My Relationship with Technology - Final Blog Post

    As a freshman in college, my relationship with technology is still growing. I would have very much admitted to loving social media at the beginning of this semester, and it would've been true. I'm on Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, and even Twitter occasionally (when I remember it exists). Social media is a large component of how I stay connected with friends, stay on top of trends, and even how I share photos of myself. While I am not proud of it, it has become an integral part of my life. But while taking Media Law & Literacy and especially in working on the final blog post, I started to look more into what all this digital connectivity really means, not only to me but our generation. 

    Media is a large part of my life, while I am not proud of it, and I can confidently say most of my generation would agree. During the time I was working on this final I opened my screen time and was instantly humbled of how much time I truly spend on these apps. We use Snapchat to text our friends, Instagram to share pictures, and Tik Tok’s to share videos. The use of these apps allows for an increase In screen time, and a decrease in human interaction – which is not always healthy. Some may wonder, why do I need to go to my friends when I can send them a video? Or sit on FaceTime for 5+ hours. 

    This then led me to examine my digital footprint more closely. I Googled myself (a little scary, a little eye-opening), and while I didn't find anything especially disturbing, I was taken aback by how much of me there is out there, old posts, random photos, and even my Bat Mitzvah photos. It was a reminder that the internet does not so much forget, and that being "exposed" online isn't always about posting too much but sometimes it's about posting without thinking about the long-term impact. I went through my profiles and archived some things that no longer benefited me. I never realized how accessible information on me was. You can find my birthday, political affiliation, address, all of which is personal information that I would not share with the average person. However, if I was applying for a job I would be ok with what the employer found as I make sure everything I publish is appropriate. 

    This is allowing me to realize I need to create balance, not only of what I post, but also what I expose myself too. And how and where can we create this balance? Is social media as amazing as we think? Or does it have more negatives than positives? I think it's somewhere in between. Technology is both wonderful and stifling. Technology has evolved in ways that I do not think anyone could have ever imagined, and through that we were gifted social media.  Social media connects people, yet also makes us feel so isolated. It gives us with ways to express ourselves, but also makes us express altered versions of ourselves. What I am trying to learn most is the balance. The key, I'm learning, is to achieve a balance, to

be mindful of how and why I use these sites instead of just doing so habitually. 

    Watching the videos for this class allowed me to have a second look on technology, and the media spread through technology. I love that I can catchup with my best friend from high school who now lives across the country through social media to see all the amazing things she is up to. I love that I can post something funny or insightful and be linked with dozens of my friends instantly. There is something magical, even freeing, about that aspect of technology. 

    However, there is always the darker component of social media: FOMO (the fear of missing out), altered identities, and constant comparison. My friends and I have realized about how much we endlessly scroll through highlight reels of other people's lives and feel like we are not doing enough or wish we changed aspects of my life to fit like others. It is also important to keep in mind that most of what people post is edited, fabricated, and not always the full truth. Social media is so easily a cycle of refreshing, liking, commenting, and comparing that it can often make me feel more drained than connected.

    The videos that we saw regarding artificial intelligence and online privacy were also enlightening. It's crazy to think about how much of our personal information is being always collected.  Sometimes when we click the "I agree" button o websites, we are allowing them to take more information then they know about. AI is already changing our world, and while there's a lot of hype about it, there are also some real concerns: bias, false information, and privacy invasion,. I do not think we have to fear AI, but we should be thoughtful and cautious. As users, we need to ask what we are using these platforms for, and do the benefits outweigh the cons. 

   

There is also issue of online censorship. It is especially Important when misinformation, hate speech, and platform responsibility come into play. I believe in free speech, but I also believe the platforms must have some moral responsibility for what is shared on their sites. Finding that middle ground between protecting speech and protecting people is one of our biggest challenges ahead.

Blog Post #11 EOTO - Presentation

If you consider the term propaganda, you may think war posters or political campaigns/slogans, just like MAGA. Propaganda is more than just flashy words or pictures, it's an incredibly effective tool that can get people to think, act, and even vote in certain circumstances. This is why it is so important that we are aware/conscious of what it is so we can understand when it is being used or not. Propaganda is information that's spread to influence people's behavior or opinion. It's usually biased and made to serve a specific agenda. It can be from governments, political parties, or even social media influencers. Why may it be used?  To persuade you: usually without you even realizing it. 

Propaganda can influence anyone, but it doesn’t impact everyone the same way. For example, people who are more educated or have access to different sources of information might be better at spotting it. But people who don’t have reliable news or only hear one point of view might believe it without thinking twice. 

Rich and powerful people might use propaganda to push their own goals or stay in control. Meanwhile, people with less money might not notice they’re being influenced by it. Older generations might trust traditional news more, while younger people are often on social media, where propaganda spreads fast through memes, short videos, or fake stories Men and women often experience propaganda in different ways. That’s why it’s important to pay attention to who’s sending the message and what their goal is. 

For our generation, propaganda is all over the place. Whether it’s TikToks pushing a certain political view or Instagram posts telling you what to buy, we’re constantly being influenced. And because it usually looks like entertainment or just someone sharing their opinion, it’s not always easy to tell when it’s actually propaganda. 

Blog Post #10 - AI

 After watching this documentary, I learned a lot  about the way in which artificial intelligence (AI) is changing our lives. Both the benefits and negatives of AI are shown in the movie, which helped me realize AI might not be as good as it seems. One of the biggest lessons of the documentary was the ways in which AI could improve  our lives. For example, in healthcare  AI can help doctors detect diseases at an early stage and deliver treatments quicker than a human can. Tesla and self-driving cars may end accidents caused by human error and make the roads safer in the future. 

AI can also sort through big data sets to allow us to solve world problems. Meanwhile, the documentary showed me how how AI has privacy concerns as well . AI is being used by some countries in mass surveillance that could lead to a lack of personal freedom. For example, in China, face recognition technologies powered by AI track people's activities and movements around the clock, and the government use the information to punish or reward citizens depending on their behavior. This type of control is dangerous and shows how fast privacy can be lost when technology is used. 

The documentary also touches on the effect of AI on a nation's security. AI can be used to make defense systems smarter so that they are able to detect enemies at a quicker rate and respond at a quicker rate. On the downside, other countries or even hackers may use AI to create weapons or destroy confidential data. That is why it is important that states enact legislation over the utilization of AI within defense and security. While AI has many advantages, it also has some very serious issues. 

The documentary left no one in doubt that the more advanced AI gets, the more we need to be careful about how it is being used. We need to make sure that while we progress with AI, we consider the advantages and disadvantages and make sure technology is beign used safely.

Blog Post #9 - EOTO Gatekeeping and Agenda Setting

 We exist in a world today where we are constantly surrounded by information. We get news from the news, read social media, and view content from other sources of media, but how do we know what is true and false? This is where gatekeeping comes in. Gatekeeping is the process by which information is controlled and filtered before it gets to the public. 

Social psychologist Kurt Lewin coined the term "gatekeeping" in 1943 when he studied social change. Lewin proposed that information travels through some "gates" when it is transferred from one individual or group to another, and those who operate the gates determine which information to let in and which information to exclude. The process assists in shaping what information is presented to the public. In effect, the media acts as the gatekeeper of information, deciding what stories are worthy and what stories are not noticed. These stories that come through the gate end up becoming what ultimately influences public awareness and drives social debate. 

Gatekeeping also is similar Agenda-Setting, which Maxwell McCombs and Donald L. Shaw formulated back in 1968. On this basis, the media do not just tell people what to think but more so influence what people think about. Media institutions lead the agenda by identifying what issues and problems are raised and the manner in which they appear. Through the emphasis on certain issues, media institutions bring attention to them in public debate, thus making them appear more important. This action identifies what is important or pressing to the general public. For example, if the media is greatly covering climate change, it informs the public that this is a serious matter. On the other hand, if the media cover up or downplay topics like income inequality or social justice, the public may not even realize them as priorities. 

Gatekeeping and agenda-setting both have powerful effects on politics and public opinions. With their choices regarding reporting or not reporting certain events or topics, the media can shape people's thoughts about politics, society, and the world at large. For example, during election times, news media focus on some politicians, policies, or scandals and set the agenda, framing people's attitudes toward those politicians. Media, therefore, not only report the news—media set political agendas and determine public opinion. 

gatekeeping:

One of the most striking aspects of gatekeeping is that the public cannot even notice when it happens. Few people know that the news stories they read are not randomly selected but they it is a process of selection and exclusion. This process is affected by a number of factors. Media sources have agendas and priorities that can shape the information they provide. 

agenda setting:

The impacts of gatekeeping are tremendous. When media sources choose to emphasize some issues, they give greater significance to those issues in the public. For instance, if a news channel consistently reports on economic issues and never covers social justice movements, it can lead the public to believe that the economy is the most important issue.