This is my informational blog about the laws that are used in today's media and how to interpret what they mean. I also will be sharing information that includes historical information about the technology we use today for media.
Today, I will be sharing with you all my relationship with technology and how the media has a role in my life. Additionally, I will share information about my digital footprint as well as my online presence.
Relationship Status: Complicated
My relationship with technology and media in itself is very complicated. I love it and hate it at the same time. I find so many positives with it, yet with those positives, I still find a good amount of negatives.
Here are some of the positives I found with technology:
- Reality Made Easier:
Everyone now has access to knowledge of everything at the tips of their fingers. Our phones provide us with information and technology we could only dream of 40 years ago. We no longer have to open up a dictionary or a book. Just type in what you are looking for into Google and it will find the answers for you.
- Medical Advancements:
Technology that helps with organ transplants, bionic limbs, gene editing, and 3D-printed organs and tissues are just to name a few amazing advancements. Years and years ago, we would have struggled to find solutions for amputees. Now, we can provide them with bionic arms that help them get back to their normal lives before they were impacted by their amputation.
- Impossible Made Possible:
We now have access to jobs through computers, and even our phones. Our world has self-driving cars and augmented realities. These are just some of the advancements we have made that no one thought could be remotely possible 20 years ago. Technology makes the impossible possible. Without technology, we would likely struggle to function in our everyday lives just because technology makes it so much easier.
Yet...we did function before technology. So, why do we need it so badly now? Have we just become reliant on it? Are we addicted to the ease that technology brings to us in our everyday lives?
Here are the negatives of technology that I found to be true:
- Social Media:
Social media has been a very controversial topic throughout the years since it was introduced. The idea of liking peoples content and commenting seems like a cute idea, no? However, the idea of getting likes and positive comments was something people were beginning to strive for; crave. When people's accounts do not reach a certain following or they do not get a certain amount of likes on their posts, that is when mental health is put in jeopardy. Because overall social standards have been raised to almost an unreachable bar, it is no wonder so many people on social media develop anxiety, depression, FOMO, and body image issues.
- Technology Takeover:
Technology as we know it is almost implemented in everything, especially when it comes to everyday lives. Microwave? Technology. Refrigerator? Technology. Washer and dryer? Technology. You want to ask a question? Resort to technology. Humans today rely so much on technology that there is no way anyone can imagine living without it. That is what our world has come to. We cannot function without our phones nearby us or in our hand or pocket. We have begun an overreliance on technology. We rely too heavily on calculators, spellcheck, GPS, and so many more things that were more than possible before the time of technology. People would use mental math and write out equations; people used dictionaries to check their spelling; people used paper or laminated maps to find where they were going. Our lives were doable then and they are doable now. However, the issue still remains where we rely so heavily on technology that we have begun not thinking for ourselves.
- Educational Concerns:
With our reliance on technology comes education and cognitive concerns. Between the years of 2000 and 2015, the average attention span of a teenager has gone from 28-42 minutes all the way down to just 8 seconds by 2024. That is alarming. It has decreased so severely due to constant notifications and multitasking, reducing the ability to focus deeply. With my phone around me while doing tasks or homework, I struggle to stay attentive in my work for more than 10 minutes without getting distracted by a notification.
Technology today is terrifying. It is everywhere, and is implemented in almost everything we know. What would we do without technology?
Relating to the Short Videos
In the final blog post prompt I have been following, I found that the dark side of technology video appealed the most to me. I see the dark side more than the light. I have never felt more left out and lonely when it comes to social media. Seeing posts about how perfect someone's life looks is very detrimental to my health and I have attempted at telling myself that I should never assume what someone is going through. While it may look perfect on the outside, who knows what is happening on the inside. I prefer to tell myself that there is a vulnerable side to everyone and everyone has their own conflicts like myself. That tends to help me feel less of the effects of FOMO because I can reflect on my own life.
For the videos I had discussed in other blog posts regarding privacy and online censorship, those are not nearly as thought-provoking for me as the dark side of social media and its effect on mental health. However, I do believe that technology allows the impossible to be possible, and that may not necessarily always be good. Technology may allow governments to surveil its citizens in a non-ethical way, like listening in on private conversations or spying on the actions of citizens, which is very concerning.
Conclusion
Overall, my relationship with technology is complicated. I struggle to find more good in it than bad, yet I use it every day. I am writing on a computer right now. That is both amazing and horrible at the same time. This just reasserts my opinion that we rely too heavily on technology for all our needs and wants. What happened to writing on paper?
Thank you so much for following along with me as I explored multiple different topics across all my blog posts concerning laws and media and both combined. I hope you enjoyed reading these as much as I enjoyed typing and compiling them!
Today in this blog post, I will be discussing the video I watched labeled "In the Age of AI," which discussed the positives and the negatives of AI in today's society. Additionally, I will be reflecting on the video and sharing my thoughts on AI.
"In the Age of AI" Video
From watching the video, what I learned that I did not know already was how many jobs are being taken over by AI. At the beginning of the second hour of the video, it shows what looks like a factory, but is labeled as a 'supermarket.' Personally, I cannot imagine why we need machines to do work that someone else could be getting paid to do. It really highlights the significance of how people are becoming less relevant and technology is becoming the new "thang." It is quite terrifying to me that in 20 years, or maybe even less than that, all jobs that humans have will be taken over by technology and AI. They are already exploring using robots in the military and in the medical fields, where robots will perform surgeries and perform other tasks that humans could easily do, but possibly better.
I struggle to understand why we as a society need AI to do tasks anyone could easily do with just a little sweat and tears. Is it because we have become lazy as a society and no longer feel the need to work for what we want?
Further into the video, it is mentioned that there are "millions of people who work in cashier positions" and in the next few years, it is likely that those jobs will be taken over by AI and technology. A perfect example of this already happening is in the Amazon Fresh grocery stores. I have one in my hometown and it is actually quite terrifying. You walk in, grab a cart, and everything you put into your cart is scanned and added to your virtual Amazon cart. Once you are done shopping, your Amazon account is charged for your groceries and you leave the store. There are no cashiers involved. Now that, to me, is very weird. Why is it that we do not feel the need to provide jobs to those who need them and instead of giving open jobs to people we choose robots? Or none at all, like at the Amazon Fresh store?
I understand the want for perfection and the want for everything to be easier and more, but isn't taking people out of the equation when it comes to jobs mean less human interaction and more reliance on technology?
Later in the video, it is mentioned that many businesses look at implementing technology and AI into their business due to the want for more efficiency. These businesses are looking for a way to use less workers and promote more productivity and efficiency, yet they are eliminating jobs that could be offered to those that need the money and networking.
One of the lines that stuck the most with me in the video was "And I do think that when we look at some of the studies about opportunity in this country, the likelihood that you won't be able to advance from where your parents were, I think that's...is very serious and gets to the heart of the way we like to think of America as the land of opportunity." While there is a very serious issue with inequality when it comes to the job field, how is technology going to make that any more fair? How will people be able to make a living if technology is doing everything for them.
One other issue I want to address is how we are so reliable on technology and we are no longer going to be able to function at a healthy, productive way. Our next generation needs to be sufficient in taking care of themselves and using their motor skills in order to keep our world functioning. Relying completely on technology to perform simple tasks like packing groceries into a bag or needing AI to write you an essay--when you should be able to do that on your own--will mean that we will never be able to function without technology and there is the possibility that an actual AI apocalypse could occur. God forbid AI becomes conscious and realizes humans are useless and are not needed.
Conclusion
Overall, my thoughts on AI vary. I love the idea of being able to do things that were once labeled impossible with the help of technology, but I hate the idea that humans will be pushed out of their jobs that keeps them active, attentive, challenges their critical thinking and problem solving skills, communication skills, and productivity, just for technology to take over for them. It does not make sense to employ AI into doing jobs that humans are perfectly capable of. In my opinion, it shows that we want to choose the easy way out.
Next week, I will be reflecting on information shared in the EOTO Presentations by my fellow peers! 'Til next time!
In this blog post, I will be detailing some inventions that my peers shared in their "Each One, Teach One" presentations. Just like my blog post about the telegraph, this blog post will be sharing new information I discovered from other pieces of technology in history.
The History of the Carrier Pigeons
Many people know about carrier pigeons being one of the first ways to communicate across varying distances. Little did I know, however, the origin of carrier pigeons and where it started.
According to the research one of my classmates found, the first instances of carrier pigeons was likely in ancient Egypt. This was the fastest way to get a message from point A to point B. In addition, carrier pigeons were also used during the Roman Empire; there was quite a large usage of them at that time. Initially, carrier pigeons were used only for the wealthy who wanted to deliver their mail faster than on horseback. At the time, it was a privilege to have a carrier pigeon deliver your message.
Carrier pigeons were also regarded in the Middle East, and were help in high esteem, calling them "King's Angels". Again, as you can see, they were used primarily for the wealthiest of citizens.
A fun fact about carrier pigeons is that pigeon racing became an official sport in the 1900s! Who knew!
The Invention and History of Television
Television is both one of the greatest and most astonishing inventions when it comes to technology. Before the television, there was Paul Nipkow, who invented the electric telescope in 1884, which was a spinning disk system that could 'scan' things. After this invention, years later, Philo Farnsworth demonstrated the first electronic TV system in 1927. This was technically the first ever invention of the television, the earliest and closest thing to a TV like the ones we have today.
The television helped revolutionize communication and fostered shared cultural experiences. Once it became a worldwide invention, majority of the population eventually had one and could experience real time events with other countries at the same time, which positively impacted communication between countries. It helped unite the world and brought people together when it came to watching favorite shows or witnessing live television broadcasts.
Of course, there are negatives with every positive. Concerns over televised violence, particularly on children, became quite prominent. One way children would find entertainment was through the TV, but unfortunately, there were times when there was no perfect way to monitor whether violence would pop up on the television. In addition, it sparked debates on content regulation and parental supervision. The issue rose that parents should be supervising their children when watching TV to help diminish the possibility of violence being displayed.
Obviously, television made it a very long way and better ways to monitor children while watching TV has become very advanced. For example, Netflix has the feature that allows children to only view child-approved content. In addition, on cable, there are many different channels that promote only kids shows which helps diminish the impact of violence on children nowadays.
Conclusion
In conclusion, both the inventions that I chose to speak about are inventions that were necessary for technology to be as advanced as it is today. These inventions helped set in motion extraordinary creations that we could only have imagined back in the day.
My next blog post will detail The Progressive Era and I will be sharing my thoughts on antiwar voices.
In today's blog post, I will be reflecting on a few TEDTalk videos I watched that discuss how media platforms tend to invade our privacy with their technology. After watching four videos detailing how technology invades our privacy, I will be sharing my feelings about the overall arching idea of technology possibly being too powerful and actually having a more negative affect on our daily lives than we are knowledgable of.
Video 1: Juan Enriquez
In the first video, the speaker, Juan Enriquez, compares how platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Google, LinkedIn, cell phones, GPS, and many more are like "electronic tattoos": they provide as much information about who and what you are as any tattoo would. With that remark, he is raising a very strong point. There is such a thing as a digital footprint; things posted, liked, shared, and commented on stay with you throughout the rest of your life with these platforms, whether you like it to or not. Not only that, but the main point Enriquez is making is that these platforms have so much information on you that they could create an entire portfolio just with a few slivers of information. How scary is that?!
In addition, he gives examples of the advancement in facial recognition--almost 88% accurate most of the time--and how with a simple picture, facial recognition technology can recognize those faces in the photo and identify each and every person there. A company named "Face.com" was sold to Facebook, and it contained over 18 billion faces in its system from facial recognition. It is terrifying to think that my face is located somewhere in Facebook's database and how many people have access to seeing what I look like and can identify me across numerous different platforms.
Overall, Juan Enriquez creates the absolute perfect comparison of our presence on digital platforms: Electronic tattoos. His video teaches me to be more aware and cautious about my presence on social media platforms and to be careful with what information I share, because somewhere out there, someone has access to that information and can easily profile me.
Video 2: Catherine Crump
In the second video featuring the speaker Catherine Crump describes how GPS locations allow the government to basically have a detailed portrait of who you are, what you do, your interests, and how you function in everyday life--just based on where you go. Crump states that "thanks to modern technology, the government knows way too much about what happens behind closed doors and local police departments make decisions about who they think you are based on this information."
Something that I had not even thought of are the cameras spread across thousands of streets across the country that are capable of reading license plates. While I completely agree with Crump's idea that police departments know too much about us, I view it as a form of protection. Because police departments know this information, I feel safer knowing that they can make a profile of me, especially since I am not the type to do anything illegal. Maybe for some who prefer to keep their lives private or maybe even those that prefer to be anonymous in order to commit crimes may feel very uncomfortable and unsettled by this idea.
However, coming from someone who feels safe with majority of police departments, I have to say I disagree with the idea that it is an uncomfortable contract that we sign as citizens in the United States.
While I disagree with the main idea that it is "unlawful" for police departments to hold onto information about everyday citizens, I have to say that it does make me uncomfortable that they have information on me, despite me doing nothing wrong. However, I am the kind of person who does not like the idea of the government having that information when they are not the ones that technically enforce the law like police officers do. Yes, the government is the one enforcing laws, but I view police officers as everyday citizens like me and you, but they just have more power.
I cannot explain it well, but I view the government as a more controlling power and police officers more checking citizens and making sure they are following the laws. I have never viewed police officers in general as negative and if anything, I view them as keeping the streets safe and preventing and resolving crime. Unfortunately, there are those police officers that are corrupt and abuse their power to take advantage of and wrongly treat citizens.
In the end, I completely see where Catherine Crump is coming from and I do not like the idea of police departments having technology that powerful and them having the ability to store data about me in their systems, but I have to say I feel less threatened by it.
Video 3: Christopher Soghoian
The third video is with speaker Christopher Soghoian, who discusses how surveillance has happened for more than 100 years, supplied by telephone companies that can wiretap into phone calls. He describes how telephone companies have built surveillance features into the very core of their networks.
The idea of this is quite horrifying, and come to think of it, I have always thought about how unsettling that would be if it were to happen to me. I know that I definitely disagree with the idea that someone should be capable of listening in on a phone call that is happening in private, especially if it is about information that me or someone else does not want to be shared.
Soghoian makes a good point that it does not necessarily have to be someone you know; it could be your own government or a different government, or even someone like a hacker, criminal, or stalker. The thought of this makes me uneasy to think that information I want to discuss in private and I believe is private may not be after all.
His video takes a turn, where he begins listing how Apple and Facebook have created encryptions that make it extremely difficult for anyone to wiretap into messages, phone calls, and Facetime calls. And after more than 100 years, the government finally cannot access information through wiretapping, which Soghoian says they are not happy about. According to Soghoian, "what upsets them the most is that the tech companies have built encryption features into their products and turned them on by default. It's the default piece that matters. In short, the tech companies have democratized encryption. And so, government officials like British Prime Minister David Cameron, they believe that all communications--emails, texts, voice calls--all of these should be available to governments, and encryption is making that difficult." From this statement, I can conclude that Soghoian is making an inference that the government is upset and enraged that it cannot monitor its citizens, and this seems to be a world-wide belief.
He then makes the argument that everyone uses the exact same devices and that there is no such thing as a seperate device that the government can intercept. Now, majority of people want the safety of the government being able to track down and stop hackers, criminals, and other threats, but if they were able to do that, then everyone would be at risk of the government's ability to tap into their devices.
To conclude, there really is no winning with this. If we do not allow the government to tap into all devices and monitor what is going on, then we run the risk of criminals, terrorists, and other threats getting away with their cyber presence. But if we do let the government tap into our devices, then we run the risk of the government being able to spy on all its citizens, not just the bad ones.
Video 4: Darieth Chisolm (unable to link video here)
In the fourth and final video, Darieth Chisolm, the speaker in the video, discusses how the internet, because of how vast it is, can have content on it that is on display against your will. She was a victim of "revenge porn" or as she calls it, "digital domestic violence," and through talking about this trauma, she makes the argument that the government needs to put more laws in place that protect and defend against acts such as this. Unfortunately, only 40 states in the US have laws that somewhat fight against this issue, majority of which are misdemeanor charges. Because of the lack of attention this worldwide issue has gotten, there are little to no consequences for those who commit this heinous act, and there are no solutions to stop it currently--without it costing thousands of dollars and countless hours of waiting. Even then, there is no true solution to this yet.
However, if the government can put in place laws that actually help protect victims against this crime and allows punishments for those who commit the crime, there may be some resolution in this. It is terrifying to think that not only would someone be capable of committing an act like that, but the internet having that content and millions having the ability to view it. Even once it is deleted or removed from the internet, it really is never officially 'removed.' Just like a digital footprint, there is some data somewhere that contains that content, someone may have downloaded it and can share it from there, and the fact that the internet was even able to take in that content should be criticized and a solution should be found.
Reflection
Overall, all the issues mentioned in the videos have been issues that have crossed my mind, especially the idea of wiretapping into devices. As a Sci-Fi novel enthusiast, the idea that the government could have as much power as they did in the book 1984 by George Orwell is horrific to think of. In the novel, the government has surveillance everywhere and can hear every conversation of every citizen through every device. If the government were to approve a law that allows them to tap into devices, I know I personally would be very concerned about my privacy and the government invading it. I know such things as data being stored in all types of different platforms concerns me for my family and myself because god forbid something were to happen to their information and they face the problem of identity theft or other major crimes that could affect their lives heavily.
For all these issues, I believe that the government should make laws that prevent others from, for example, having information available to them from data stored on the internet, as well as having the ability to post content about others against their will. I believe for both of those, there needs to be some way to monitor that and prevent it from happening.
I believe some ways to protect ourselves would be to simply not share personal information on the internet, make accounts private to only you and people you know, as well as not sharing pictures that may put you in a vulnerable state unwillingly. To be honest, there really is no way to fully and completely protect ourselves from these issues due to the ability that technology has. If we were to stop using technology all together--especially the internet--that problem would likely be solved. But, to no surprise, that will likely never happen, and definitely not happen anytime soon. Perhaps in the future, there will be some sort of solution to all these issues mentioned, but until then, we have to try to survive with these problems.
Conclusion
To conclude, all the topics mentioned in the TEDTalk videos really opened my eyes to not only how vast the internet is and how vulnerable we are to it, but how much of our privacy we really have. Majority of the population on earth no longer has that full 'privacy' and pretty much anyone can find information about everyone. Technology is a scary thing...
Next week, I will be sharing information about some historic inventions that my peers did research on and I will be reflecting on it.
For the "Each One, Teach One" presentation project, I chose to present on the telegraph, an extremely influential invention that many have likely forgotten today. Without the telegraph, many inventions that we use daily and hold great importance to were invented with the telegraph being its starter point.
In this blog post, I will be discussing the history of the telegraph and how it came to be the invention we know today. In addition, I will be mentioning the impact of the telegraph on society back then and how it has affected society today with both positives and negatives.
Before the physical telegraph product was invented, it had to have been created in the mind, and the idea of the telegraph was invented in 1798. This idea was simply a rough system that was first used throughout France. After the idea was invented, many others seeking fame claimed to have come up with the invention themselves. However, the first one to formerly claim it was Samuel Morse, who created his version of the working telegraph by 1832. With this physical version of the telegraph, he was able to claim the title of the invention of the telegraph and from there, the ways in which humans communicated only evolved.
So...how exactly did the telegraph work?
Well, the telegraph converted messages into electric impulses that could travel by wire to long-distance receivers, then converted back to readable text. This became known as "Morse Code," named, of course, after the man who not only invented the telegraph, but invented morse code which was used as the first formal way of communicating across long distances quickly.
Morse Code
Morse Code--created by none other than Samuel Morse--was used as the official 'language' of the telegraph. Instead of words being used to communicate, combinations of short and long 'tones' were used, and each sound represented a letter of the alphabet. At the time, there was no effective way to communicate through voice over far distances, so Samuel Morse came up with the idea of conversing through sounds.
Morse code was later put into use with the telegraph, which made the telegraph one of the most advanced pieces of technology at the time.
Samuel Morse built a huge telegraph system from Washington D.C. all the way to Baltimore, Maryland in 1843. Years later, it eventually extended to New York. In May of 1844, the first message sent on the telegraph said, "What hath God wrought?" which was an amazing accomplishment on Morse's part.
Years later, in 1864, the top telegraph company, Western Union, operated on 44,000 miles of wire and was valued at $10 million, which increased to $21 million the next year. By 1866, 100,000 miles of wire were placed around the country and Western Union reached its capital stock value of $40 million.
Flash forward 50 years, by 1910, the Mann-Elkins Act was put in place, which granted Interstate Commerce Commission regulatory oversight of the telegraph rates. By 1934, the Communications Act was created, establishing the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). It regulated radio, telegraph, and telephone communications. Due to the advancement in technology at this time, the radio and telephone diminished the impact of the telegraph.
Impact of the Telegraph
The positives:
The telegraph had a pretty existential impact on the world, but before the telegraph, there was the printing press, which was invented in 1440. With the printing press, it took days, weeks, and sometimes even months to send messages across the country. However, with the telegraph, messages could be sent over long distances within minutes. This was a huge development in technology and advancement in how to easily communicate quickly.
The telegraph improved national and international news where countries could quickly spread news and information within minutes, which also helped contribute to world peace.
In addition, the telegraph made newspapers look like 'old news.' People found it less efficient to spread information through newspapers compared to quickly spreading information along telegraph lines. With that being said, the telegraph helped encourage the idea of 'instant messaging' and started the future creation of messages through phones.
The negatives:
Some of the negatives with the telegraph was the potential to spread misinformation due to rapid transmission of the messages sent. Those that sent and received messages had to know morse code like the back of their hand, and if you know how morse code is typically used, it is very quick and without lots of experience, it would be easy to miss the message or completely misunderstand it.
To add, telegraph lines that were placed were often placed in a manor that could disrupt the surrounding environment. It could displace habitats for animals and could potentially disrupt the living conditions of people.
Conclusion
Overall, it is clear to see that the telegraph was one of those inventions that helped start the snowball of technology as we know it today. It began the idea of the telephone, which eventually evolved into the cellphone, and finally into the iPhone. Without the telegraph, technology would not be as it is today.
Join me in my next discussion where I will be highlighting my views on the topic of 'Invasion of Privacy' and how I feel about some laws/rights having access to my private life.
