Final Blog: My Techno-Relationship

Unfortunately with the rapid development of our society, technology is no longer a want but a necessity. There have been numerous times where I have attempted to “quit” technology but could never fully commit. It is almost like living in a completely dark room, with no light switch and a super small peephole into the world. It is incredibly shocking how little one can “live” in America without the constant need to check their email, messages or social media. According to this article written for reviews.org, Americans tend to check their phones a total of 144 times a day, and that approximately seventy-five percent of Americans feel uneasy if they have to go without their cell phone.

I for one have suffered from technological addiction for a good majority of my life. According to my diagnostics I spend approximately thirty-one hours a week on my cell phone, which breaks down to look like six hours a day of mindless scrolling. This behavior is a normal week of cellular activity; nothing in particular has occurred to affect my behavior towards my cell phone. Even while trying to gather information and writing up this post I seemed to constantly end up back on my cell phone, scrolling through Instagram or TikTok. 

Being addicted to scrolling through social media isn’t my main issue with technology either. We’ve touched on the idea of privacy in class and discovered that there isn’t any. I’ve realized that I spend a lot of time “going out” but never really live in the moment, instead I capture “Instagram worthy” photos to post on social media. It's also not like I’m capturing these photos to put in a scrapbook, nine times out of ten I’m posting photos I’ve taken on my very public social media platforms. These photos have included very obvious indicators of where I’ve been and what I’ve been up to. I could easily go back and take down my Instagram or TikTok, but I won’t because like everyone else in society I feel by posting my life online I’m proving something. 

Actually according to Viasatsavings.com, most eighteen to twenty-four year old's actively own public accounts of some form on sites like Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok but will choose to be more private on sites like Facebook. This is because of the rise in popularity of the previous sites over the older Facebook.

I touched on the idea of validation seeking through these sites in the previous paragraph, I stated that I feel as though by posting or being active on sites that are trending I’m a part of the “it” crowd. I feel as though the statistics brought up by Viasat help demonstrate this further because it is the popular and newer apps where we see users who prefer public accounts versus private.

Overall it seems that technology will continue to rot society, whether it's the taking of jobs or the codependency on the information readily available in your hand, we will never be able to let it go. For me my vice is social media, for the next person it might be online video games or AI development. Technology has us in a chokehold, one that we are actively participating and encouraging. 

Age of AI

    AI is developing at an insane rate for our society, and with its development come fears of job loss, privacy and data loss, and fear of personal duplication. For me my greatest fear when it comes to AI technology is deepfaking, which according to The Guardian's Article What are deepfakes – and how can you spot them? Is when a person uses “a form of artificial intelligence called deep learning to make images of fake events.” The uses for deepfake’s span from funny short meme clips all the way to rated R material, that of which most people don’t consent too.

    Just look at the following video of Anderson Cooper, the first portion is a clip from a news segment he was talking in and the second is a deepfake of him. The resemblance is uncanny and made me uncomfortable even watching. While obviously the video tells you it is fake but it still feels real. AND this video is just an “example” it is just there to show people online the capabilities of AI. 

    TikToker Michel Janise, is just one person who as well has experienced the harmful side effects of deep fakes. The video below was posted on her platform. She discusses how a company attempting to promote erectile dysfunction medication used one of her videos to create a deepfake advert for their product. She describes the ad by stating that “The ad was me in my bedroom in my old apartment, wearing my clothes, talking about their pill, the only thing is, it wasn’t my voice.”  

    The company actively chose to use her likeness in such an extreme way to promote the product and then this commercial was seen by her family and friends. Janise finishes the video by warning her fellow online users, stating that “because we are now entering this era of living our lives online to where we need to question everything we see because someone that, you know, could be in a video saying something to you. Looks exactly like them. And it could be completely fabricated.” I couldn’t agree more. 

    While the video did not touch too much on the topic of deepfaking in class, anytime I think of AI technology my mind races to the dozens, hundreds, and thousands of victims to this deep learning technology. I also hope to see a stronger reaction or disciplinary reaction to the companies or individuals who do use this technology to create harmful content like this.

Why does the Government hate Anti War Movements?

Why does the American Government hate when we speak out against it? I mean the First Amendment is right there, why does our government feel the need to attempt to police what we say against them? These are all questions brought up when discussing the Progressive Era in class and further developed as we adventured across sites like Antiwar.com and The American Conservative, both sites that I personally have never heard of. We were asked to discuss why that is, why we had not yet heard of these sites or why they aren’t more mainstream then other sites, overall I think it has to do with fear of the government of the American spirit. 

    When doing a simple google search of “Why does the Government hate Anti War Movements?” I kept running into articles discussing the backlash surrounding the Vietnam War, and I feel like that's a good starting place for this discussion. During this time period America had many outspoken citizens who were against the drafting system and felt as if America was going into a war that had nothing to do with the U.S. They participated in protests, some peaceful some not, yet even if they were demonstrating peacefully local police departments would get involved leading to escalations of the situations. 

    Yet even with these ‘giant’ movements we still see a minimization coming from our government, which brings me back to the original question; “why haven’t I heard of websites like Antiwar.com or The American Conservative? 

    In this article by History.com, it mentions Nixon's initial reaction to learning about the Anti-War protests, in it he stated that “that antiwar protesters constituted a small—albeit vocal—minority that should not be allowed to drown out the “silent majority” of Americans,” demonstrating this idea that the government wants to minimize these voices. The government realizes that if not a lot of people realize other people agree with them, maybe they’ll feel like an odd sheep, and just choose to conform to the ideals and ideas the government wants.  

EOTO #2 REAC Echo Chambers

What is an Echo chamber? In class Paige Van Vooren gave a phenomenal presentation discussing the term "Echo Chamber" and what it means in reference to the Media Sphere. Ms. Van Vooren described that an Echo Chamber occurs when "an individual only has interactions with information, people, or sources that reinforce a specific narrative that is in line with their own views,” to simplify, an echo chamber occurs when a person is surrounded by information that confirms what they believe. 

"Echo Chamber"

When doing my own personal research on the topic I stumbled across this Youtube video on LearnFree’s Youtube channel. It confirms a lot of the ideas Ms. Van Vooren was discussing in her presentation and also mentions that Echo Chambers can also occur outside of the internet and in person. I thought this was particularly interesting, that if you choose to surround yourself with likeminded people you're actively participating in forming an Echo Chamber around your thoughts. 

Frame from the previously stated Youtube video.

Also by being an active participant in an Echo Chamber you're actively preventing yourself from gaining or learning new information that could be beneficial to you. Ms. Van Vooren mentions anti-vaxxers as an example, she stated that because they surround themselves with other anti-vaxxers it's harder for them to understand health information that they do not believe in themselves. This in turn creates a health and safety risk to society. 

One more thing to touch on when discussing Echo Chambers is how to break the cycle. Ms. Van Vooren and the video above discuss asking yourself questions pertaining to the sources and people you surround yourself with. It tells you to think if you're surrounded only by people who confirm your ideals and if the new sources you're branching out or reading are only giving the same feedback or conclusions similar to your own. Ms. Van Vooren suggests searching for other sources of media even if they do not inherently agree with your own ideals.

EOTO 2: Alternative Media & Citizen Journalism KEY

What is Alternative Media? 

    Alternative media is anything outside of mainstream media that isn’t owned by a corporation or controlled by the government. It (alternative media) isn't any day to day news or media source an individual would typically be recommended or stumble upon. The Oxford Reference extends my definition of alternative media by stating that it is "Newspapers, magazines, radio stations, or online media which are not corporately owned and which circulate political messages felt to be under-represented in ‘mainstream media’ (seen as geared towards maximizing profits and supporting a ‘free-trade’ agenda)." 

Statistics behind Alternative Media? 

    Statistically speaking most Americans have not heard of any "alternative" news sources. This is discussed by the Pew Research Center's The Role Of Alternative Social Media In The News And Information Environment, an article that approaches the statistics behind Alternative Media, who uses it and what is seen on these sources. The PRC demonstrates that less then 44% of Americans have heard of at least one Alternative News Site. They also state that of the 56% who have heard of Alternative Media most users seek out political or government based news sources. The Article also discusses reasons why most users are not completely comfortable with these sources. PRC states that 22% of Alt. Media users feel as though censorship on these sites cannot compare to Big Tech sites and in fact hinders the reliability of these sources to these users. 

Why Should or Shouldn't I work for Alternative Media Sources? 

Natasha Lennard, writer of the Salon,
and writer for the Intercept.

    Natasha Lennard discusses in her article titled Why I Quit the Mainstream Media her main reasons behind "quitting" her job in mainstream media and opening up her own independent blog. Natasha once worked as a freelance reporter for the New York Times and in her article she states that she felt "I-- or any other journalist -- (who) want to express a strong opinion on a political matter, cannot contemporaneously report for a mainstream publication." This issue is one we see brought up a lot as many journalists move from mainstream to independent or alternative media sources. Censorship forced upon these authors frustrates them and causes them to seek other ways to express themselves and their work. So if you as a reporter, journalist, or media producer want more control or creative freedom I recommend working in independent or alternative forms of media. 

But should a consumer choose to tune into Alternative Media over Mainstream media? 

    In my personal opinion I understand a person's choice to choose either Mainstream or Alternative Media, both sources provide different pros and cons when it comes to discovering one's news source or entertainment. Mainstream media has more resources, higher production values, and somewhat helps prevent the spread of misinformation. Alternative Media is more personal, can go against the 'norm', and caters well to its audience and providers. 

What about the consumer who becomes the producer? 

Citizen Journalism is one great example of alternative media provided by the public. Citizen Journalists are able to report on real time events from the perspective of the participants. With the growing population we also begin to see the development of more Citizen Journalists and more people tuning in to what they are saying. It's a personal perspective on events happening right outside their door. 

Diffusion Theory

When discussing the Diffusion Theory I would like to focus on the Invention of the motor vehicle. Today the automobile industry is a multi-trillion dollar industry with factories, warehouses, and stores all over the world. Also according to Forbes about 91.7% of American households own at least one car, and 22.2% own 2 or more cars. Yet how did the industry get this far? According to this article the Diffusion Theory has five steps that help establish the change in a new product or inventions acceptance into the public marketplace; awareness, interest, evaluation, trial, and adoption. 

The first Automobile, designed by Karl Benz

The Five Steps. We begin to see awareness of the Automobile after its invention in 1886, by Karl Benz but we start to see true interest in the Automobile when Henry Ford introduces his Model-T in 1908. We see evaluation when the car was originally tested and given the okay to travel the roads, and so on. What was most important about the development of the Automobile was the last step; adoption. 

Henry Ford's Model T, designed and released in 1908

Adopting the Automobile. While today almost everyone has a vehicle in some way shape or form, that was not the case when the invention first came into the public eye. Issues pertaining to the actual price of said vehicles was one reason why it was hard for it to be adopted by the public. As I said previously it wasn’t until Henry Ford’s Model-T, that more of the public could afford a vehicle. 

Shows an increase in the sell of the Model-T as
it becomes more available and affordable.

The Adoptee’s. Early adopters of the motor vehicle were higher class citizens, as stated previously it would take some time for those who lived in rural or impoverished areas to begin purchasing or giving into the Automobile Craze. Yet once they were affordable they started to be adopted and purchased like wildfires, the Henry Ford T-Model was extremely beneficial for day to day farm work and made traveling easier on those who lived in rural areas. 

Family beside the famous Model-T

The Fire Spreads. Due to its not easily accessibility and affordability, more and more American households began purchasing and using Automobiles in their day to day life. They became a staple for the new modern industrial America.

How private is private?

 What is privacy? With the technological advancements of today's society privacy isn’t so private anymore. The idea that advancements in society have caused us to forfeit some privacy without even acknowledging it is quite insane. The permanency of the Internet, what you search up, what you participate in, it is all known forever by your internet provider. Photos or videos of a sensitive nature will forever be on the internet, no matter how private they are. The word private in our day and age no longer has the meaning it was supposed to uphold. 

We watched six videos for class, discussing the reality of privacy in our world today. One covered emails, another covered topics of sexual exploitation and revenge porn. While these topics seem vastly different they both involve the matter of privacy and the way technology has affected it. 

In reality privacy has changed, the emails you send can be read by your provider, the intimate photos you send could be leaked to the outside world without your knowledge, and everything you do online is connected to you. 

One would assume that the government would be against the idea of companies buying and selling your data, the truth is it took them quite a while to even begin to comprehend the data we put at risk by using modern technology. While yes the government seems to put up more sanctions today then they originally had on technology it still doesn’t help prevent the data already lost. 

At the end of the day the truth about privacy and modern technology is one that isn’t obscured from my view. I grew up in a generation that was warned about the things we put on the internet and the way we allow others to perceive us online and yet the fact that something as trivial as an everyday email being accessible to any hacker feels gross, like a small insect in the leg of your trousers.