My Relationship with Technology

My relationship with technology is flawed, but I feel most people would feel the same. I know that I am addicted to my phone, as most people my age and demographic are. But, I am not addicted to scrolling or simply being on my phone. I am addicted to just having it with me, my phone is similar to a safety blanket to me, and not having it around feels weird and unwanted. I am on my phone more than I would like to
admit, and I think that is because I have grown up around technology and do not remember a time when anything was any different. As early as kindergarten I remember utilizing iPads to help learn letters and shapes, and even getting my own personal iPod Touch as early as third grade. I am very exposed to the world online, and I think that is affected by my digital footprint. I have been online/utilizing media for as long as I can remember, and I think that has had nothing but a negative impact on my life. My digital footprint is a little confusing to understand because my given name is Price and there is a brand of boat named Rinker (my last name,) so whenever I search out my name all that comes up is pictures of boats. This is kind of ironic, but I actually hard a hard time finding myself online. I ended up stalking myself for about 20 minutes before I actually found a picture or profile pertaining to myself.

The video titled Mad World Remix of Moby Video (Are You Lost In The World Like Me) stuck out to me while we were viewing it in class. It portrayed humans as mindless zombies and showcased how far off the deep-end humans could go with their brainless obsession with technology. I thought that the video was not too far off from a depiction of humans today, always engrossed in technology with little care for what is happening around them. I can imagine that if the technology becomes that much more of a livelihood in our lives we could potentially need it to function in our everyday lives. One of the parts that stuck out to me was the section where the girl was portraying an entirely different side of herself online, as well as the part about experiencing FOMO or Fear Of Missing Out. That is one thing that social media has given a lot of

people is a heightened sense of FOMO, if you were to be in your dorm on a Friday night and all of your friends were out without you, I can imagine you would start to feel like you are missing out on something. I think that it can be hard to find a balance between the positives and negatives because on a positive note look at what all it has done for us, it has catapulted us into this era of living where we have self-driving cars and grocery stores that do not require any workers to be functional. But on the negative side, the mental health effect of social media and how that has caused so much harm in some families will forever leave technology with a little bit of a negative connotation in my books.

I watched a TED Talk in another class by a woman named Sherry Turkle titled Connected, but Alone and the talk was all about the digital dilemma. She brought up how most members of Generation Z were growing up learning how to communicate through a screen and were not learning how to communicate with others properly, and I feel like I have fallen into this category. Turkle uses the term "Digital Dilemma" to describe this time of astounding technological advances that we are in, but also brings up points about how this is not good for our society and humankind as a whole because we are beginning to forget just how important face-to-face human communication is to our well-being. She brings up a specific example about how an 18-year-old said to her "... someday, someday, but certainly not now, I would like to learn how to have a conversation." Can you imagine if someone in my generation feels this way how a teenager 20 years from now would know how to carry on a conversation? 

Based on the videos that we have watched and reacted to this semester, I think that AI or Artificial Intelligence will cause problems for us in the future. With how advances and vast the concept is currently, there is no telling how much more advanced it can even become. I can hardly fathom how advanced it is with software like ChatGPT and Quillbot. Other initiatives such as Privacy in Design which is a software that works to minimize data collection of personal data and give users more control over their information. This is piggybacking off of those positive effects of technology that were aforementioned
and can have huge positive impacts on society if they are used in the right circumstances by the right people.

Through the concepts and terms that we learned in class, we can see how technology is a positive tool for us but a negative vessel for receiving information. We as humans are so worried about how we are presenting ourselves on technology that we often times than not neglect the entire reason that the technology is there for us. We become so caught up in the latest trends that we forget the true power of technology, how much it has effected our lives.

Age of AI

Whilst watching the Frontline documentary In the Age of AI, much was to be learned about privacy and other forms of security as the innovation of AI is increasing by the day. Technology has always been around, but with COVID and other worldly issues the thought of technology taking over the world is slowly diminishing. The threat to our privacy was alarming, learning about the different ways that technology is evolving and becoming a threat to our privacy and our national security. Knowing that someone could be watching my every move is terrifying, and everyone should be more informed on how to combat this. Artificial Intelligence is one of the scariest pieces of technology that I can imagine to this day. Knowing that there is something out there that every day is becoming closer to resembling a human is terrifying, and not only that it is being programmed to act and emote as a human. This could also be applied to places where we are already established, like online. There is a program out there that shows an ad, or a post on social media and takes feedback on how we react to know which ads to show us next, I cannot imagine a computer knowing me better than I know myself, it is mind-boggling to even think about.

This also ties into privacy and security because this program is taking the data that is on our cellphones, or our personal computers and making it public for them to review. The same could be argued for our national security, there are programs that are being made to decrypt classified documents and could even break into severely classified documents that are highly classified for a reason. Overall, it is terrifying to think that one day the world could be run by technology and AI, but every day it is looking more and more like a possibility. With the rise of generative AI and resources like Chat GPT, resources that we have used all of our lives will soon diminish and become obsolete because there will no longer be a use for them.

The Progressive Era

Prior to this assignment, I was not knowledgeable of AntiWar.com, and their efforts to lower the amount and severity of wars all across the world. I always knew that there was an effort, but not one as established as this. I do believe that some of the reasons that we do not hear about these websites are the government censoring/controlling what we can and the political uproar that it would cause had these websites gone mainstream. I never really thought about how different a country would be going into

a war, or becoming active in one because I had never experienced that. But, after viewing this website I feel very sympathetic for these countries that are being reported on, it must be so hard for them to continue on in their everyday lives, and even coexist at the same time as a war. Whenever I think about a country going to war I think of the first Captain America movie and the pure patriotism that the movie portrays. I never gathered all of the pain and suffering that goes along with the fact of war. 

The second website that we were tasked with browsing was 

The American Conservative is an unfiltered and honest political news site. I enjoyed how the authors were not afraid to voice their opinions freely, and they were brutally honest when criticizing the government. The site reports on various topics, and viewing the website feels like an easy way to become more involved in how our government is doing and handling different current issues.

I enjoyed both websites and feel as though I can better gather why these voices are being sheltered. I fear that the government is worried about how citizens would react to these opinions becoming more mainstream and easier to view and hear than the more calm and tame voices that they are speaking out of. The voicing of true opinions is what the First Amendment was created for, so why is the government scared of citizens voicing their true opinions?  

EOTO 2 Reflection

Throughout our second round of EOTO presentations, we were tasked with researching different theories, terms, and practices that we have learned throughout history. There were many presentations that stuck out to me, but a few that I would like to talk about. Many of the concepts that we talked about I was already familiar with, but there were a few that I wasn't which surprised me.

The first term I resonated with was Alternative Media. These are non-typical forms of media that allow citizens to view media in different formats, and be able to intake information in different ways. These include billboards, podcasts, and graffiti. These different outlets not only allow for different sources to be allowed to share their information but also allow different viewpoints to be shared throughout these outlets. These non-mainstream form of communication, allows voices to be heard outside of the mainstream media. The presenter was very well-versed on her topic and brought up some good points that helped to further her points on the positives of Alternative Media.

The second term that I learned during the EOTO presentation was News Deserts. These are sections of the country and even the world where there is no interest in having local news, leaving citizens high and dry when it comes to learning about their daily news. The presenter showed graphics and other viable forms of media that showcased just how deprived some communities are of local news. It really got me thinking about the importance of local news and how vital it is for a community to stay informed on what is going on around them.

Overall, these presentations left an impact on how I view certain forms of technology. I think that it is important to learn about new forms of technology in order to become more educated about what is going on in the world around us.

Gatekeeping

Gatekeeping can be described in the Cambridge dictionary as "The activity of trying to control who gets particular resources, power, or opportunities, and who does not." In more modern terms, Gatekeeping can be described as concealing information by skating around the truth. The most prominent example of this for me is when influencers "gatekeep" where something they are wearing is from by not sharing that information with their viewers, with the fear of it selling out. Another prime example of this is when someone mentions a famous artist and someone responds with "Name 5 songs from them?" with the intention of trying to embarrass the person to see if they know the artist. 

The term gatekeeping was coined by social psychologist Kurt Lewin in 1942, whilst he was doing field research during World War 2. He coined this term through the eyes of the housewife, as they were rationing food from their families, which led Lewin to call them "gatekeepers." 

This could affect society in a number of ways, with the most prominent thought being the implications that it could have on our media or our consumption of daily news. Think about it, if a prominent new source were to disclose vital information to its viewers, that could be considered an act of fraud. I think about this through the lens of prominent medical developer Elizabeth Holmes and her company Theranos. She purposefully withheld information from her investors and patrons of her clinics because her devices were not up to the standard of which she could market and sell. This led consumers to feel betrayed and confused, as they could not begin to imagine why she would withhold this data from her marketed consumers. 

Gatekeeping could also have positive implications because it could help to filter out what you only want to hear, and not just complete jargon that could be spoken into the world. Again think about if you read news from a trustworthy source but the trustworthy received that information from an unreliable source. It could lead you to believe something unreliable, which is why gatekeeping is such an integral part of our society and how it functions effectively.

For different generations, gatekeeping could have different implications and different meanings. For younger generations, it could be as simple as the aforementioned example of the influencer gatekeeping where she bought an article of clothing entrapping the fear that the item would sell out and would become overrated. For older generations, it could be as simple as not being told something because of the fear of how they are going to react, or how they are going to perceive this information. A prime example of each is in the music industry when a famous artist's gatekeeps who is going to be featured on their latest album, like several artists do now to better market their album, building up suspicion on who is going to be a feature on the album. 

Gatekeeping is a serious form of deception that could have negative impacts on society: with one of the most important being how media outlets withhold information from their readers as a way to market their website and make them come back to continue reading. Gatekeeping also affects different generations in different ways, with a common example being music gatekeeping when an artist gatekeeps who is going to be featured on their newest album. All in all, gatekeeping is a very important term that is integral for every person to know to stay in the know.

Links

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatekeeping_(communication)

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/gatekeeping

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203887011-13/media-gatekeeping-pamela-shoemaker-tim-vos

Diffusion of Innovation

 In class, we learned about Everett Roger's theory of diffusion of innovations. This theory, summarized, showcases the rise and fall of a trend. From the phase of getting it off of the ground to the trend in its peak of popularity to its fall-off that it will inevitably have. Looking alongside the technology that I chose to present, Facebook, along with the diffusion of innovations this post will be going into depth about how Facebook aligns with the diffusion of innovation.

The first step of the diffusion of innovations is the pioneer stage. The pioneers of Facebook would be the original founders, as well as the following students: Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, and Divya Narendra. These students approached Zuckerberg with the original idea of Facebook, which Zuckerberg took and made his own. The original idea was to be a virtual phonebook for students at the university to better connect with their peers. The pioneer stage would also include the original group of Harvard who joined the website when it first launched, as they were the "trial dummies" for the now popular website.

The second step in the diffusion of innovations is called the Early Adapters stage. In the case of Facebook, this would be the second group of students that the website was opened up to. This includes other Ivy League schools such as Cornell, Brown, and Stanford. These students joined Facebook about a year after it was kickstarted. This step is after the trial phase, which is why it was pushed out to more students, to gain more traction before it was unveiled to the public for consumption.

The third step in the diffusion of innovations is the late adopter stage. Now while this stage of the theory is titled this, it could be argued that this stage fits the vocabulary of maturation that was given to us in class. This phase is when the general public was given access to the technology and this is when the first boom of the website started. Maturation is the act of maturing which could be said not only about the website but its users in general. Once the app was opened it switched the target audience from college students to anyone who wanted to connect with people that its users haven't connected with in a while.

The final step in the diffusion of innovations is the laggard stage. This is the stage where everyone skeptical of Facebook began to join the app after seeing all of its positive effects. These could include individuals who are not confident with technology or individuals who just do not trust technology, and think that is harmful to them. To conclude, this theory fits right alongside the rise of Facebook. It shows its original spike in popularity, along with its peak when it was released to the general public. 

Reaction Post

While listening to other students' presentations on various origins of technology, there was much that I learned about these technologies how they have affected human lives, and how they are different than when they were created. It was unique to see how different technologies have evolved, even in the last few decades, and how they have changed how humans function as a result of these technologies.

I particularly enjoyed the presentation on CD's. Growing up in the early 2000s I grew up during the height of the popularity of the CD. There was a lot that I learned about CDs, with one of the most interesting being that they were traced back to around 3500 BC. I think that it was interesting to hear about that, and how they were not actually created and sold until 1982. I also thought that the CD would have been created after that, with the cassette tape and 8 track taking popularity in the 90's.

Another presentation that I was interested in was on Netflix. I remember growing up how I was so excited to get home from school on the weekends and see which movie Netflix sent to my house. I was very intrigued to find out that it switched to a streaming platform in 2007, which was very experimental at the time. I had no clue that Netflix switched to streaming that early, I thought that Netflix hopped on the bandwagon so to speak when Hulu and Prime Video were created, not that they were the pioneer in that field.

A final presentation that I enjoyed was a presentation on Video Games. This presentation was an exception not just because the presenter completed his entire presentation without note cards. I learned that there were two main companies that were contending for the title of greatest video game designer, Nintendo, and Sony. These companies competed for years to take the title of greatest game designer, with each respective company still pushing out games to this day. Overall, this was an interesting presentation, and was very eye-opening to see the effects of video games on everyday life.