Blog 7: Diffusion theory assignment

 the Wikipedia entry

  

The innovation I will be talking about is the iPhone. a cell phone was originally invented in 1973. Now, the mobile iPhone is something practically every American uses today. This innovation caught on and spread because of the versatility of the iPhone compared to a traditional mobile/flip phone such as blackberry. You are able to google things, use social media apps, call, text, FaceTime, etc. with the iPhone. In general, the iPhone is simply a superior product than the original cell phone for these reasons. 

So many people are late adopters to this out of pure stubborness I bielieve. My dad held on to his blackberry until 2018, just 6 years ago. I know from his point of view, he just didn't want change. He had been using his blackberry for many years and thought the iPhone was just too much and not necessary. He eventually realized the importance of it and how much better the iPhone is, so he bought one. The only kind of people who id say aren't adopters of this product are either the amish, or people who simply can't afford an iPhone. 

The downsides of the iPhone is mainly privacy issues. You can be hacked, have your identity taken away etc. When you have an iPhone you are giving away your data and that can provide a sense of insecurity within the user.

There are a multitude of negative side effects from the iPhone. since the iPhone allows you to connect so many ways with people, I think this can lead to people becoming socially impaired because there not actually talking to people in real life. They are instead just texting as a means of communication. I also think there's a negative of you potentially being destroyed, and then your reputation and lively being ruined.

The choice of not having an iPhone vs having one is nuanced but overall I think it be much smarter to own an iPhone that not to. there 's so much versatile liked I talked about with the iPhone that I think it's much worth the purchase. 

Blog 6: Anti War.com/The American Conservative

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/how-american-agriculture-went-wrong/

https://www.antiwar.com/

When reading both of these articles, I noticed a couple of differant things. the main things I saw were how polarizing and strong these articles were. the Anti War article gave stats and stressed the reasons behind why we should get out of the war in Gaza. It talked about the amount of people who were being killed and the money we are spending on war. The American conservative article was about how American agriculture went wrong and also gives a perspective from a conservative Americans point of view

I think we don't hear much about Anti War voices in the news because America these sites, such as Antiwar.com and The American Conservative aren't mainstream news sources. this means they won't get the proper funding in order to get bigger and to spread their message over a wider population. These websites and news outlets are looking at ways to find peace which for whatever reason isn't popular among the mainstream. These are the main reason I believe I have never heard of these news sources. These sites get very little views, which in turn can lead to them being censored.

I also believe that because there are so many websites, sometimes these ones discussed, can be lost in the bigger picture and difficult to find. This I think are due to political agendas that certain politicians may be pushing in order to get their point across. For example if someone on a much bigger platform such as CNN or Fox is promoting war, their voices are by default gonna beat out a smaller news sources that doesn't want war. These agendas may be pushed for economic or political gain in the future. 

I believe that in the future, if more people who are for war speak up, then more voices will be heard and we potentially could get to hear the other sides voices more often, such as the ones mentioned in these two articles. 

Blog post 9: reaction to "The age of AI"

I learned a multitude of things in the video regarding AI. The main takeaways I got from the video are the incredible power AI currently and more importantly will have in the future. This is seen through AI's effects on Data, robots, your security etc. Some of the things that surprised me were the the supermarket robots and the way in which AI can use face recognition to get you into your phone/mobile device, something I never really understood until watching the video. Something that frightened me with the video was how much data China has. It was crazy to me how much everyday life was controlled my AI and different electronics that I had never seen before. In china, AI contributes to practically everything whether it's on your bike, ordering food, or your bank account. 

One of the main takeaways and things I reflected on by watching the video was the way in which AI can affect the job market. In the history of the world, we've never seen something in the job market as polarizing as the potential AI has for innovating and taking over jobs. The most staggering line in think the entire video was that about 50% of jobs will altered/severely threatened by AI in just the next 15 years. Obviously would this would have major impacts for people and put money working class people out of jobs and in financial ruin. This would hurt all jobs but especially the white collar jobs. many of these said just would be effected such as an analyst, reporters, telemarketing, etc. It was explained that AI would not be able to do blue collar jobs due to many skills such as hand I coordination which are things machines just aren't able to do yet. 

The ways in which your personal privacy is altered with AI throughout this video is very crazy to me. The fact that AI can predict what kind of YouTube videos you would want to watch, what kind items you buy, what kind of food you'd want to order on door dash etc. According to the video, the algrothim within just 8 seconds can assess over 5,000 personal features from acquiring your data, illustrating th little privacy AI gives you.  https://youtu.be/5dZ_lvDgevk?si=ZNerO7ehT5dXdEnZ

Blog 11

 For this blog,  negative emotional effects of social Media. There are many effects that are negative regarding social media but I'll be talking about three of them. The affects it has on your sleep, how it can lead to depression, and how it hurts your ability to focus. 

To start off usage of social media can lead to an increase in sleep problems. according to a 2018 study in Britain, tied social media usage to a decreased, disrupted and delayed sleep. This lack of quality sleep can in turn negatively affect your academic performance and feeling lethargic. 

Also using social media before bed time has a direct correlation with your ability to fall asleep. This is because when are eyes are exposed to light, it tells are bodies to be awake. The light from our phones also emit blue light, which helps us to stay focused in when are bodies are awake. This all in turn leads to our bodies not be able to produce melatonin before bed, which is critical for falling asleep. without the production of melatonin, it doesn't let our brains wind down to fall asleep.  So id recommend turning your phone off 1-2 hours before going to bed and sleeping with the lights fully off.  https://childmind.org/article/is-social-media-use-causing-depression/#disrupted-concentration

The second main way social media can have a negative impact on you is through I potentially leading to depression. According to an article but the Child Mind Institute, social media can lead to feelings of depression because communication through a screen are "less emotionally satisfying, leading them to feel socially isolated" illustrating that this connection you'd get through social media doesn't compare to real life. according to a clinical psychologist in that article said "“The less you are connected with human beings in a deep, empathic way, the less you’re really getting the benefits of a social interaction,”. 

Overall I think the biggest way you can combat this is by trying to spend as much time with your friends in real life, rather than communicating with them through social media. 

https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/it-or-not-social-medias-affecting-your-mental-health

The third main negative effect is that social media can deeply affect your ability to concentrate . I know from by experience, especially since tin Tok has emerged by attention span has gone down. It's so easy because with that app, within seconds if you don't like the video you are seeing you can just scroll and see another video. Ive also noticed that when I'm trying to get my assignments done, I have to to turn my phone off or else ill get distracted by it and not be able to give enough focus to my work. 

Blog 9: reaction post 2

 Online influencer:

an online influencer is someone who has become known through the internet and internet and social media.

An online influencer has a multitude of "jobs" such as opinion leaders, spokespeople, Internet personality, and brands that select people to promote their brand.

effects of influencers provide job opportunities, awareness, a better ability to spread information, can help or not help the brand that they are promoting. 

Whistle Blowers

an employer reports something that went on that is a private matter in their company to the public.

Week 6: Blog 8 Key Post

 Key Post

    My topic: Uses and Gratification Theory. According to an article by thought.com, the uses and gratification theory is the idea that "characterizes people as active and motivated in selecting the media they choose to consume". Its the study of the needs that make us motivate us to consume media. It was designed in the middle of the 20th century.

    The main implication of this theory is that because it is very consumer oriented, it results in consumers being able to see whatever kind of content that they like very easily. This means that consumers aren't passively using media, they are actively using it and are more engaged in it. https://www.ou.edu/deptcomm/dodjcc/groups/00B2/LitReview.htm#:~:text=Uses%20and%20gratifications%20theory%2C%20first,gratification%20they%20receive%20from%20it.

    This theory works because of 5 specific elements. Media use is goal oriented. Your media is selected based off what will fill your wants. Media influence on behavior is filtered through social and pysolgical factors. Media is in competition with other media for a users attention. People are in control of their media usage so they're not particularly influenced by it. This means that there cognitive needs are met, their affective needs, their need for personal identity, integration, and social interaction and escapism needs are met. 

    This theory might be good good because it allows people to get very easy access to whatever content they want. If they look at a "cute puppy" video on tik Tok, it fulfills their need. Overall this theory is able to effect a multitude of different needs for people. For example, it can fulfill a cognitive need. Is someone is stuck on lyrics of a song in their head, but they can't remember the name of it, they can easily look it up and find what they are looking for. The downside or criticism of this theory is that it is too broad to be considered a theory and should "only be considered an approach to media research." it also is highly individual, meaning the user doesn't have any affect on mass media.

    This theory would positively affect different groups of people such as men, women, minority races, lgbtq+ community etc because it helps whatever mental need they have. It is easier than ever for all sorts of different people to "gratify" their needs with things such as google, twitter, TikTok etc.

    This theory would affect, me, my family, and my generation very positively. Everyone, including myself can get easy gratification by using the many media platforms because it fulfills four different desire. In 2024, with the technology we have it it easier than ever to consume the knowledge and media we want. 

week 5: blog post 7 assignment

 

The invention I plan to talk about is Tiktok. 

TikTok is a social media platform that allows the user to upload videos either short, or long form content of your choosing. As a user you can scroll and watch endless videos of your liking. You can also promote products on this app and make money via commission off of your videos

This app caught on and spread because it was different from other social media platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, etc. on those platforms, its more of a "get to know you" and a way for people to connect with other. While you can also text/communciate with people via Tik Tok, Its main purpose is to provide people an outlet to causally post whatever is they want. Whether it is them dancing to a song for seven seconds, or ranting about political issues for minutes on end. This app also targets a younger audience which makes up for most of social media users. new-social-media-demographics

Some people choose not to adopt til Tok because the app can become very addicting. Since there are millions of small-large scale videos that you can endlessly scroll through, it can be easy to see yourself just scrolling for hours on end and not paying attention to the time. I have a multitude of from who have just deleted tin Tok entirely because of how much time they wasted on it just scrolling endlessly. 

The main reason a lot of people, especially older people may not want to download data is for security purposes. Tiktok has full control over your data when you are using the app and according to an article by Ottawa University "The company collects sensitive data about users even when they don't save or share content". tiktok-use-privacy-risks

I do not know if the positive outweighs the negative. On one hand Tiktok is a phenomenal way of looking at and producing all sorts of content of your choosing. On the other hand, it can be an issue of security and privacy for users, and the app itself can also become addictive. I think you weigh out the cost to benefit analysis with a new technology by simply asking yourself "is it worth it". will this technology advise enhance my life or just make it worse. do I get more or less from this technology mentally and is it safe to use?