My Relationship with Technology

Now that I am older and a lot more confident in myself I feel that I have created a healthy relationship with technology. When I was younger I did not grow up with a phone or an Iphone in my hands simply because my parents wanted me and my sister to learn how to actually talk to people at a dinner table and play outside or with toys and not an ipad. It wasn't until I was older that I got my first ipad or phone because I grew out of the playing stages of my life and was more responsible. I am so happy that my parents decided to raise me without crazy technology because I feel that I was able to enjoy my childhood so much more. I had the Ipod where all it could play was music which I loved so much. Then later on I got an Ipad when I was around 8 but we had rules on when we could and could not use it. Whenever we were at the dinner table or out to eat with immediate or extended family we were not aloud to have electronics at the table. I learned how to have a conversation with my older family members and learned how to speak intelligently to them. I have little cousins who are only 4 years younger than I am who grew up with an Ipad in their faces and that resulted in them being a little awkward and not being able to speak confidently or hold a long, meaningful conversation with even family members. 

    

I feel that I am getting better at getting away from technology because for a while I was on my phone way too much. I love tiktok as much as the next person but I am trying to set limits for myself and do things that are more meaningful and better for my eyes and brain. In 2021 I learned how to crochet so now I use that to challenge myself to make different stuffed animals and bags and tops for my friends and family. I originally learned to make meaningful Christmas gifts for my friends and family to distract us all from the pandemic. Now I have a small business and love to make all different kinds of things that will make people happy. This is my escape from technology when I feel like I need to disconnect from the internet.

Here is a picture of the bees I sell

You have to take everything you see on the internet with a grain of salt. I love tiktok because there are so many different creators on their telling their stories and spreading life hacks that will make their viewers lives easier. I love using it to find professional actors giving tips and tricks on the acting industry, behind the scenes of my favorite tv shows and movies, tips on how to improve my acting and singing, home decor videos, and fashion videos. I love that my tiktok has such a wide variety of videos that are tailored to me. However, you should always be careful because a lot of misinformation can spread. I always check to make sure the content creator is credible if they are giving advice on the acting industry because so much false information can be spread. 

TikTok about the Acting Industry

I do worry that kids are growing up with phones and ipads in their faces and how it effects their social skills growing up. Not only that but it is harmful for their eyes and their hand-eye coordination because they are doing everything on a 2d scale and not physical 3d objects. This will all effect our society because kids will grow up not knowing how to talk to each other or make meaningful connections and make friends. 

The Age of AI

 

AI also known as artificial Intelligence has always interested me. I loved watching the documentary and seeing how it is all around us without even realizing it. Things like facial recognition on our phons, apple pay, autocorrect, and even our gps systems all fall under the ai spectrum. All of these different technologies collect our data in order to better themselves and be more helpful. While it is nice to have an Alexa or Google home they also listen to our conversations and gives us ads on Instagram or Facebook based on what it thinks we are interested in. I have had this happen to me all the time. If I google something random like bedsheets, in a few minutes when I go onto Instagram I will be getting ads for bedsheets. All of our devices get so much data from our everyday lives it is so scary. 

One thing I found interesting is how China uses AI to collect data from its citizens. They use this type of facial recognition software that you can use to get a ticket if you do something illegal or even buy food! This reminds me of the amazon shop and go stores where you go in scan something and it automatically charges you and you can just walk out with whatever you took. I find that this eliminates a sense of privacy that people should have in their everyday lives. 

Living in the digital age that we are today so many jobs will be taken by AI, if they haven't been already. Jobs like customer service, data keepers and bookkeepers are long gone, proofreaders, even retail is moving more and more online. 

I found this image so interesting because it shows how likely a job is to be taken over. The driver interested me the most because most of the time I always assume driving is something people will always have. However, with new automated or self driving cars, cargo drivers will soon be absolute. 

Sources: https://www.saviom.com/blog/12-jobs-that-robots-ai-will-replace-in-the-future-and-12-that-wont/

https://www.tidio.com/blog/ai-trends/

EOTO- Propaganda Techniques

 AWARENESS

The term propaganda is not a new term. We have all learned this word in middle school relating to world wars and getting people to help the war effort. The simple definition is; information especially of a biased or misleading nature used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.

While I was researching I found out that there are actually different types of propaganda techniques. I found around 11 different types of techniques that are used when creating propaganda.

1. Testimonial

Testimonials is a type of propaganda where a well known public or credible person talks about a product to influence the audience to buy or get behind a product or idea. 

A great example of this is celebrity endorsement ads.

 

2. Stereotyping

Stereotyping is a technique I didn't know was used in propaganda but looking at the definition it became more recognizable. This is a technique that uses popular stereotypes and either feeds into the stereotype or breaks the trend with their messaging. 

This 1950s ad plays into the stereotype that women burn what they cook in order to sell beer to their costumers. 

3. Fear appeals

Fear appeals is when an ad tries to scare their audience into taking the action they are trying to promote. One of the most common commercials I can think of using this technique is the commercials telling us to not text and drive.

5 Powerful Texting and Driving Ads

4. Bandwagon

Bandwagon is when an ad creates a sensation of FOMO or fear of missing out. The ad makes people want to hop on a trend or be a part of a certain group. 

This youtube video How to Dress like a Clean Girl is a video that discusses all the clothes and accessories that surrounds the clean girl aesthetic. With all trends people feel the need to hop onto the most popular aesthetic at the moment instead of staying true to themselves and creating their own personal style. A lot of the times these trends create a desired lifestyle and aesthetic that can create a feeling of exclusivity and makes even more people want to be a part of it, thus creating FOMO.

How to dress like a Clean Girl

5. Plain folks

Plain folks is another term I had never heard of before researching it, but it actually makes a lot of sense. It is a technique that uses regular, every day people to promote a product to see how it can become a part of their lives. 

A great example of this is nutella. They market it as versatile breakfast food when in reality it should be more of a desert item. 

Nutella Breakfast Commercial

6. Transfer propaganda technique

This propaganda technique tricks the audience into irrationally creative positive or negative emotions with an unrelated topic. One instance that this technique was used was in the 1950s when people were trying to cell cigarettes. They wanted to cell cigarettes with the image of being classy, sexy, and sophisticated. 

  

7. Name calling

Name calling is a technique that is used by competing companies in the same field to put down each other. Competing companies like McDonald's and Burger King used this a lot in the 80s and 90s when the fast food market was booming.

Burger King vs. McDonalds ad

8. Card stacking

Card stacking is a term that is becoming more and more recognizable with platforms like TikTok that are willing to call out companies publicly. This is a technique where companies are selective about the information they present to their audience. They are not being 100% transparent as a company and hides some important information from their customers. An example of this is a term called "green washing" which is where brands appear to being going green and being sustainable but are actually not really contributing that much to sustainability or saving the planet. 

A great example I found is Kim Kardashian's new skin care brand called SKkN. This brand offers a one time buy packaging and then you can buy refills when the product is all done. Sounds great but once you actually look at the packaging you realize it is such a scam. The refill containers are just the product without a lid. You are not really lowering your plastic usage by using these products because the refills are just as bulky as the outside shell they go in and can easily stand on their own if they are just given a lid.

   

Full Packaging                                                           Refill Product                          

9. Glittering generalities

Once again this is a term I had never seen before but I have seen it used in so many ads. Glittering generalities is when ads use a lot of nice, appealing, or strong words or slogans to make an impact on the audience. This McDonalds ad is a perfect example of how the right vocabulary can help sell your product. 

10. Ad nauseam propaganda

This technique is all about repetition in their ads so that even when you only hear a little bit of the add it is instantly recognizable. When I think of this I immediately think of the Spotify ads. From the voice to the intros to what they say I know those ads front and back. 

Want a Break from the ads?- Spotify ad

11. Appeal to prejudice propaganda 

Finally this technique exploits prejudices in order to sell their product. This article about a Nivea ad for "visibly fairer skin" is a perfect example of this. This ad promotes that "fairer" skin is more beautiful than darker skin. It plays into the prejudices that darker skin isn't beautiful which simply isn't true and tries to take those harmful thoughts and make women buy their product. 

Article on the Nivea Body Lotion

All of these techniques are examples we see in modern day. A lot of these ads are harmful such as the appeal to prejudice technique because it makes people feel that they are not "conforming" to American beauty standards or the societal norms of beauty. This can create a generation of young men and woman who are insecure with themselves because they are seeing ads that make them think they need to change their physical appearances in order to remain "beautiful" in society's eyes. Many people may see the Kim Kardashian ads and may want to help the planet and try new skincare but might not be able to afford it. Now this creates a narrative that hits two points: not being able to shop so called "sustainable" (even though we know this product is green washing) and also not being able to have the "it girl" skin care routine because it is expensive. In my personal life I see a lot of ads like the Coke add, especially around super bowl season. I always see a lot of celebrities and brands coming out with limited edition bottles such as Disney for their 50th Anniversary. I don't even drink soda that much but I had to buy the Disney ones because they are sparkly and had one for every park and the packaging was stunning. However, at the end of the day it is the exact same coke I can get at a 7/11 for a dollar. I have always found marketing so interesting and finding out all these different propaganda techniques will keep me on the look out any time I see a new add. 

source: https://motioncue.com/types-of-propaganda-techniques-in-advertising/

Why our Privacy is so Important

 One TEDTalk that really stood out to me was by Catherine Crump. In her video she talks about how while we think we are safe and have a privacy even when we step outside, we truly don't. Police have cameras, license plate trackers, cellphone and Ip address trackers as well all around us, watching our every move. She mentions how one of her friends asked for all his information that his local police department had on him, they had pictures of his car and his kids, images of him going home or going to work. This is so frightening to hear. She also pointed out that it is not only police but our government as well. We all have a file some where in the government with all this information about us, what you look like, what kind of car do you have, where you live, where you work, pictures of your friends, places you have been in your town, just your normal day to day routine. They even have license plate trackers on police cars tracking people who is attending mosques. 

This is an image from the video of what the data looks like at the police department. 

I feel that this is such a violation of my privacy. Why do they need to know what my car looks like if I haven't run a red light, or robbed a bank? I haven't done anything wrong but they have this information just incase? Just incase is not an excuse to violate my privacy. I love that Crump not only informs her viewers of what is happening all over the world but also informs her viewers how we can make a difference. She says it all starts with your city council. From there they can pass on laws to the police department to wipe all unnecessary data on regular people. This is so much more comforting knowing that there is change that can be made to this. I like using a VPN in order to hide my IP address from websites selling my personal information and tracking me and my interests. It is little things like this that can lead to big change we just need to know what steps to take to keep our information secure and our personal lives private. 

Antiwar Websites. Why don't we hear about them?

Censorship in the United States is not something new for us. When you watch films or tv there are certain things that can and can't be said on national television. This also goes for the news as well. Mainstream news outlets have a biased opinion and censor a lot of their media coverage. In our First Amendment Rights it is stated that we are allowed free speech and free press, but even that has some limitations. We are not allowed to say anything that is obscene, threatens national security in a war time, threatens violence, if it is a government burden, and causes immediate and irreparable harm. In simple terms we can yell fire when there is no fire, you can not threaten to hurt people, and you have limits on what you can say about a war going on. I find this interesting because the basis the creation of our government started with a war, people should be able to speak their minds about an event that effects everyone. 

Some great examples of the media coverage being censored was the Vietnam war. While searching on Antiwar.com I found a great article by Martin Luther King titled "Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam". In this article MLK preaches why he believes that this war is "unjust, evil, and futile," (King, 1967). Throughout his whole sermon he talks about how it is conflicts with his personal moral values and how the war is doing more damage than good to both nations involved. Many people tried to silence MLK because America has always been a very "patriotic country" and with that comes the military, the American flag, and the pride of being an American. However, with MLK voicing his opinions about how harmful this war is, it does not aid in the "Uncle Sam Needs You" narrative that the united states was trying to push in order to have more soldiers fight in this grueling war.

Relating all of this back to today I feel that media coverage that is considered "sensitive" like the war with Afghanistan for example is not talked about because the United States government knows many people would be opposed to what they are doing and would once again create a sense of "anti-patriotism" just because people do not like constantly being at war. I believe these websites are a good way to hear all sides of war coverage because so much is already kept from us. 

Sources:
https://original.antiwar.com/martin_luther_king/2017/01/15/why-i-am-opposed-to-the-war-in-vietnam/

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/29/learning/lesson-plans/teaching-the-vietnam-war-with-primary-sources-from-the-new-york-times.html

The Diffusion Theory- TikTok

   

The Diffusion Theory is so interesting to me because I had never heard of it before and after reading I wanted to look into popular apps and apply the theory. I looked into TikTok and its raging popularity and how it got to be this global phenomenon and the app to be on. 

In July of 2014 an app called Musically was created by Alex Zhu. His original conception for the app was meant to be an education platform called Cicada. It was meant to be used for learning new things like math, or coffee or other types of skills, much like a square space is today in my mind. Zhu and co founder Louis Yang raised $250,000 just for the app to flop. They were not attracting teens and kids that wanted to learn and grow, they weren't really attracting anybody. That is when they cut down their videos from 3 minutes to 15 seconds and made it an app where people can post funny videos, lip-syncs, or story times. It pretty much became the new vine when vine started to fizzle out. In 30 days over 500 people were joining a day, but with any company they were facing financial struggle, so they made some design changes and made the platform user friendly and easier to view, and around July 6 they became the #1 app and stayed pretty popular.

So how did Musically become into the app we all know and love today? Well in 2018 Musically actually merged with TikTok under the company ByteDance because the apps were so similar. All Musically users were now faced with a new app called TikTok and now had to navigate around a new look and even more people joining the platform. From the app just being middle and high schoolers to now people of all ages joining, it soon became an app full of collaboration, TikTok dances, and the helpful tips and tricks that we know the app to be today. I think a lot of early adopters of the apps were younger kids just looking to have fun making silly videos with their friends. I also think that many people want to feel in the know about whats happening on the app since it is so popular amongst all ages. Many people however are against the popular app because they don't see the appeal, don't want the distraction, or just aren't on social media at all. 

I do believe there are some downsides to this app like all social media platforms. It is incredibly addicting. I find myself scrolling for hours because I love all the videos that come up on my for you page because they are personalized to me and my likes. I also think that it can be an unsafe platform for little kids because there are so many people of all different ages on the app and that can open them up to inappropriate content and child predators. We need to monitor our children to make sure they are safe on the app and make sure no one is trying to contact them. I chose to download TikTok because I was an early user of Musically and like it when I was a kid. I like what my TikTok is now. I see a lot of content related to the tv shows and movies I like, as well as acting and career tips from industry professional that I probably would not see on other apps. I feel that the positives of the apps outweigh the negatives if you are above legal age. I do not think that children should be on the app without close parental supervision or even on the app at all because of the dangers it can bring. I am not sure how I would weigh the cost-benefit analysis with new communication technology. I would probably look at how many viewers there are over 18 because I feel that people 18 and up are the target audience and see how they are responding to the content they are receiving. I would also maybe send out a survey through the app where people can rate their experience on the app. 

Resources: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffusion_of_innovations#Characteristics_of_innovations

https://www.businessinsider.com/what-is-musically-2016-5#:~:text=The%20team%20turned%20Zhu's%20new,importantly%2C%20they%20kept%20coming%20back.

https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/12/10/18129126/tiktok-app-musically-meme-cringe

EOTO #2 What I learned about Instagram

 

I learned about Instagram from one of my fellow classmates. I learned that Instagram was created to fill the void that was created by Facebook and Twitter because there was no mobile version of Facebook and Twitter was not an organized platform to share meaningful pictures. I also did not know that after only two years after launch, Instagram gained 50 million users and was sold to Facebook. The growth of this platform really shocked me but I also remember when it first launched. It was the perfect place for people to "scrapbook" their life in pictures and show off fun memories to a bunch of viewers. Soon however, it became a place full of fake or altered memories and edited and unrealistic proportions of peoples bodies that left many people feel less then. I was shocked to find out that 32% of teenage girls felt bad about themselves after being on the app and seeing all the edited images. I am glad to know that more companies are moving towards the #NoDigitalDistortionCampaign to help people see that social media is fake and that natural and real bodies are beautiful.