Blog Post #12: Final Post

Technology plays a huge role in today's society, it is known to be the greatest achievement in all of humanity with all the knowledge you need is available to us at the touch of a button or screen. Technology has provided us with the tools to get tasks done faster, such as communicating with loved ones, online shopping, and internet browsing. However, every new technology has a downside to it. We all have a relationship with technology, it is up to us to question whether it is healthy or unhealthy. 

Personally, my relationship with technology could be improved. While I try not to be on my phone while I'm spending time with friends and family, or when I'm walking to class. I spend a lot of my free time on my phone when I could be doing other things, such as reading a book or going on a walk. The more time I spend scrolling through social media, the more drained and unproductive I feel. 

Recently, I've been making an effort to implement healthy habits and strategies to improve my relationship with technology. Such as taking a break from certain apps that have been distracting me and taking up too much time in my life, turning off notifications, and setting time limits for apps on my phone. 

Back home, my family has implemented the habit by not going on our phones during meals together. Every time I'm at a restaurant or a coffee shop and I see couples or friends sitting across from each other on their phones, I can't help but think how technology has ruined human relationships. We are so glued to our phones that we have lost sight of what has been placed in front of us. 

A study by market-research group Nielson claims that American adults spend more than 11 hours per day watching, reading, listening to or simply interacting with media. This is extremely concerning considering that technology is incredibly addictive. As a society, it's time we pay more attention to the damage that technology can bring into our lives. An article published by No Side Bar introduces strategies that help us redefine our relationship with technology. These strategies include breaking the cycle by considering your motivations before buying the newest technology, setting limits, cultivating hobbies that fulfill you, and doing your research.

While many of us use technology for school, work, and keeping up with our loved ones. However, it should not be used as a replacement for face-to-face connection. Cultivating hobbies that bring purpose into our lives such as joining a club and spending time with friends helps us realize that we have lives that exist outside of our screens. 

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/people-are-spending-most-of-their-waking-hours-staring-at-screens-2018-08-01

https://nosidebar.com/relationship-with-technology/

Blog Post #10: Living in the Age of AI

AI (Artificial Intelligence) has become more popular and commonly used over the past few years. It has taken over our world and completely changed how we use technology today. As I was watching the documentary, I found it intriguing that the scientists mentioned that AI teaches us how to predict an outcome. The first time I heard about AI was a year ago when I saw a post on TikTok about people using AI software to write their academic essays for them. While some college professors are more lenient when it comes to their students' AI, it can also be harmful because are using as much creativity and they are simply relying on a robot to do their work for them. Additionally, the documentary mentioned that the increase of the use of AI and robotics has caused a decrease in jobs; more specifically, factory workers. The standard of living has dropped 15 percent. Children now have a higher chance of dropping out of school. The town of Saginaw, Michigan has experienced economic decline over the past few years. Companies now rely on robots in their factories to build machinery as well as packaging goods. An article published on Brittanica claims that the shortage of skilled staffing in automation technologies raises the need for vocational and technical training to develop the required workforce skills. 

AI can also contribute to the issue of privacy. The documentary made a good point when it mentioned that a lot of times we think that we are simply using social media, but in fact, social media is using us. This is because whenever we search or browse on our devices, we are leaving digital traces. For example, when I have Google searched a brand or a product, I begin to receive digital ads on social media apps about that same brand or product. 

According to the documentary, Google says that the purpose of this is to improve the user experience. It can be intimidating or frustrating when a simple search turns into your social media pages being bombarded with repeated ads of that product. This is because companies make money off of ads, and they don't want us to know how much money they are making. 

https://www.britannica.com/technology/automation/Consumer-products

Blog Post #9: EOTO 2

In today's day and age, we are constantly being exposed to new information every day. It can be easy for us to look at a social media post or news article published by our favorite news source or account and instantly believe everything written down. However, not every article or post contains true and reliable information. Readers can be quickly deceived by an eye-catching title and a well-looking professional blog or news article. False information can spread quickly, which is why we need to be mindful of the media we consume and do further research to make sure we are getting our information from reliable news sources. According to an article published by the American Psychology Association, the spread of false information has affected our ability to spread awareness about current topics and issues. Additionally, it has caused chaos, confusion, and division in our society because we aren't taking additional steps to ensure that we are getting our news from reliable sources.

The CISA reveals three terms that describe the different types of false information. Disinformation, Misinformation, and Malinformation. Disinformation is false information deliberately intended to mislead, completely misstating the facts. Misinformation is false, but not intended to mislead or cause harm. Malinformation is based on fact but used out of context to mislead, harm, or manipulate. MIT Libraries confirms that any type of false or manipulated content can be used by individuals, companies, media outlets, and even government agencies. 

During the Covid-19 pandemic, millions of people including political leaders clashed over issues surrounding public policy and the interpretation of medicine. An article published by the National Library of Medicine claims that medical providers were overwhelmed by the pressure from the media and community to navigate the unknown with precision. Questions were raised regarding the potential use of disinfectants provided internally to patients with COVID-19. The CDC conducted a survey of 502 adults in the United States and they found that 39% of responders engaged in dangerous practices such as washing food products with bleach, applying household cleaners directly onto the skin, and intentionally inhaling or ingesting disinfectants with the goal of preventing the COVID-19 infection. Researchers from Stanford University claim that the elderly, youths, those active on social media, and those with fewer years of formal education are more likely to believe and spread misinformation. This proves that the spread of false information can further complicate and aggravate an already intense global issue. 

Therefore, we as a society should take the initiative by stopping and thinking after we read an article or post, and then doing additional research to fact-check our sources to help prevent the spread of false information. 

https://www.apa.org/topics/journalism facts/misinformation-disinformation

https://www.cisa.gov/topics/election-security/foreign-influence-operations-and-disinformation#:~:text=Misinformation%20is%20false%2C%20but%20not,mislead%2C%20harm%2C%20or%20manipulate.

https://libguides.mit.edu/disinfo

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7721433/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7315790/

https://engineering.stanford.edu/magazine/article/how-fake-news-spreads-real-virus

Blog Post #7: Diffusion of Innovations

Instagram through the lens of the Diffusion Theory

Pioneers: 

Instagram was launched in 2010 by two Stanford graduates, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. The app was first called Burbn, which was inspired by Kevin Systrom's love for the drink. The platform gave users the opportunity to post check-ins with photos, which was not yet considered social posting. 
 

Early Adopters: Users who were early adopters began to use the app at the time when it was released to the public in Apple's App Store in 2010. Instagram reached 25,000 users on its first day. The app mainly focused on images that had the option to add filters, comments and liking features. According to an article published by Post Builder App, Instagram hit 1 million users on December 12, 2010. 

Late Majority: Instagram later transformed into a straightforward platform and service, with its main focus being on posts containing images and/or short 15-30-second videos. Instagram has become relatively similar to the app TikTok, especially with the addition of Instagram Reels in 2020. Users can now share and watch 15-second- 5 minute videos on Instagram. This is a great alternative for those who don't have Tik Tok, many Instagram users post their Tik Toks on Instagram Reels as well to help their content reach to a variety of audiences. 

Laggards: According to Statista, only 2.6% of users are aged 65 and older. This is mainly due to the fact that both Instagram and Tik Tok are apps known to be used by younger generations, while Facebook is known to be used by the older generations since that is what they are used to. The only time I have seen older people to use Instagram is only for the purpose of following and commenting on their family member's posts, but they rarely ever post their own content. 

Pros & Cons: Instagram has been proven to be a great tool to build brand awareness and provides many sponsorship opportunities. Additionally, a lot of customers rely on Instagram for product recommendations and there is even an opportunity to shop and find links to the creator's Amazon storefront. However, the app can get very disorganized when scrolling through your feed with the increase in the amount of ads that pop up instead of just being photos and videos. 

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Instagram

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/638033472215998123/visual-search/?x=16&y=16&w=532&h=532

https://postbuilderapp.com/blog/instagram-history-and-updated-timeline

https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/introducing-instagram-reels-announcement

https://www.statista.com/statistics/325587/instagram-global-age-group/

Blog Post #6: Antiwar Voices

 I reflected on the role of dissent and how the First Amendment protects it, especially during the Progressive Era which was present during World War I. According to Brittanica, dissent is an unwillingness to cooperate with an established source of authority and is known as a powerful source for developing effective public reasoning. Those with anti-war voices did not want the American government to be involved in the war. As a result, they were persecuted for their views and hundreds of them were thrown into jail. After reading articles published by anti-war writers for the first time on ANTIWAR.com and The American Conservative, it was interesting to see a new perspective on more because most of the mainstream media we see today only includes pro-war perspectives rather than anti-war. 

One of the main reasons why anti-war voices are silenced is because it goes against the American government, many large corporations rely on war as their source of income. However, this doesn't give them the excuse to silence anti-war voices because both sides deserve to be heard. According to an article published by Liberation, almost 84 percent of New York editorial articles regarding the Afghanistan war were in favor of continuing it and over 91 percent of Post articles published also supported the war. 

According to an article published on ANTIWAR.COM, Senator McConnell from Kentucky says that calls to calls to condition military aid to Israel are "ridiculous" as Israel has been killing civilians at a fast rate in Gaza. In some cases, this statement can be seen as valid since the U.S. government has spent billions of dollars, which has caused a rise in inflation. However, there should be a balance between having advocators for world peace be able to voice their opinions in the media and also having those who rely on war for their income be able to share their opinions as well as perspectives on on the pro and anti-war movement.   

https://www.britannica.com/topic/dissent-political

https://news.antiwar.com/2023/11/28/sen-mcconnell-says-calls-to-condition-israel-aid-are-ridiculous/

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/

https://www.liberationnews.org/09-12-11-antiwar-voices-silenced-in-main-html/

Blog Post #5: EOTO Presentations

 All of the presentations given were extremely informational and I can definitely say I learned something new in each one. The presentation that stood out to me the most was Alexa Beck's presentation on the history and origin of Facebook and Instagram. While there are many negative factors surrounding social media today, I think it is important to be knowledgeable of the history and origin of social media platforms in order to understand the purpose of why it was created. I believe that social media can be extremely helpful and beneficial if it is used for the right purposes. Additionally, the topics discussed in her presentation directly relate to my presentation on the Apple iPhone because today many people associate these apps with the early years of the iPhone and the App Store.

Facebook was launched in February 2004 by current CEO Mark Zuckerberg with the help of four of his fellow schoolmates at Harvard University. It amazes me how this app created and used by college students was transformed into a major social media platform. According to an article published by Britannica , Facebook became known as the largest social media platform in the world, having nearly three billion users as of 2021. I like that Alexa mentioned in her presentation how its interesting that Facebook was a social media platform initially created by and for college students. However, in today's world, Gen Z views this platform as an app used mostly by older generations. 

Instagram was created in 2010 by two Stanford graduates, Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. While this social media platform is very similar to Facebook, the main difference is that Instagram started as a mobile app in the beginning because the Apple App Store did not launch until 2008. Now Instagram and Facebook are a part of the same company, Meta. The company was launched as a result of Mark Zuckerberg wanting to rebrand Facebook, which is a great strategy if you want your company to grow and expand. 

Blog Post #4: EOTO

Technology is constantly evolving, it allows us to communicate efficiently with the world and our loved ones. As Steve Jobs says "Every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything." Millions of people around the world today use smartphones as their only computer, camera, GPS device, music player, communicator, trip planner, and payment tool. In the beginning, a majority of the design elements of early smartphones resembled those of the company BlackBerry. Later on, The Apple iPhone became known as the most influential gadget in the world. According to WCCFTech, Apple has sold 2.32 billion iPhones since Steve Jobs first announced them in January 2007 at the Macworld conference. At the conference, he mentioned that his goal was to reinvent the phone by combining an iPod, a revolutionary mobile phone, and an internet communications device. He spent one hour explaining the device, from the ability to gain access to multiple apps and news sources from a touch interface to even making a phone call placing what some say is the largest Starbucks order in history.  While the phone didn't hit stores until six months after the initial reveal, people were lined up outside stores to buy one. According to an article published by Wired, Apple sold 270,000 iPhones the first weekend it was available. 

 

 

The first iPhone offered a 3.5-inch screen and a 2-megapixel camera. Allowing users to watch TV shows and movies, take and store photos, listen to music, and make phone calls all from one small and lightweight handheld device. Each year, Apple introduces a new model of the iPhone with improved design elements while still keeping the phone's most beloved features. Nearly a year later after the first iPhone was launched. Apple introduced the new iPhone 3G with larger storage space as well as an addition of a new built-in GPS. Most importantly, it added the App Store, which gave software developers the opportunity to sell and build apps to millions of smartphone owners.  

In 2017, Apple removed the home button with the new iPhone X. Which made room for a new security feature: Face ID. Users could now unlock their phones and make transactions with Apple Pay simply by looking directly into the camera.  These same features continued into newer models. Personally, I love owning an iPhone because it allows me to communicate easily with friends and family as well as browse social media platforms and store important information.  Social media apps such as Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn, etc, are easily accessible all on one device. The iPhone has made a long-lasting impact on the lives of people around the world by making communication more convenient and easily accessible than ever before. 

 https://www.wired.com/story/guide-iphone/

https://www.computerworld.com/article/3692531/evolution-of-apple-iphone.html

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_One_Device/kwsvDQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=history+of+the+iphone&pg=PT8&printsec=frontcover

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2007/01/09Apple-Reinvents-the-Phone-with-iPhone/

https://www.exposedmagazine.co.uk/features/importance-of-iphones-on-the-society/#:~:text=Impacts%20of%20iPhones%20on%20the%20society&text=Apple's%20iPhone%20was%20a%20great,needs%20done%20in%20one%20device.