Privacy

 Is Privacy Dead? 

Electronic Tattoo 

Every time that we as consumers of the internet and media choose to upload a personal detail about ourselves we are weakening our own privacy. Many tattoos tell a story, just like our online footprints tell a story. A tattoo is permanent (for the most part) just like an electronic tattoo. People who have had a tattoo say it hurts more to get it removed than it does to get a tattoo. It is hard and painful to try and erase an electronic tattoo. Hitting “Delete” or “Deactivate” does not really take away your online presence. A prime example of this is Cancel Culture from new breakout stars getting hype, popularity, and growth spurt in their following just for it to be found out that they are racist, homophobic, or have a personal secret exposed. Many celebrities from  J.K. Rowling to Chrissy Teigen have had other internet users lash out at them.

Plate Readers

Police departments and other federal agencies are tracking people’s movements through their license plate. In March 2019, the American Civil Liberties Union found that ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) agents were using license readers to track people’s movements. One of the many times Americans were not aware that they are being tracked, but when COVID-19 hit there were talks about cellphone trackage to help track cross contamination. Yes, this tracking can be good in terms of finding criminals and helping solve crimes. However, the thought of “having it just in case” can be damaging because if people’s personal data, data that they are sometimes unaware is being tracked, gets into the wrong hands by accident or on purpose it can be detrimental.

AntiWar

 WAR vs. PEACE

"Force is all-conquering, but its victories are short-lived.” – Abraham Lincoln

Wars no matter how destructive, unfortunately, are in some way going to benefit someone. In times of war two sides are labeled the good side who is innocent and the bad side who is the aggressor. Once these labels are given then it is expected that from people to businesses and whole countries establish whose side they are on. Society wants people to be on the good side and go against the aggressor, but if someone for their own personal reasons chooses to take the aggressors side or take no side is looked down upon.

The First Amendment grants Americans freedom of speech, so we can speak for or against as many wars as we would like. There is also Compelled Speech meaning that the government that CANNOT make you say or believe something that you do not want to. 

Wars are beneficial for countries that are helping the “good side”; it gives them access to the country at their most vulnerable time. Worldbeyondwar.org has an article titled “Myth: War Is Beneficial”. In a U.S. poll from 2003-2011, during which the Iraq War was occurring, a majority believed that Iraqis were grateful for the presence and/or war, but many believed that their situation got worse because of U.S. military intervention. A site like antiwar.com works to reveal to people, especially the American people the impacts of these wars. They have a “Casualties in Iraq” page which is something [casualties] that was kept under the rug. Many believe it was that way because there may have been, supposedly, unethical killings or just in general unethical procedures that took place and the U.S. may not want that side of them/their military to be exposed.

Before then there were many anti-war voices, especially when it came to World War I. The United States, at first, claimed to be neutral and was not going to get involved. However, after Germany sank some U.S. ships (and some more). Americans opposed to entering had different reasons; a major reason that was known then and is still brought up today in times of war is that it is not the U.S.’ business so we should not interfere. Some now acknowledge that people who were anti-World War 1 “faced some of the greatest state repression in the history of the United States.” For example , Hulet Wells, Sam Sadler and Joe and Morris Pass (Socialists) were sentenced in September 1917 they were sentenced to two years in federal prison for “conspiracy to resist the draft.”

Is war going to stop? 

• No 

Does the discourse around people who oppose war need to change? 

• YES

FINAL Blog Post- Technology & Me

 Technology, You Gotta Love It!

I have never been obsessed with technology and wanting the latest products on the market. Over time my relationship with technology has become healthier. Probably 4 years ago I would want to be on my phone and on some app to pass the time because I saw how engaged others were on their devices and felt in a way I should be too. However, as time has passed, I have realized I do not need to be on my phone as much and others probably should take a break.

I use technology, specifically my phone for social media, and I am aware of what I want to give my time to and what I do not want to give my time to. Depending on the app it can change. My main 4 social media apps are Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and TikTok. My accounts on Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter are older than my TikTok account. At first, I did not really see the point of TikTok, so I did not download it until about 2 years after it got really popular, which was around 2018/2019. I do not engage in Instagram as much as I did a few years ago. Now, I just go on there and scroll through my feed so it can be updated for whenever I come back on the app. The format and new features of Instagram have changed it from its original look, and that is part of the reason I am not as engaged with it. I used to have Snapchat streaks, the most was probably 15, that is low compared to peers of mine who have 30 plus streaks. 3 years ago, I ended my streaks because I found them useless. A streak is essentially sending an actual Snapchat photo back and forth with someone else and Snapchat will track the days that it lasts, but if over 24-hours go by without either or just one party sending a Snapchat photo it will die and you can start all over. Personally, I did not see the point because I had streaks with people who I did not talk to on a regular basis and having to keep restarting because one party did not snap is tiring. I currently have one streak and that is not too bad, but I do not think I would want to go back up to 15. I use Twitter to keep up with the world ranging from politics to celebrities. I do research on my own, but for the big headlines they are usually going to be on Twitter. I do not tweet but would rather look and see what other people have to say. I did not think I would like TikTok as much as I do but I go on the app every day. TikTok can be addictive  and I feel that is because the videos can range from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. Which can replace watching a YouTube video and creators talk about a range of topics from cooking and cleaning to book suggestions and exposing people.

I am aware of my time spent on all of these apps. I do try not to spend much time on Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter because I am not as interested in the apps anymore. I do spend more time on TikTok because my For You Page (FYP) is always changing to show me more videos that I am interested in or that the algorithm thinks I will be interested in. I have friends and family that range from wanting to be on their phone or use some type of technology when they do not have to and ones who barely check their devices. Technology addiction is real, and I do not compare my usage to others because everyone has different reasons for their usage. I do try to monitor my time which is broken up between entertainment and doing schoolwork.

There is a great deal of information that circulates the internet every day and I have discovered news things from it. At the same time, it can be hard to know what is true and what is fake. There are people deliberately spreading false information and they know it to be false, which is disinformation. Then, there are people who see disinformation and believe it is real so they may share the post, like it, or comment in support which is misinformation because they do not know that it is false information. For example, when reports came out that Leonardo DiCaprio donated $10 million to Ukraine because it was his grandmother's homeland turned out to be false. It was easy to believe those headlines because he has donated to causes in the past, is an environmentalist, and has his own foundation.

Not only should people research articles or headlines they find, but videos as well because of deep fakes. Deep fakes are “images, sound and video that appear to have been created through traditional means but that have, in fact, been constructed by complex software” usually made to appear like someone who was not originally filmed is in the video. In this time where the world is, information needs to be fact checked because of all the right and wrong information circulating.

Online or digital footprints are what people have put out on the internet about themselves, voluntary information. These things include a new job or outfit, where they are eating, how they are feeling, what they like and dislike, and more. I have been aware of my digital footprint for a while now because it is important. I know employers look up applicants' social media and some may even ask for applicants' handles. Social media is just a glimpse into people’s lives, and they decide what they want people to see, but sometimes people do not make the best choices of what they post. Anywhere between 57% to 70% of check social media pages of employers. Companies look at employers' social media to see what their personal lives are like, and if they are upholding the same values and principles that they present when they were at work. They do not want their image to be distorted because of an employee's social media. People should take a step back and examine their social media presence to ensure they are putting out a truthful image of themselves.

Overall, technology does have some good advances like in the medical field, reconnecting those who lost touch, and the way offices are run to name a few things. Technology is propelling the world faster into the future. Yes, there are some major concerns that will be brought up as time goes on like privacy, the use of AI, and how secure our data is. There may be more questions than answers arise, and tough decisions will have to be made to ensure digital privacy.

EOTO 2 Information

 Disinformation vs. Misinformation 

“Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.” – Gertrude Stein

Disinformation

Disinformation: “false information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by the planting of rumors) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth” 

“Disinformation” comes from  the Russian word “Dezinformatsiya” (дезинформация) Russia started using the term in the early 1920s because there was a disinformation office created. Its purpose was to circulate “false information with the intention to deceive public opinion”. In Russia disinformation was viewed as a strategic weapon to be used in its overall Active Measures strategy. Active Measures strategy is “a Soviet term for active intelligence operations for the purpose of influencing world events to achieve its geopolitical goals.”

Misinformation

Misinformation: "information that is false or inaccurate… regardless of an intent to deceive” 

Misinformation was first recorded in the late 1500s (1550-1580) and is related to the verb “misinform” which has been recorded since the late 1300s/ early 1400s. In 2018 Dictionary.com named “Misinformation” the word of the year.

(Thought to just include fake news since dis- and mis- information can be spread by ti)

Fake news: “News stories that are false: the story itself is fabricated, with no verifiable facts, sources or quotes”

Disinformation Examples 

A Communist is running for governor?

 

Here Stacy Abrams who is currently running to be Governor of Georgia. In the edited photo on the left Abrams is being accused of and called things she is not. This is disinformation because the claims being made in the left photo are not true at all. Plus, the person who made the edit saw the REAL photo of Abrams and chose to add disinformation to it to hurt her campaign.

Pope Francis endorsed President Trump?

 

When Donald Trump was running for Presidential Office in 2016 it was reported that Pope Francis endorsed him. They did not meet each other until the following year (2017) which was not taboo because many, especially United States Presidents, meet other world leaders and figures after being elected. This supposed endorsement came from the website WTOE 5. The website’s “about” page includes that “most articles on wtoe5news.com are satire or pure fantasy.” Pope Francis has been outspoken about President Trump and his views, as seen in the quote above.

Hilary Clinton linked to sex trafficking…

In 2016, Hilary Clinton had leaked campaign emails and people were combing through these emails to find some type of dirt on the Presidential Candidate. That is how “Pizzagate” was created and it spread like wildfire that the Clinton’s and many other Democrats had a child sex traficking ring in the basement of a D.C. pizzeria called Comet Ping Pong. These allegations got so bad that in  December 2016, Edgar Welch (28) from Salisbury, N.C. took an AR-15 and other weapons into the restaurant to “self-investigate” while it was open. He fired shots, but no one was hit and it was discovered that the pizzeria does not have a basement. This disinformation led to an intense situation which could have turned deadly.

Misinformation Examples

Leonardo DiCaprio donated to Ukraine, it’s his grandmother's homeland

This tweet was produced by a the twitter handle @Now_in_Ukraine and in their bio states “News agency covering the war in Ukraine. Verified sources only. Subscribe to our RSS feed. Spread the word, share the truth. #standwithukraine” with 1,185 followers. This story that DiCaprio donated $10 million to Ukraine was heartwarming to hear, and when the reasoning, it was his grandmother's homeland, it made people fall in love with him even more. Other sites like People Magazine and Vogue magazine shared the story as well. As far as it is known, DiCaprio has no ties to Ukraine, that was not his grandmother’s home country, and he did not donate $10 million. Patrick Carpen is the founder of GSA News which mainly reports on news about Guyana, a South American country. He argued, before eventually apologizing for the misinformation, “I really trust my source inside Ukraine."

Is President Obama a U.S. Citizen?

Article 2 Section 1 states, “No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President”

The birtherism theory started in 2004 by Andy Martin, an Illinoisan who has been a political candidate numerous times. Hyper and real public attention came in 2008 when Clinton supporters started questioning his birthplace. Many people believed and still do believe that President Obama was possibly born in Kenya or the Middle East or he was hiding something on his birth certificate. Even prominent people like Donald Trump believed there was something going on with his birth certificate. He is quoted saying in a March 28, 2011 interview with Fox News, “He’s [President Obama] spent millions of dollars trying to get away from this issue. Millions of dollars in legal fees trying to get away from this issue. And I’ll tell you what, I brought it up, just routinely, and all of a sudden a lot facts are emerging and I’m starting to wonder myself whether or not he was born in this country.”

Despite the speculation President Obama is a U.S. citizen. August 21, 1959 Hawaii became the 50th state of the United States. He was born on August 4, 1961 in Honolulu, HI. On April 27, 2011 President Obama released his birth certificate.

Consequences of Dis & Mis information:

• Distrust in the media specifically, the news 
• Undermining the United States government as an institution and the democratic process 
• Confirming people’s biases which, in many cases, push hate or distrust of certain groups 
• There can be no room left for the truth

Solutions:

• Fact check
• Don’t spread news unless you can verify it 
• Investigate sources websites, read the “about” page, look into the author 
• If you see disinformation spreading make it known that it is false information and provide reliable sources to the truth

Takeaway:

The main difference between disinformation & misinformation is INTENT 

Disinformation has the INTENT to spread false information

The Diffusion of Innovations

 "Have You Downloaded [Insert the Latest Technology]?" 

“The world is moving so fast these days that the man who says it can't be done is generally interrupted by someone doing it.” – Elbert Hubbard

Every year there are new and breakthrough technologies that impact our world. Whether it is a new app, appliance, or medical technology the world is progressing extremely fast and people keep purchasing and trying out these new inventions. This whole process of a new innovation catching on and the excitement of it as well as the quietness once people have moved on is known as the Diffusion Theory.

The Diffusion Theory is a theory that “concerns with the spread of an innovation through a population” that is broken into 5 parts. 1) Innovators / Pioneers 2) Early Adaptors 3) Early Majority 4) Late Majority 5) Laggards

For example, Instagram...

Background: Instagram was created by Kevin Systrom in 2010 for iOS products. He is a computer programmer and entrepreneur who graduated from Stanford University. Instagram was an upgrade and different from Facebook, created in 2004. Before creating Instagram Systrom worked in marketing at Google. An app that brought a breath of fresh air to the social media world.

1) Innovators / Pioneers 

Systrom’s love for photography sparked his idea for Instagram. In college he built a website for him and his fraternity brothers to share pictures in a collective area. He studied abroad in Florence, Italy and that is when a professor showed him the film camera Holga, “which takes hip, vintage-looking photos.”

2) Early Adaptors 

Just two years after Instagram launched it already had 27 million users. Then, April 11, 2012, the app was released for Android phones “and was downloaded more than one million times in less than one day."

Early adopters want to experience this new technology first. You could say thousands of those millions of first users wanted to experience Instagram to see how it compared to Facebook. Many influencers on YouTube created Instagram accounts to be able to connect with their fans on a more personal level.

3) Early Majority

The Early Majority sees that the new technology is working for the Early Adaptors. They deem it safe and worth their time to try but were possibly a little scared to try it out first. By 2010 Instagram had acquired 110 million users, and just 5 years after the photo sharing app was released it already had 370 million users.

In 2018, Instagram hit a record number of 1 billion users and in 2020 it grew to 1.3 billion users. The Late Majority only start using a new technology because “they tend to adopt ideas later than the average person in a given social system." They are using this technology because they realize they need to, like there is a social or “economic necessity” driving them to conform. For example, it could be grandkids making there grandparents an Instagram account so they can keep up with them. Or a business that has always used Facebook as their social media page creating an Instagram page to attract more customers, especially ones not on Facebook.

5) Laggards 

Laggards are usually skeptical and part of the older generation. They did not grow up with the numerous amounts of technology that they see being used today and question its legitimacy and their safety when using the project. This could be something like the grandkids example I mentioned in the paragraph above, or someone getting Instagram just to stay in the know of friends and family.

While Instagram was created to be a new and fun space to share pictures it has dramatically changed from what it was originally in 2010. Instagram and 13 of their employees were bought by Facebook in 2012 for $1 billion, and recently has contributed to over $20 billion of Facebook’s annual revenue. Kevin Systrom and an Insagram Co-founder were 2 of those 13 people who went to Facebook, but in 2018 Systrom and the other founder left Instagram. Instagram has added stories which is what Snapchat  is, a shopping section similar to Facebook Marketplace, and even reels which are short videos for content ranging from comedic to hauls which is what TikTok. These new advances have made some users feel like Instagram is straying away from its intended purpose. Influencers play a role in this too because users feel like they create unrealistic living or body standards and are just there to promote themselves or a company. Instagram has only been on the market for 12 years and has already made numerous changes to improve the app. It is just a waiting game to see what they do next.

The Age of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

 Is AI Going to Take Over? 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been gaining momentum drastically taking many countries. According to the Nature Index from 2015 to 2019 the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Germany, China, and France are the top 5 countries (ranked) in artificial intelligence. Those countries plus more can use AI to produce fashion, help with livestock, and drive some of their population’s cars to name a few of its uses. Companies have seen the benefits of using AI, but employees have suffered from the benefits of AI. In the Age of AI, a documentary produced by PBS’ Frontline series gives viewers both a look into the benefits and the disadvantages of AI taking over.

Is AI Really Taking Away Jobs?

In the documentary by Frontline an interviewee said, “Although we reduce some of the people, we grow in other areas as we produce more things.” Meaning that although a machine may replace a worker in an assembly line there may be a need for another forklift driver or an inspector. According to an All Work article, “AI Will Create 97 Million Jobs, But Workers Don’t Have The Skills Required (Yet)” that uses data from the World Economic Forum has all the information you need to know in the title. AI helps with removing human error and bias, fulfilling repetitive tasks that can be hard on the human body, and is faster compared to a human and those are some of the factors that help AI machines produce efficient products for companies. So, AI picks up the slack that comes with human employees. The reality is AI is replacing the hard labor jobs like assembly lines and 59% of people who work in an assembly line have a high school diploma while 12% have an associate degree. If the jobs that are going to be created with the increase of AI are requiring a higher level of education or investment in certificates, many people are not going to do it. Many turned to that line of work because finances may have held them back from obtaining a 4-year degree, or maybe their need for money was pressing and they couldn’t wait 4 years. Yes, more jobs will be created, but these jobs are not the same entry level positions that previous workers had, many for decades and many will not be able to keep up with the requirements of the jobs that will be created.

The Dilemma

I am not new to the power that AI has already and what it can become. I watched The Social Dilemma, a a documentary created by Jeff Orlowski which interviews former employees of prominent social media companies. These former employees played a tremendous role in elevating social media to where it is today, they were the creators. Some created advances that we can see and use like Facebook’s like button created by Justin Rosenstein. Social media companies are recording users’ data so they can frequently update their platforms to keep them engaged. The Social Dilemma is a documentary worth watching because you get to hear from the creators, the people who are aware that their creations have not been used for their intended purposes.

For example, Jeff Seibert, former Executive of Twitter and Tim Kendall, former President of Pinterest have become scared of their own creations. In the article, “The Social Dilemma and the Rise of the Clickbait Documentary'' author Elizabeth Pankova said, “The film’s interviewees take turns lamenting the way their utopian dream of connecting people “lost its way” and explaining…, how social media instead became an extractive, addictive, psychologically damaging, and politically dangerous force” (para. 5). This is supported by Kendall because he knows there is a positive side to social media like finding an organ donor or reuniting with family members. However, he does know that there is a flip side to that coin and people “were naive” about it. That side is the tracking and logging of users’ data for companies' benefits.

Google Benefits from its Search Engine Too

A phrase that has become popular is, “While we searched Google, Google was searching us,” a statement that is factual. As I mentioned in the paragraph before, companies want users' data so they can improve their product to keep users more engaged with it. In 2004, Google’s revenue increased by 3,590% according to In the Age of AI just because of digital exhaust. Digital exhaust is “consumer data a person creates as they interact with web sites and services. An example of this would be Cookies which are on almost every website you go on, and some websites won’t let users gain access unless they “Accept All Cookies”. Cookies are used to track a user's interaction with a website. Businesses are benefiting immensely because of the data that they have on consumers. However, some companies have had to answer for their actions like Facebook in 2018 when it was revealed that the company had been using users’ data to push ad targeting during the 2016 election. This is not Facebook’s only scandal involving data or privacy, check out more here. Mark Zuckerberg, a co-found and current CEO of Facebook, had a hearing before two Senate committees to address what his company was doing and how people’s data ended up in the wrong hands. As a consequence, Facebook had to pay the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) $5 billion dollars.

The Future…

AI is going to continue to advance and as it advances errors in machinery are going to improve as well. It is beneficial, but just like everything it has its pros and cons, and the world is going to have to respond to the popularity of AI. In The Age of AI asks the question “Do we have to go to the point where we crash and come back? Automation is already there so how do you come back?” Companies and countries will possibly be tempted to use AI because of the payoff that it will have for them. Society will have to wait and see what happens next in the age of AI.