Final Blog Post

  I think that the internet and rise of technology has brought many good things into this world but definitely has some bad side effects on our culture. There is this unrealistic thought that every technological enhancement is inherently good and I don’t think that is the case. Take for example the youth suicide rates post social media. It is the second leading cause of death in Americans age 15 to 24. I think that there is definitely a link between social media and depression. 
My generation is one of the most depressed generations and there is a problem with the way we deal with it. There have been many times in recent history to warrant sadness and depression. One of the most notable is slavery and racial injustice in America all the way until the mid 1900s. What did people do when they were faced with all these hardships and were depressed about it? One thing they did was pour their emotions into music. Segregation and slavery were the seed to what became the musical emotional outlet of African Americans in the Blues. Blues music gave these people a way to cope with their emotions and an outlet for everything. Nowadays, young people feel the same feelings of depression and sadness, but don’t do anything about it because they are too engulfed in their phones and computers. Social media is just like any other addiction. A heroin addict will still continue to use even though they know it is killing them. Young people who are depressed because of social media will still continue to use it even though it is detrimental to their mental health. Because of all this, these people have no outlet to what they are feeling and depression can make a turn for the worst into suicide. 
Technology is a blessing because it allows us to do things that were not even thought of as possible in the past. We can speak to someone face to face even if they are on the other side of the world. We can continue to go to school during a pandemic even if we are forced to stay at home. We can find the answer to any question we have just by the press of a button. These things are all great things that enhance our day to day lives, but there are definitely some things that can be improved upon. Technology can isolate you if you let it. It can make you complacent and ignorant. It can replace real life relationships. There needs to be a balance between it all because if there isn’t, it can take over your life and lead you down a path of depression and sorrow. 

Sources:

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/youth-suicide-rates-are-on-the-rise-in-the-u-s

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/why-music-moves-us/201306/can-listening-the-blues-give-you-the-blues

Week 15 Blog

     My online presence is actually pretty small. If I do a Google search on myself, the only things that show up are my LinkedIn page and my Instagram. My Instagram page is private so you can only see my posts if you follow me. Other than those two things, I don't really show up much on the internet because I've been careful about what I post online and to where I post my things. 

    In my Instagram and LinkedIn bio it says that I attended Bergen Catholic High School and I currently attend High Point University. The information kind of stops there though because if you wanted to know more about me, I would have to accept you as a friend. 

    The only photo of me on Google Images is my LinkedIn profile picture, which is of me in a suit. This is a good thing because if an employer were to search me, they would not find any embarrassing photos or anything, just one of me in a suit which is at least somewhat professional. 

    I have given out some of my information though. Mostly my email and I've given it out to countless websites and stores where they ask you to sign up. The main email that I use for this is constantly bombarded with emails and newsletters from all kinds of things from clothing stores to news publications. 

    I think that social media does make some people lonely and depressed because it is a false sense of attention. Even if you do get the attention it is not very genuine and those who don't may feel like they are not worth as much as someone who gets tons of likes and followers. I don't use or post to social media a lot because I really could care less about it. I use it sometimes for news and to see what my friends are up to but other than that I don't interact with it much. 

Key Post 2

  One of the words that I found interesting was propaganda. Propaganda is biased information used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. The uses of propaganda are vast. When I think of it, I usually connect it to certain countries and governments such as the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, and Cuba. These oppressive governments would use propaganda to control the people and get them to believe in their causes. 
    One of my favorite uses of propaganda that I find fascinating is the 1943 German film about the Titanic. This movie was a film that depicted the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, but also was a film that painted the US and Britain as the reasons for this disaster due to their capitalist ideals. The film had a budget of $4 million. I find this very interesting because it shows what lengths a government will go to convince it’s people of something. 
The problem with propaganda is that it is misleading and controlling. With propaganda, you are not receiving the full story of the subject of it, only a one sided and biased version that is meant to convince you that it is true and right. An example would be a poster of Vladimir Lenin saying that he would keep Russia safe by putting criminals in labor camps to work and provide for the good Russian people. What you didn’t know is that the definition of a criminal was very loose and included people such as homosexuals and scholars who said the wrong thing. Also the work they were doing was not benefitting the people in any way, only the Russian government. 
These are all very extreme examples of propaganda and it can definitely be found in places such as American, not just fascist regimes. I think a great and very recognizable piece of propaganda is the image of Rosie the Riveter. It represents the women that worked in factories in place of the men that were fighting in WWII. It was meant to instill hope and power into the women of America in hopes of more women helping out. This piece of propaganda actually did a great thing and helped impact women’s rights by breaking down the gender barriers in the household and workplace. After 1945, almost one in four women in America had income earning jobs.     
    Propaganda can be used for good, but most of the time it is a negative thing. We live in a time that is divided by different sides of the media that are constantly trying to tell us that their ways and ideas are right while the others is wrong. That is why it is important to get your information from different sources, not only one. Propaganda surrounds us in our lives but if we are careful, we can avoid being fed biased information. 

Blog Post Week 11

       Everything we do online has a permanent stamp that others can see. The TED talk that Juan Enriquez gave that likened out digital footprints to tattoos really gave a good example of what it is like when we post something online. Growing up in this digital age where everyone is using social media and things like that, it is kind of scary to think about. I had access to everything as a young kid and while I don't think I've ever posted anything that could come back to haunt me, I sure could have. I think its important for kids to learn about this at a young age so they know not to make mistakes that could haunt them later in life. 

       Another thing I found interesting is about the data collection by the police about where you have been because of the license plate photos. I never knew that this was going on and I don't know if I really agree with it. With everything that has been uncovered over the years, from Snowden and the NSA to this license plate thing, it seems like we don't actually live as free Americans. Everything and everyone is monitored to an almost Soviet Union like degree. 

EOTO 2 - Week 8

     I learned many new things from my classmate when I watched their presentations on the different technologies they researched. One that stood out to me was the one that was done on emojis and emoticons. I had never really even thought about the fact that someone had to invent all of that and that there were artists who are responsible for creating them. 

    It sounds strange now that everyone has an iPhone, but when I was younger and they first came out, practically no one had one. The phones that we had as kids were the old flip phones and the hottest one was the Motorola Razr. When we texted, we used those symbols to make smily faces and I never even thought about someone having to come up with all those combinations of symbols. We learned from each other as kids and found different combinations for all kinds of faces. 

    Once the iPhone took off and they added emojis, everything was different and now not many people even use the old symbol emojis. Its just interesting to think about and makes me think of how we did things as kids compared to now. 

Blog #6 EOTO

    The first television was invented in 1925 by a man named John Logie Baird. This type of television was called the mechanical television. Mechanical televisions used wires that sent images through holes in a rotating disk to create an image that appeared to be moving. Every time the disk rotated, it made one frame of the image. The disk would rotate about 12 to 13 times per second. 

    This first form of television was very primitive but it is what started the chain of events that would eventually lead to televisions like we have today. The mechanical television was innovative at the time, but was quickly overshadowed by another type of television that came just a few years later. 

    In 1927, Philo Farnsworth invented the first electronic television. Instead of mechanical parts, this television used a Cathode Ray Tube as the way to create images. This tube would fire electrons that attracted to positively charged anodes that were on the screen. The screen would be painted with phosphor to make it emit light when exposed to radiant energy, and the electrons would be painted across the screen, line by line, to make an image. This process allowed for much more complex applications of the television and became the standard instead of the mechanical version. 

    The invention of the television was a massive part of modern history because of all the applications that it had for business, entertainment, and more. One of the most fought over markets right now is that of streaming services and all of that started with the popularity of Netflix. Netflix would be nothing if there was no television to play all of those movies and shows on. Billions of dollars are made each year off of new movies and shows that come out, and these business practices are only made possible because the television is such an important invention in our lives. 

    The television also opened the door for information spreading to the masses. It became so much easier to get the news out to people every single day once a broadcast station was set up to broadcast to every television in the area. People would no longer have to rely on print or word of mouth. They could simply just turn on the television in the living room and be fed information. Radio worked similarly but the advantage of the television was that people got an image to go along with what they were hearing.

Key Post #1

    Freedom of Speech is an important part of our lives as Americans that I think gets overlooked or even forgotten about at times. I don’t mean that it is completely forgotten about because everyone knows that we have it, but I feel like it is almost an afterthought in a lot of people’s minds. It’s important to understand the things that have happened and the sacrifices made to give us this freedom. 

    One of the Values of Free Expression that I really like to think about is the Marketplace of Ideas by John Milton. This basically means that when the truth is put up against lies, truth will always win and if there is a struggle for it, the truth becomes even stronger. Milton suggested this because he opposed the idea that you would need to have a license to print and publish.

    In theory, having a requirement to have a license in order to publish an article or book would cut down on the fake news or lies told to the public but I think this would have the exact opposite effect. Many questions arise such as how many licenses can be given out, who can get these licenses, and what are the qualifications to get one? This practice would censor most of the American people and leave them without a voice to express their own ideas and opinions. Even if someones ideas are not right or inaccurate, they need to be given the opportunity to express themselves under the First Amendment. 

    What would our lives be like if we could not freely voice our ideas or opinions today? I would probably not even be able to write this blog if I did not have the proper license. We would be limited to the point of view of the select few who were deemed worthy to feed us the information that they wanted us to hear. Whoever was in charge of giving out the licenses would have full control of all media and we would live under the conditions of China or Soviet Russia. These are not the ideas that The United States was founded on and as a citizen, I am glad that John Milton spoke out against these ideas.

    These are the things that I think are forgotten about when people think of the First Amendment. These are the things that I think some people take for granted when they live their everyday lives. These are the things that make The United States what it is today.