look at a certain website shopping for a new pair of boots, and then an advertisement for new boots shows up on your Facebook an hour later. However many don't realize that with the recent advancements in facial recognition specifically, the government can obtain every single piece of information from your phone, including home addresses, search history, family history, and so much more, all from a simple picture of your face. 

    Many may think that this privacy issue doesn't affect them, but it affects every single person, every single day. The government can search every phone in a given house at any time with one click. This means that if the government wants to see who your parents are, they can figure that out and view their searches and information as well. The lack of internet privacy is affecting each and every person connected to you, including your friends and family. 

   
I understand why the government feels the need to collect certain information on individuals. It would be nearly impossible to search for criminals without their digital information. However, it is a very alarming feeling to know that the government could search anything and everything about you just for fun. I think that the government needs to have certain regulations for openi
ng certain data on indviduals, and there should be circumstances for it. Gathering information is one thing, using it in the wrong way is another. 

    In order to protect ourselves from privacy invasion, we need to start sharing less of our personal information. Providing minimal details about ourselves is the first step to creating a more private space for ourselves on the internet. There are certain things that the government just does not need to. know about us. You wouldn't go around giving your social security number to strangers on the street, so there is no need to provide it to wesbites. It is also important to stop allowing location services for each and every app on your phone. Location services are not crucial for many apps that we have downloaded, but for some reason we still click that "allow" button each and every time it pops up. We can also protect our own privacy by deleting unused apps and other softwares. If you are not using it, there is no reason to give the owners access to your information.

    There are so many ways to protect our privacy from the ever-evolving technologies that the government uses. For more information, the Aura website has a lot of good tips and tricks to stay safe and protected while still enjoying our favorite apps.