Final Blog Post

          Our generation is known for being the most equipped to utilize social media in a way that is beneficial to our lives. Now that is both a great thing and a bad thing. Using social media to get in touch and further ourselves professionally has changed the lives of so many people. Not only that, social media influencers have been seen more and more as professionals and there are so many more young adults and teenagers who aspire to be one of them. So even though there are positives, there are so many negatives.
         It is no secret that technology is so advanced today and in ten years time we will think that these are all just ways of the past. It is truly incredible to think of what we are able to do without barely even lifting a finger. Imagine if this pandemic happened thirty years ago. There would be no way to conduct a course online. Our school year would have ended and we most likely would have been forced to start from the beginning of the semester again. Now, there are so many kids that are complaining about having to attend a class lecture from their bed, myself included I won't act like I am better than that, but at least I am aware that it is ridiculous to complain about that. I am well aware that I have a borderline unhealthy relationship with technology. For me, not all technology is bad. In fact, I don't know what I would do if I couldn't watch movies or have pointless entertaining videos on YouTube. Where I think I start to become unhealthy is when social media is brought into it. I grew up as a competitive dancer. This seems like useless information, but I am getting somewhere, don't worry. As a kid, I was always compared to the people around me, ESPECIALLY my body. The rates of body dysmorphia in competitive dancers, gymnasts, and ice skaters are alarmingly high. Social media does not do anything to combat that feeling for me. Growing up in an environment where I am constantly comparing myself to others leads me to do the same with these picture-perfect Instagram models who clearly edit their pictures. This pressure that I feel is most likely felt by so many other people as well.
     Another more negative aspect of technology is the accessibility. Cyberbullying is becoming more and more of a crime. I distinctly remember in elementary and middle school going to assembly after assembly about cyberbullying and how it was wrong. Although so many people had to attend these kinds of meetings, cyberbullying was still a plague in our generation. I used to think to myself why this would happen. My mom always gave me the best answer: "it is easier to be a coward and say things behind a screen than it is to be a bully in person". There is no doubt that she is right. I think the occurrence of events like cyberbullying and revenge porn leads to the teen suicide rates increasing.
     When quarantine first happened, my friend and I were discussing how suicide rates would probably increase. Without an escape from emotional abuse that may be occurring in homes and without having a daily routine, it is inevitable that someone with wavering mental health has a high probability of falling deeper into depression. Health officials are aware of this and have made various social media posts of the available mental health hotlines if someone feels that they need to talk. Social media has been available to provide distractions for this quarantine. I believe that this is mostly affecting younger teenage groups. I have younger cousins who are around thirteen years old and all they have been doing is going on Tik Tok, Instagram live, posting Snapchat story after Snapchat story. I guess it is better than them complaining, but I wish, especially now that the weather is getting nicer, that kids would go back to being kids. My neighbors across the street have young children, their oldest is five and their youngest is about eighteen months old. Every day that it is sunny out those kids are outside playing with their parents for hours upon end and it makes me so happy that their family is being brought together in spite of this horrible pandemic.
     My biggest hope is that this pandemic helps us view the little things in life that truly matter again: that when we see our friends, we won't be on our cell phones, that when we see our extended families, we will be able to talk about the memorable times we had and create new exciting memories. I hope that this brings the world back into a simpler time and that we will not be so dependent on technology to have conversations. Though technology has so many positives (safety features, easy access to otherwise impossible things, talking to friends when schedules don't align), which I am so grateful for, there are definitely aspects that are negative, especially with younger generations who ONLY know a world filled with social media. I'll leave you with this: This summer will more than likely be spent in some form of social distancing, especially for those who live in New York like me. Maybe this should be the summer that instead of going to the beach with friends to take pictures for an hour and then leave, we stay with our families and create memories that mean something to us. Because I'll tell you one thing, most of the pictures on my Instagram are meaningless and just photo-ops. Let's do our best to make this happen.

Linked below is a survey put out by researchers at the University of Manchester about mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you or a loved one is struggling, I suggest filling out the survey and seeing what they offer.
Reference: https://www.manchester.ac.uk/discover/news/can-social-media-help-young-people-to-cope-with-lockdown/

Social Media in the Age of a Pandemic

During the lockdown due to the COVID-19 virus, there has been a spike in social media. Applications are receiving all time high records of people online. This is both a positive and a negative thing. One positive thing is that scientists have been able to spread discoveries about the virus very quickly. This has helped scientists find effective treatment methods and protocols regarding the disease. However, what can make it negative is the interpretation of these discoveries. There are so many news outlets that are unreliable sources. Discoveries being made about the virus can often lead to false information being spread. Be wary of sites that seem professional, just because they look professional does not by any means correlate with them being an accurate news source. Even news outlets are becoming unreliable. Yes, social media has been a great distraction and way to pass time while practicing social distancing, but it is so easy to fall into the trap that social media builds of false information spreading around. I mean, look at what happened with people drinking bleach and disinfectant sprays! Everything is truly turning to chaos, or what really feels like it.
Here's what I have done to try to lessen my own feeling of distress. I have taken action to mute anything that really pertains to the virus. Google puts live updates online, so if I am interested in hearing about the numbers, I can always just look it up myself without going through seeing personal stories on social media. Living in the hotspot of the virus has its own personal trauma for me, especially because I have lost a loved one during this pandemic, so hearing these stories aren't very effective for me because I have already lived it. Everyone should do their part by practicing social distancing and taking this seriously! This is no joke.

Reference: https://www.jhunewsletter.com/article/2020/04/social-media-has-been-a-blessing-and-a-curse-during-the-pandemic

Propaganda- What Is It?

Here's something we all learned in history class, propaganda! We consume propaganda all the time without even realizing it, I wish that were an exaggeration. Propaganda, for those who are not aware, is the spreading of information to influence an audience in an attempt to further an agenda. A lot of the times, this information is false. In the twentieth century, the term really took on a negative connotation and is often associated with manipulation. Before then, it was a neutral term used to describe any kind of spreading of information.
I believe one of the biggest uses of propaganda in the United States was during World War Two and the Cold War. Often times in wartime propaganda is used to dehumanize the enemy. In World War Two, propaganda was used to gain support for the United States entering the war. In context, the United States entering the war most likely would not have been in the favor of the public because of the stock market crash and economic depression that the country had been dealing with for a little over a decade. In hindsight, entering the war is what pulled us out of the depression, but no one could have predicted that then. Propaganda, like the famous Rosie the Riveter poster, was spread to gain unconditional support for the soldiers and for the war. So many women joined the workforce and so many provisions were made in every day life to find and give supplies to our men overseas. What the public didn't know was the actual brutal conditions the war was putting our men through. Those at home never even figured that there were any sort of struggle to win and definitely did not know about the conditions of life that Germany imposed on the countries that were seized. During the Cold War, propaganda was used to shape the public's opinion on communism. It was so drastic that communists were feared! People were blacklisted, especially in Hollywood, if they were even suspected to be a communist. The US policy of containment made it so the spreading of communism in Europe would slow. This brought up feelings of resentment towards Eastern European countries by many Americans as well as Western European countries. Propaganda would show America in terrible ruins and label it as the fault of communism. They would even go as far as showing Soviets as terrible monsters and people to be feared. To test this theory, I even asked my mom what country she was scared of when she was growing up. Her answer? Russia. She didn't even know why, she said she heard such terrible things about them and what life was like there and it was just instilled into her brain from such a young age.
This reminds me of the relationship the United States has with North Korea. Even I am terrified of North Korea knowing full well that most of the things we hear about the country is propaganda to get us to support the United States. I truly believe that no matter how old we get, or how much the generations differ from one another, everyone is affected by propaganda. Our safety entirely lies in the hands of those in power, and to think that someone in power across the world could do something that could change our way of life forever is terrifying. As long as the public lives in fear, then the public can be influenced and controlled. Propaganda, especially today, makes us live in fear.

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda#Wartime

Self-Audit

It is a hard concept to think about, but we all have an online presence. It is most likely larger than any of us could imagine. I know personally, I have a relatively large internet footprint. It is a scary concept but it is largely my fault. I often do not think about the harmful effects that the internet can have on a person, and I'm only really offended if people post pictures of me without permission if I think I look bad in them. Otherwise, I don't really care. I use all different kinds of social media. I use Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Tik Tok, YouTube, Snapchat, and there are some others that I have accounts on that are inactive. A lot of the time I use these for different purposes. I use Instagram as a way to post pictures for my friends to see, Facebook as a place to contact family members and post pictures for them to see, Twitter I use for pretty much everything and anything, often times I get political but sometimes I post dumb things. These are the three that I mainly post on. It is crazy to think about what people can find out about me based on what I post and I often don't recognize that while I am posting. Easily by visiting my pages you could find out my political affiliation, my hobbies, where I am from, what school I attend, my age, and probably much more. I often give out my email to sites, mostly to retailers. I've been very good about giving my phone number to places, and if I do, I always make sure why they are asking for it. I think our generation is not easily fooled by scams. The other day I came downstairs to my father filling out a "random survey to win $20,000". I told him not to fall for that stuff anymore, he definitely has given out information to more websites, I'm sure he would've thought nothing of it if I didn't say anything to him.
Social media has an interesting effect on many different people. I use it to stay connected, which usually brings me joy. However, I definitely get feelings of isolation and sadness (I wouldn't say it has made me depressed, just sad) from certain posts I've seen. Social media definitely focuses on the negative parts of the news. Within this pandemic alone all I have seen are tragic stories. Being somebody personally affected by the virus, I have learned to mute anything on any timeline on social media pertaining to the virus. Yes, it's not healthy to completely block out pain, but it's not healthy to constantly be reliving it either. Another aspect of social media is comparing yourself to others you see. I know I follow accounts of completely unrealistic goals. However, I still compare myself to them! I'm sure many others do as well.
Social media is an unavoidable part of life now, for better or for worse. I hope that eventually I will learn how to take this part of my life a little more seriously.

Reference: https://www.fastcompany.com/90315706/kids-parents-social-media-sharing

Internet Privacy

The idea of privacy on the internet is one that has always been occluded. We agree to the "terms of service" and "privacy policies" without even reading them! They are pages and pages long with terms that as a general public, we do not fully understand. Pop-ups on multiple websites ask for permission for the use of cookies. The pop-up probably annoys you and you press yes not knowing what you're really agreeing to. These data mining bots then have access to what you search. Whats the most alarming is the privacy amongst iPhones users. Face ID seems very scary. It literally scans your face to keep on records to allow you into your phone. I'm guilty of having an iPhone that requires a Face ID scan. Alarming? Yes, but it is so normalized now.
Apple has released a statement saying that they have encrypted our cell phones to be resistant to wire tapping by government officials. It is comforting at first to think that our conversations are truly private. However, there are some things that definitely set me off when I learned about this situation.
One: Why did government officials get so angry by the fact that they could not read our hear our private conversations? What else do they have access to that we are unaware of? Well, they are supposedly listening for criminal offenses, such as terrorists or drug dealers (as mentioned in the TEDTalk listed below).
Two: We do not have specific phones for drug dealers, criminals, or terrorists. We all buy the same kinds of phones! Therefore, the statement that Apple issued saying they do not condone the use of wire tapping and that their products are resistant to such a thing must be a lie!
Three: Surveillance features are not only used by government officials. Hackers are able to break into these features, especially webcams, and not be able to be traced. So many people have covers over their laptop cameras already (and yes, I am one of them).

To make our world safer, especially pertaining to our internet safety, we must use these encryption tools. Companies should be focused on keeping their innocent customers safe. It may mean that catching bad guys may be a little more difficult, but for the benefit of the general public, it should be considered.

Reference: https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/ondemand/hls/content/2503702/vid/ChristopherSoghoian_2015U/ATL/streams/3544a522-53cb-4352-bb4b-e753d4022af5/master.m3u8

The Innovation of Snapchat

           There are many key factors in watching innovation spread. Luckily, our generations have witnessed the innovation of many different applications that are very widespread. A few examples are Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, YouTube, even big technological advancements like the iPhone, Android, and mainstream tablets. I can vividly remember the day I downloaded Snapchat for the first time. I was thirteen and my mom had been warning me about using the app safely. I sat on the floor of my sisters' room for hours snapchatting my friend, with absolutely no point to the pictures I was sending her. There were no fun filters, no games to play, I don't even think that texting through Snapchat was developed. Nowadays, thirteen year olds who download Snapchat are basically downloading a completely different app than what my thirteen year old self had.
         The app was conceived in April 2011 and launched later in December of 2012. The app did not become very successful until there were proper funds raised in 2013 to build out the product and create a wide reach of people who would download it. From 2014-2016, Snapchat constantly worked on building capital in order to expand and rebrand. An example I remember is having to pay a small fee each time you wanted to replay a missed Snapchat from somebody. (It was really inexpensive, around $0.99 for three replays, but based on how the app lets you do it for free now, it seems ridiculous). Today, we are witnessing a rebranding of Snapchat all around. They changed their name from "Snapchat Inc." to "Snap Inc."
       From its initial launch in December 2012, Snapchat has gained intense popularity amongst every smartphone user. By November 2013, less than a year from its launch, over 400 million snapchats were being sent PER DAY! By December 2014, Snapchat's worth was $485 million, raised by about 23 investors in the company, a small amount of investors in comparison to the sum of money. Community stories on Snapchat reach about 6 billion views per day, and that was recorded in their early development. The point is, Snapchat is ever growing and changing to keep up with the times.
      Snapchat was an outlier in most forms of communication. People downloaded it because it was funny to send absurd pictures to your friends that both the sender and receiver would not be able to open again after the picture was gone. With the obvious inappropriate uses aside, the world of technology would not be the same if Snapchat had not been developed. When Snapchat first introduced Snap Stories, Instagram and Facebook both developed story platforms as well to keep up with their competitor. Snapchat has been taking the lead as the main social media application. That, combined with their ever adapting software, is why I do not predict a downfall in the application in the foreseeable future.

Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Snapchat

Speech Theories: Individual Self-fulfillment

              

The First Amendment introduces the idea of Freedom of Speech to the citizens of the United States of America. There are many different theories of speech that are relevant to the idea of expression. Free expression relies on eight different values: marketplace of ideas, participation in self-government, stable change, individual self-fulfillment, checks on governmental power, the promotion of tolerance, the promotion of innovation, and the protection of dissent. I believe that the key speech theory is the idea of individual self-fulfillment. 

            Self-fulfillment centers around the idea of creating individuality amongst groups of people. This promotes that free speech creates individual characteristics per each person. Therefore, the use of free speech is what creates someone's personality. Without having the will to be who you are and the means to create your personality, no one's lives would be fulfilled. Without a personality, no one would find friends, significant others, hobbies, educational preferences, career paths, or even smaller decisions like deciding if you're a dog or a cat person. The term most used to describe the right for a person to choose these things in their life is autonomy. Autonomy becomes a major part of young adults' lives especially because without one's own jurisdiction of who they are, they cannot pave the way for their own success. Based on the theory of self-fulfillment, free speech becomes the source of human dignity. Without the right to be who you are freely, there is no meaningful life to live. That is what free speech offers us. Taking these small liberties for granted has become a common occurrence. 

         The attached video is a Crash Course, a YouTube series which focus mainly on government policies mainly utilized in a classroom setting, which explains just why the United State's Freedom of Speech is so important. This is especially useful when describing what IS and ISN'T protected by the government. An example in the video is working for a private company. If you say rude things to your boss of a private company and they fire you, you have no claim to a First Amendment right. However, if the company was owned by the government or attached to the government in a way that they are the boss, you could make a claim that it violates your First Amendment right to fire you based on speaking out. The video also touches upon the "Bong Hits for Jesus" sign, which if you took AP Government or AP United States History in high school like I did, you know all about it. If you haven't heard, in summary a student held up a sign saying that at a school administered assembly. He tried to argue that it was against his First Amendment right to make him take down the sign. So while all of this information seems to not directly correlate to the idea of self-fulfillment, understanding the key points of the First Amendment's Freedom of Speech clause is critical when studying any kind of speech. 

      It is a privilege for us as American citizens to be able to speak freely and criticize our government, I know for sure if we did not have that right I would be thrown in jail (as would many others). As we continue to speak freely, think about what it would mean to have that right taken away.

Find the video here! 
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zeeq0qaEaLw