My Relationship with Social Media and Technology

For as long as I could remember, social media has always been a part of my life. I have been exposed to the internet and social media since I was a little girl. I still recall the excitement I got when I downloaded Snapchat like it was yesterday. It was around 8 years ago, when I peeked over my friends’ shoulders and saw them using these filters on their faces on Snapchat. I'm sure we all remember the dog filter or the rainbow filter, it was an iconic turning point for everyone our age. I asked my friends if I could play around with all of the filters on their phone and long story short, they bought the app for me, created my username and showed me all of the ins and outs of the new trending social media app. From that point on, Social media changed my life and it never went back to normal again.

Shortly after I downloaded Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter came right after. In a blink of an eye, I became glued to my phone. I was addicted to the trends, and always wanted to be in the loop of what was going on. Although I didn’t realize it when I was younger, looking back, social media prevented me from doing normal, daily activities that a young kid would normally enjoy doing. I stopped wanting to go outside with my little siblings to jump on the trampoline, I didn’t want to go to the mall with my mom, and I didn’t want to play catch with my dad. All I wanted to do was sit on my phone to see who liked my post, or replayed my snap, or viewed my story. At the time, I didn’t feel as though I was missing out on anything, because all of my friends were doing the exact same thing. But if I could go back in time, I think I would take the time to run errands with my parents, or give my siblings the time of day. I felt like I missed out on a part of my childhood because of my phone. As I’ve gotten older and social media has become more normalized, different pros and cons have developed from being a teenager. I learned to balance my screen time, which was a pro. But the middle school and early high school years was when the FOMO kicked in, or the loneliness.

How many of you have ever used social media to see what your friends are doing? How many of you have felt left out by something one of your friends has posted on social media? 

For me, social media affected me in these ways. Every little thing one of my friends posted or commented affected me in some way. Since everything was always posted online, I had no choice but to constantly view everything that came in my direction.

Overall, I think that social media has impacted society, and myself greatly. There are some extremely positive things to technology that we, as a generation, overlook sometimes, because it’s all we’ve ever known. Being able to communicate with millions of people at once, or being able to look up any piece of information in under two seconds is fascinating. However, it's important to not look over the negative side, as too much social media can have a negative impact on people's mental or emotional health. The video “Mad World” remix that we watched in class spoke a lot to me and had a lot of different undercover meanings to it. Although the video seems exaggerated, some of the scenarios may feel completely real to others. Being so addicted to screens that we are not aware of our surroundings, or always feeling the need to post things on social media, good or bad, have an effect on the people around us. I think the truth definitely lies somewhere in that video, whether we all realize that or not. Social media can be a great thing if used properly and in a timely manner, however it’s hard for some people to manage their time when our whole lives are circulated around our phone. When you put your phone down, you feel like you're missing something, because you may be missing information or news. You may miss an important phone call, or a life-altering text message or email.

So how are we supposed to be expected to put down our phones, when our entire life revolves around it? 

AI: Is It Taking Over the World?

In a world full of technology, it’s impossible to escape the new inventions, ideas, devices and latest trends. Constant upgrades and new innovations are thrown in our face very frequently. One of the most popular new inventions in the technological world is AI. AI stands for artificial intelligence and it allows computers and other devices to solve problems just like another human being. It is an auto-generated, quick and efficient system that provides answers, insights, opinions and even emotion to all questions that it is asked. Although this sounds like an amazing advancement to help society, there are some negative effects to this creation. 

With having an extremely intelligent machine like this one, your privacy could be in danger. Since AI is known for gathering information about different topics, it could easily retrieve information about YOU. From watching In the Age of AI, I learned that AI has the ability to search the web and promote ads about each of us. This could cause a major privacy invasion to each individual that has an online profile. One of the most chilling things I learned about AI is that it has the ability to understand and decipher our voices from one another. It has the ability to pinpoint who is exactly talking and what mood you are in based on your tone and pitch of your voice. 

In addition to AI knowing a little TOO much personal information about us, it also has the ability to strip job opportunities from future employees. Since AI is very academically and emotionally advanced, it is obviously very intelligent. In other words, it is like your personal Google. You could ask it a question, and in under three seconds it can generate a personalized, detailed answer to your prompt. With that being said, workers in the journalism field have become more worried as some say that AI writing is better than actual journalists. Of course, some people think otherwise, but who says that AI won’t be taking over stories, headlines and updates in the news? 

As a fellow sports media major, this worries me for my future in this industry. The sports media/journalism field is all about writing and speaking to an audience. So, if AI is much more efficient, intelligent and in some cases, cheaper than a real employee, then who says that industries aren’t going to stop hiring? It is going to be very interesting to see how AI expands over the next few years? Is it going to take over the world? Is it going to crash and burn? Is the writing too basic or is it going to get even more complex? It is hard to say what the outcome of AI is going to be. Hopefully, it doesn’t interfere with too many job opportunities for young adults in the future. 

Anti War Voices

Normally when someone mentions the word “war,” it has a negative meaning behind it. War is defined as “a state of armed conflict between different nations or states.” Personally, that is something I would not like to be a part of and I would have assumed most other citizens would feel the same way. So, if war is not something that we should be advocating for, then why don’t we hear more anti war voices?

When I took a look at American Conservative  and AntiWar.com I realized that these websites are not very popular, as I have never heard of them before. After reviewing certain articles, statements and passages, I noticed that I don’t find this perspective of anti war statements throughout the internet or on the news frequently. To be fair, that could be due to my personal lack of knowledge of recent news, however I truly believe that I am not the only young adult that feels this way. One of the reasons I believe that citizens are silenced is because the government wants to always have the upper hand. Now, I understand that being in high authority, there may be certain factors of different issues in the world that are available to them and not the citizens. However, not being able to publicize our opinions is where most citizens, including myself, draw the line. I believe that the government’s goal is to constantly have power, and information is power

I find that our mainstream news channels and websites are too busy covering news that they believe the media would want to hear, instead of news that is actually relevant at the moment. Is that intentional? Forced by the government? Or is that just an opinion of mine? It’s hard to really maneuver around situations like these as a citizen who does not know much about behind the scenes. Unfortunately, everything just comes down to politics these days. If something is posted on the media or on a news channel that someone in higher authority does not approve of, it will be taken down. We may not see it all of the time, but that is the sad truth about our world.

To conclude, I believe that as more people continue to speak up about anti war, the more popular the topic will become. Since smaller news sources do not have priority over channels like CNN or FOX, it is very easy to get lost in the big pool of media. When you are a little fish in a big pond, sometimes it can be difficult to be seen, heard or acknowledged. 

EOTO Reaction: Cord Cutting

When everyone presented their EOTO projects, I thought all of them were extremely informative and interesting. However, one topic that really stuck out to me was cord cutting, which was presented by Charles. Cord cutting is the process of canceling regular cable subscriptions due to the rise of streaming services. Streaming services provide a bigger variety of entertainment at all times from different locations. On the other hand, cable and satellite TV only are able to provide selective channels in a specific location. Streaming services like Hulu, Disney+, Amazon Prime and Netflix are just a few of the most popular streaming services that have become more popular over the years. 

Cord cutting became very popular in the early 21st century as early adopters soon learned that streaming services had plenty more advantages than regular cable. The audience and viewers realized that streaming services were more flexible, easier to access and much cheaper than regular cable. Early adopters also started realizing the benefits of streaming services. Have you ever wanted to watch a specific show that wasn’t airing on cable? What if you wanted to pause a show? Rewind it? Better yet, what if you wanted to watch the new episode of your favorite show but you weren’t going to be home at that time? Streaming services offer a solution to all of those problems. 

With a new invention or idea, there are always the late adopters. Personally, I have found that older generations do not like the streaming services and have not “cut the cord” yet. They prefer the simpleness of technology and rather not face change having to deal with learning a whole new system. They crave comfort as technology has become so advanced in the past few decades. Even speaking for myself, I have had some trouble maneuvering through certain technological inventions.

Personally, I have always been a fan of streaming services. I genuinely can’t recall the last time I used cable or satellite. I prefer streaming services because of the unlimited options that are right in front of me. Especially during covid, I recall myself using Netflix frequently. My friends and I always used to “Teleparty” through Netflix, which is the process of syncing up two computers to watch the same movie or show simultaneously. To conclude, I couldn’t imagine my life without Hulu, Amazon Prime or Paramount etc. I am an avid movie and TV show watcher, so these services have benefited me greatly.

https://www.lifewire.com/what-is-cutting-the-cord-4145351

EOTO #2: China's Social Credit Score System

For my EOTO Post, I decided to discuss China's Social Credit System. This system is a government initiative that is used for monitoring, evaluating, and influencing the lives of individuals in China. It's a complex system that incorporates financial transactions, social media activity, legal records, and more, to generate a score for each citizen. In other words, it is a moral ranking. 

The Social Credit System assigns scores not only based on criteria such as financial responsibility, but even social behavior, and adherence to laws and regulations. Individuals with higher scores are rewarded with privileges. This system was launched in 2014 as a way to enforce the idea that citizens are properly behaved. The maximum score an individual can have can go up to 1,300 and the lowest being 600. For the most part, this system is pretty equalized throughout any age, race, gender or social class. All the tasks that could lead to raising your score are open and accessible to everyone, like helping the poor or engaging in charity work. The only disadvantage could be to the elderly, as they have more trouble moving around and doing physical activity. In addition, older people may not have social media, which could be an advantage and disadvantage. Access to loans, better employment prospects, and discounted services are just some benefits to completing positive tasks. On the other hand, those with lower scores may face penalties such as restrictions on travel, exclusion from jobs, and limited access to public services by doing things like spreading rumors online or not visiting your parents regularly. These actions can lower your score exponentially and have an affect on your daily accessibility. 

This system raises concerns about privacy invasion, government control, and the potential for abuse. It’s possible that this Social Credit System could lead to a society where conformity is enforced through all of the surveillance. Although actions like engaging in charity work or helping the poor are positively influential deeds, others seem extremely forced. For example, praising the government on social media clearly is just a tactic for the government to manipulate citizens to believe that what they are doing is good for society. This social credit system clearly raises many concerns. However, on the upside, it could be argued that forcing citizens to complete these tasks will benefit each individual in their own ways, by doing what is morally correct. it could encourage trustworthiness and social responsibility, ultimately creating a more harmonious and settled society.

Personally, I would not like living in a system like this. I would feel like I am being controlled, manipulated and monitored. I feel as though this credit score system violates various personal rights, as your every move is watched. This would affect me very negatively. I understand the potential upside of trying to form a society that is united, well-behaved and contributes to society. However, the system seems extremely forced. In my opinion, forcing citizens to be under heavy surveillance will only make them feel the urge to rebel. Grown adults should not have to be babysat like that. I couldn’t imagine how the people in China feel about this. I wonder if they also think it is absurd or if this is what they think normal life is.

https://www.businessinsider.com/china-social-credit-system-punishments-and-rewards-explained-2018-4

https://www.wired.com/story/china-social-credit-system-explained/ 

Diffusion of Innovations Theory

The Diffusion of Innovations theory is stated as a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread. When I first grasped this definition of this idea, my mind automatically raced to social media. Although I think Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook sky-rocketed quickly, I believe that no social media app had more of an impact on our generation than Tik Tok did. 

I believe that Tik Tok had a major impact on our lives because of how popular it became in a short period of time. Although Tik Tok is its own social media app, it emerged from the app “Musical.ly.” Musical.ly launched in August of 2014 and shut down in August of 2018. Although it was only available to the public for a short period of time, the app accumulated over 200 million users during its time. It was popular for the 15 second to 1 minute lip-syncing and dancing videos. After four years, Tik Tok bought Musical.ly for almost 1 billion dollars. Tik Tok is ultimately the same as Musical.ly was, except for a few differences. Furthermore, Tik Tok offers up to 10 minute videos and people are more expressive and personal on the platform.

This is why I believe that there were so many early adopters for Tik Tok. Once the app shifted from Musical.ly, it already had so many fans and subscribers that most of them just carried right over. According to Pew Research Center, about ⅓ of adults under 30 use Tik Tok. That is more than any other social media platform. On the other hand, there are always late adopters to new trends. I believe that people who were late adopters to Tik Tok were either people who decided to quit Musical.ly once it got deleted, or people who were never on Musical.ly and only heard of Tik Tok once it got super popular. 

I believe that Tik Tok is a very creative social media app and has surpassed others in many different categories. However, one negative side of Tik Tok is that it has become extremely addictive and time-consuming. People will scroll on this app for hours and hours without even realizing it, including myself. Tik Tok can be a positive addition to your daily life, if it is used correctly and in a timely-manner. For example, Tik Tok is a great source to get your information from, as there are constantly new videos about the recent news in the world around us. I mentioned this in my first blog post, as I personally gather information through this app. To sum up, it is important to use Tik Tok in moderation, as it has overtaken many lives. It continues to build its platform day by day because there continues to be new users everyday. Tik Tok has done a great job at keeping its content fresh as new trends and ideas flow in everyday. 

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/04/03/6-facts-about-americans-and-tiktok/

https://www.failory.com/cemetery/musical-ly