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. 

    

BLOG POST #4 EOTO: History and Impact of the Emoticon :)

                                      

    Emojis. You may know them as the cute little pictures on your keyboard, used to add character to your daily text messgaes or convey a certain feeling. Everyone is consistently using the red heart emoji, or the crying laughter, but what you may not know is the history behind the emoticon as a whole. The truth is, emojis go back way further than you think. 

    The first emoticon was used in 1979 by an American computer scientist, Scott E. Fahlman. He suggested that :-) could be used to represent a smiling face or a humorous post on a message board, while :-( could be used to represent a frowning face, and a serious post on a message board. By definition, an emoticon is "a group of keyboard characters that typically represents a facial expression or suggests an attitude or emotion and that is used especially in computerized communications". The invention of emoticons was primarily to add emotional context to messages in limited online spaces. 

    In 1988, the first full set of emojis was created. They did not look like the emojis we know and love today though, they were rather simple. However, this set was a huge jump from the previous keyboard combinations. This emoji set was released in Japan, and contained over 100 emojis. Following Japans emoji set, in 1997, the first emoji set was released on a mobile phone. Apple was finally able to debut their full set of emojis in 2011 during the IOS 5 software update. Emojis have continued to grow in popularity since. Emojis are used everywhere; in text messages, emails, social media bios, and so much more. As of September 23, there are over 3,700 emojis in total. 

    Emojis have greatly changed our world. In todays day and age, sending a text message is almost more popular than making a direct phone call. However, one issue with text messages is the misunderstanding that can come with them. If someone where to say something sarcastic, you may not know if it's sarcasm or if they were being serious. With emojis, it is easy to add a simple smily face or grinning emoji, which makes it easier to understand the intentions behind text messages as a whole. 

    According to Everyday Speech's article, "The Role of Emojis in Building Emotional Intelligence", emotional intelligence it a necessary asset that allows us as individuals to navigate our complex emotions and relationships as human beings. Specific skills are crucial for emotional intelligence, including self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy and social skills. People with higher emotional intelligence levels have been proven to have better mental health and higher levels of life satisfaction. Emojis provide a universal langugage to help make digital interactions more inclusive. Individuals are able to recognize emotions, develop empathy and perspective, enhance self awareness, practice self expression, and also promote emotional regulation and self control through emojis. By using emojis, we can choose emojis that reflect the emotions that we want to convey to another individual. This helps to promote a more balanced mindset. 

    Overall, emoticons have come a long way since they were first used on message boards in the 1980s, and we continue to see newer emojis on our phones with each and every update. Our world would be vastly different without the invention of emoticons, and could lead to the destruction of relationships because of misunderstanding. In a world filled with social media posts and text messages, emoticons are our saving grace. 

BLOG POST #3 Eight Values of Free Expression

    The eight values of free expression are what scholars use to describe why freedom expression is so important to Americans. The main idea of these values of free expression is that individuals should be able to speak and express themselves freely without the governments interference which allows for diverse perspectives throughout society. These eight values of free expression include: marketplace of ideas, participation in self-government, stable change, individual self-fulfillment, check on governmental power, promote tolerance, promote innovation, and protect dissent. These expressions help protect the foundational principles that we need as a healthy democracy and help to check power. The first ammendment is constantly being excerised by individuals today, therefore it consistently shapes our daily lives. If we did not have these free expression values, our world would look very different. 

    

    Marketplace of Ideas, also referred to as the discovery of truth, is a very important part of my personal life and I believe it should be important to others as well. This value of free expression was first suggested by John Milton. Milton wore a pamphlet known as 'Areopagitica', which uses historical, religious, and pracitical reasons to oppose requiring individuals to have a license in order to publish. This means that anyone is allowed to publish whatever they want to and it does not have to be licensed. I think that this best relates to our society today because it connects back to social media. Social media sites are platforms where all individuals are able to post ideas to the general public. Social media gives people the ability to post anything they want, whether it be true or not, and whether it may be a good idea or a bad idea. If the marketplace of ideas was not present, we would not be able to post what we wanted without the government interfering. Would anyone really want the government telling them what they can and cannot post on thier Instagram? Short answer, no they would not. This value keeps the government from deciding what they want posted and what they do not, which therefore protects our first amendment right.

    Promote Innovation, keeps our world innovative and expanding everyday. Promotion of Innovation is most evidently seen through Jack Balkins 'Living Originalism'.  This freedom ensures that free speech is valued and protected, and this keeps our world more innovative and interesting, because people are able to fulfill themselves in many different ways. If this value was not protected through our first amendment right, it is likely that our society would not be growing as much as it is today. Without this, our citizens would essentially be kept in a box, and nobody would be able to express new ideas. Think about how many technology softwares and devices would not be available, if the government was committed to holding back innovation. It is likely that the world we live in today would be vastly different. 

    Promote Tolerance, proposed by Lee Bollinger in her writing, 'The Tolerant Society: Freedom of Speech and Extremist Speech'. It is believed that a tolerant society is a better society. This freedom ensures that individuals are able to say what they want to say, whether it may offend someone or not. In a world where everything that is said is bound to be offensive to someone, this is very important. If we weren't able to post anything that might offend someone, social media would simply be nonexistent. This amendment protects hate speech, becuase it can help society learn valuable lessons about why it is hateful and worthy of being taken down. This is how norms are able to be spread regarding acceptable behavior. If the government took down any and every post that offends someone, they would be creating very weak citizens that have little to no tolerance. 

BLOG POST #2 About The Supreme Court

     

    The Supreme Court is responsible for interpreting the law, and determining how it should be applied. They have the ability to overturn laws that they deem are unconsitutional. Ultimately, the Supreme Court has a great responsibility to keep equal justice under the law. The court has the final say in all laws and has a huge responsibility to make sure that justice is served for all US citizens. 

    What I did not know about the Supreme Court was that the president has the ability to elect judges of their choosing, but under specific circumstances. A president is only able to appoint new Supreme Court Justices if a current justice resigns or passes. The justices are appointed unevenly, so one president may have many appointments, while others may have none. 

    I think one of the most important take-aways from this video was that the Supreme Court does not do anything in secret, because everything is out to public opinion. Many believe that because nobody is present during Supreme Court meetings other than the appointed justices, that the meetings are secretive and questionable. However, these meetings are simply just the justices bouncing opinons off of one another and thinking out loud. 

    It is also important to note that the Supreme Court cannot just bring up a problem that they think needs to be solved, as many may think. The president is the only one that has the ability to come into the office and bring up issues that need solving. The Supreme Court however, has to wait until the problem is brought to them, before they are able to commit to a solution. Usually, the topics that they are discussing are problems that have boiled up in the country recently. 

    The most surprising thing I took from this video was that lawyers are actually given the opportunity to present their arguments before the court, and then the court has the ability to decide. I thought that since the Supreme Court holds their meetings by themselves, that outside opinions would not be able to sway them one way or another. I was aware that they took public opinion into account, but I did not know that they actually allowed lawyers to present their arguments. This surprises me because I would have thought previously that they did not want to give lawyer opinions so that they do not have any distractions, however this video taught me otherwise. 

    This video changed the way I think of the Supreme Court because I feel like I have not learned much about what they do since my high school history classes. I have not had a history class in college so I enjoyed learning a little bit more about what their responsibilities are. I think people need to give the Supreme Court a lot more credit because they are having to make extremely difficult decisions knowing that it might upset some of the population, but they have to make the right decision for the greater good.

BLOG POST #1 Top Five Sources of News and Information

    In today's world, there are so many different ways that individuals are able to learn about and gather information in their day to day lives. The large world of news is at our fingertips more now than ever before. Most of the easiest accessibility to news is available through social media and the internet. However, individuals need to have a wide variety of news sources in order to learn the most about a specific topic. Below, are my preffered news sources and the places I go for news on a day to day basis.

 

1. TikTok has grown significantly throughout the recent years. In a society where Instagram and Facebook were the top social apps, TikTok took the internet by storm. Users are able to post 15 second videos, and all the way up to 10 minute videos on this platform on a variety of different topics. Most videos posted are within the categories of entertainment, lifestyle, and news. Tiktok makes it easier to consume content because it takes away the major factor that turns people away from news, which is reading. Tiktok allows individuals to watch a short video and usually get a good gist of what the information is. Although, it is important to be able to do your own research on a topic as well, because not everything on social media can be deemed 100% true. 

2. Instagram is a social media platform that has been around longer than Tiktok. Instagram allows individuals to post pictures, videos, and stories on their own account to the wide range of users. Instagram is a little more user friendly, in regards to ages, because it has a wider demographic of individuals that use the app. A lot of companies and news sources have their own instagram pages where they are able to post their news and even link their articles. Instagram is a preferable news source for me because you are able to follow a specific account you would like to hear news from, and you can get consistent news from that account. I like being able to see a graphic for a specific topic, read a short caption overview of what this information is about, and then be able to follow a link to an article that may tell me more about this specific news topic.

3. ESPN has been a constant source of news and information for me over the years, especially because I am a sports media major. I am very interested in a variety of sports leagues from college to professional, and ESPN makes it very easy to be able to get a lot of information from a lot of different leagues. One thing I really like about ESPN is that you can download the app on your phone and be able to opt-in to notifications. I typically get 20-30 notifications from ESPN a day, and I am able to select my team and sport preferances to get live score updates and major breaking sports news. 

4. Apple News is an app that comes predownloaded on iPhones. It covers a wide range of news topics each and every day. I like Apple News because I can get notifications straight to my phone on important topics that impact our world. It is also very easy to navigate, and often will display as a widget straight to your apple device where you are able to see top news stories at a glance just by unlocking your iPhone.

5. Apple Podcasts is another app that comes predownloaded on iPhones. As an avid iPhone user, podcasts give me something to listen to throughout my day while I am doing tasks that require some of my attention. I usually will turn on a podcast when I have a long drive, or am in the gym in order to retain information right through my headphones. Sometimes, I don't have the ability to actually watch the news, like when I might be driving, but I am still able to listen and stay connected with current events.