Final Post

I have learned a great deal about technology through this course. 

I have grown up in a world where smart technology is everywhere. 

I have never known life without technology because it has always played a significant role in both my life and the rest of society. 

The world has benefited much from technological advancements, which have expanded, changed, and evolved over time. 

I am aware that, over time, our planet has benefited from its advancement, despite the fact that its impact has had both positive and negative repercussions. 

I've learned more about how involved technology is in our daily lives thanks to this course.

My Connection

I can't say whether my relationship with technology is positive or negative. 

Everything depends on the day and the tasks I have to complete that day. 

My daily smartphone screen time is 4 hours and 40 minutes on average. 

Considering that I use my phone for both school and communicating with friends and family, I would think that this amount of time isn't too bad. 

I consider my use of technology to be generally healthy. 

I much prefer face-to-face communication than electronic communication. 

I would argue that I did not have a positive relationship with technology throughout Covid-19. 

I had to go to school electronically, so I was always on my laptop. 

When I wasn't on my laptop, I was on my phone because that was how I talked to my friends. 

I witnessed a rise in the amount of time I was spending on each social networking site, including Facebook, Instagram, and SnapChat. 

The average amount of time spent on social media by Americans during COVID-19 was one hour and five minutes. 

This is due to the fact that it was how individuals would maintain connections while utilizing social distance. 

I started looking for activities I could do in my spare time instead of scrolling on my phone after realizing how much time I was spending using technology, such as playing with my dog or going to the beach.

Social Media

One of the most popular ways to communicate online and use technology is through social media. 

Users can share information, movies, and ideas using it. 

Additionally makes it possible for people to network with peers. 

One software that enables users to advertise themselves is called Linked In. 

For example, social media started to emerge as soon as technology could support it, such as in the early 1970s with the introduction of email and online chatting. 

However, as time has gone on, more social media apps have emerged that allow individuals to exchange content. 

For instance, YouTube allows users to upload videos, Instagram allows users to upload photos, TikTok allows users to upload brief videos, and SnapChat allows users to send pictures to each other and text. 

However social media has had an impact on users' mental health.

With the growth of social media, all of the negative effects, including FOMO, sadness, body image problems, and anxiety, have become more prevalent in each of us. 

Technology has a negative impact on mental health, and social media has made cyberbullying increasingly common. 

Online platforms have seen an increase in verbal and physical abuse, particularly when done in an anonymous way. 

It is seriously toxic for online bullying and private threats because there is easy access to direct communication with others. 

Additionally, it is easier for everyone's private information to be revealed and made permanently available online. 

Harassment, impersonation, robbery, and bank fraud rise as a result of this. 

Nevertheless, this strengthened online security and aided in the development of better digital media laws. 

I think I don't spend a lot of time using technology. 

Instead of talking over the phone, I really prefer to spend time with people in person. 

But I do use my phone to contact people more quickly and to keep track of my calendar. 

Despite the fact that I don't use technology much, I always consider how much time I am spending on it.

Online Footprint

Knowing that whatever you put online or that someone else posts about you can be seen by anybody can definitely feel daunting at times when I consider my online footprint. 

I think about every social media platform I have an account with like SnapChat, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Linked In, and Facebook. 

I always go back and view my profiles and every I have uploaded or that I am tagged in to make sure that I am showing myself in a way that I am okay with others viewing.

As we discovered in class, once something is placed online, the platform automatically gains ownership of it. 

You sign contracts and give up your rights when you join platforms and make accounts, sometimes without even realizing it, but most of the time you probably don't even read the agreements. 

I am aware that I frequently only skim them. 

Because everything you post online will follow you for the rest of time, it almost feels impossible to know how enormous your online footprint actually is. 

That's why we need to be mindful about what we post online.

Final Thoughts

I feel fortunate to have technology as a resource in my life, but I also worry that it has actually harmed me by making things so much simpler rather than forcing me to find things out on my own. 

Sometimes I think I've gotten so used to it that I don't do my own research when I have a question or don't understand something. 

I'm fortunate enough to be able to simply search it up online. 

When you stop to think about it, technology really does give us so many abilities.

Age of AI

What is AI?

Artificial intelligence is defined as "the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and language translation," according to Oxford Languages, a division of the Oxford English Dictionary. 

This definition mentions a few tasks that AI is capable of performing, but given the speed at which technology is developing, how dependent we are on it as  humans, and our willingness to eliminate a need in favor of convenience, AI is capable of much more and is used for a growing number of tasks in our daily lives. 

The development of upcoming AI-inspired technologies that have the ability to blur the boundaries between individual privacy, national security, ethics, and morality makes this fact particularly unsettling.

Positives and Negatives

AI has many positive effects. 

Some positive effects that AI has provided for example limiting human error, at our hands 24/7,  helps with making decisions faster, and our daily apps.  

However AI also comes with its negative effects. Negative effects like the high cost of hardware, software updates, allowing for humans to slack off, and not making people have to use as much brain power due to the fact that machines do most of the thinking.

Security and Privacy 

Artificial intelligence is very knowledgeable about many aspects of our personal lives. 

Since it's become so common, we've gotten used to the thought that they could be using our information for either good or evil purposes. 

Since artificial intelligence has improved our standard of living, we now assume that it will always work in our best interests. 

We must be aware that artificial intelligence can and will be used to invade our privacy, despite the fact that there is some validity to this. 

Regardless of whether we realize it or not, once our privacy has been broken, the people who have access to that information have total authority over us. 

We may secure our information in two ways: by deleting our browsing history and by restricting the information we provide.

Privacy

Why is Privacy Important?

Technology is not as safe as we might think when it comes to our safety. 

The majority of people who own cell phones, laptops, or any other kind of gadget are unaware of the risks associated with such ownership. 

Companies hire these employees to keep an eye on us, often without our knowledge or consent.

Especially cell phones they listen into our conversations and keep track of what is being said and depending on the topic most often or not you will see something similar in your feed.

In one of the TED talks I thought it was interesting that Catherine Crump brings up that some license plate cameras take a picture of other vehicles that drive by.

It definitely is something you would never think about unless you were told that the camera gets an image and is able to track your locations and the places you go.

It’s also similar to what cell phones do by tracking your location because wherever you move to and you take your cell phone it's going to keep track of where you go.

Another thing about privacy is that our social media like Instagram, Facebook, TIkTok and other social media they basically leak data that they collect from users for money. 

That’s why when you first create a user account they ask you to agree to the private and policy and you have to say that you read them.

Many social media platforms tend to sell user data to promote marketing tactics used by many different companies.

Google tends to share user’s data and share them with social media platforms to show user’s products that they have previously searched.

Social media privacy is an important matter that needs the full attention of its users in this era of likes, comments and tweets. 

Individuals are free to express themselves when they have privacy over their information. 

By safeguarding their reputation and minimizing outside influences on their lives, they may also establish realistic social boundaries. 

Users of social media can improve their privacy by choosing with whom they wish to share their information. 

Through privacy settings, this can be improved. Facebook users, for instance, have the option to make their accounts private or public. 

Having numerous accounts allows users to increase their privacy. An individual should decide whether to have one account or several accounts.

EOTO reflection Spiral of Silence

What is Spiral of Silence?

The spiral of silence was brought up by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann who is a political scientist. 

It is the study of human communication and peoples opinion. 

The idea that people's propensity to voice their thoughts on contentious matters is influenced by their mainly unconscious impression of those thoughts as being either popular or unpopular. 

Political science and communication both employ the spiral of Silence.

The Four Major Steps

There are four major steps in the spiral of silence model. 

1. The approach starts with people's basic desire to fit in with society. The spiral cannot happen without the fear of social isolation.

2. People will confidently express their personal opinions in public once they perceive that they are becoming more widely held. People will, however, be prone to take a more cautious stance when expressing their thoughts in public if they notice that they are losing ground.

3. The spokespersons for the dominant position speak quite a bit, whereas the spokespersons for the opposing viewpoint are silent. When a viewpoint is supported in this way, it appears stronger than it actually is, whereas when an opinion is suppressed, it appears weaker than it actually is.

4. The end consequence is a spiral process that causes other people to notice the shifts in viewpoint and imitate them until one viewpoint has established itself as the dominant attitude and the other viewpoint is resisted and rejected by the majority. The amount of people who are keeping their ideas to themselves out of concern for rejection is the point at which the spiral comes to a stop.

Key Elements

According to the spiral of silence theory, the majority of individuals have an innate, and largely unconscious, fear of social isolation, which causes them to continually watch other people's behavior for indications of approval or disapproval.

People can also "threaten" isolation by acting in ways like criticizing, ignoring, scowling at, laughing at, and other actions, most of the time unintentionally. 

People prefer to hold back from openly expressing their opinions on contentious issues when they believe doing so will result in criticism, derision, laughter, or other expressions of disapproval in order to avoid being alone.

Also time and location have a limit on public opinion. 

A spiral of silence typically reigns over just one society  for a brief amount of time. 

It can be challenging to understand the agitation and emotional fervor that can accompany a spiral of silence in retrospect or from an outsider's point of view.

EOTO Illusory Truth Effect

What is Illusory Truth Effect?

The illusory truth effect was first spoken of in 1997 by a psychologist named Dr. Lynn Hasher. 

Illusory truth effect is when a statement of false information is repeated over and over again til people finally believe the false information is true. 

While the perceived credibility of a statement's source increases people's outlooks of truth as we might expect, the truth effect persists even when sources are thought to be unreliable and especially when the source of the statement is not easy to understand, according to a 2010 meta-analytic review of the truth effect.

Way it Affects Society?

The Illusory truth effect impact’s society by allowing for people to believe in information that isn’t actually true. 

It helps people to believe in something good, gives them hope and comfort. 

When things could be going wrong. 

Truth and frequently occurring events are typically grouped together in this world. 

This implies that, regardless of how substantial or extensive the lie, people frequently combine fluency with truthfulness.

That’s why people end up believing the lies that politicians make up.

The negative thing about the illusory truth effect since it does allow for us to believe in false information people may not actually know the truth. 

For instance, when people are exposed to information more often, as when it is shared or posted on social media, more people will begin to believe it and assume it is true. 

Just like when one person shared false information about Disney parks lowering the drinking age. 

This information was not true but the more that people shared it the more people began to believe it and had to do their own research to find out if this information was false or true.

Especially since the more people say the information over and over it then starts to lead us to believe that the information is true before we even confirm with sources.

Illusory Truth Effect in Groups

The illusory truth effect definitely happens more with more of the younger generation. 

The younger people tend to more likely believe in the information they read on social media without even checking if the source is legitimate.

The people who tend to say false information are politicians who want their audience to believe in their false information.

Especially around election time they want to make themselves seem like they are the best candidate for the job especially to the public eye.

People tend to listen to what they have to  say and believe in the false information which then influences their decision when it’s time to vote.

When Covid - 19 was happening and the virus first all started not many people knew much about the sickness because it was first being discovered.

Yet people still believed in all the information that was being said about the virus. 

People mostly believed in what was said on social media even if it wasn’t coming from doctors or health care workers.

The way this can affect people is by giving people the strength when they may need it the most even if they are believing in something that isn’t the real truth.

Diffusion on of Innovation

The Diffusion Theory 

The theory of diffusion was introduced by Everett Rogers who published a book in 1962 called Diffusion of Innovation. 

The theory is used to show people's feedback and how they feel about an idea over a period of time.

Over a period of time the way people communicate with each other has changed especially as technology has become more advanced.

For example, social media has become a big aspect in today's world. 

Most people use social media as a way to communicate with one another. 

People create online communities where they can share information, ideas, and content with more people than just in their local area.

Social media has a broad span of uses for example dating apps, professional work sites, and different ways of messaging each other. 

To use all these different social media platforms technology is required. 

Since a majority of people use social media that means most of them use technology which is playing an active role in our society.

The way individuals engage and communicate with one another has altered as a result of social media's exponential growth. 

People can now gain deeper insights into one another's life thanks to it. 

People have conflicting feelings about social media and whether they will choose to engage in making social media accounts because social media has numerous positive and negative effects.

The Five Adopter Categories

Innovators: These are the ones who are willing to take a risk and bear the costs if something doesn't work out. 

Early Adopters: These people are at the forefront of innovation. 

They are open to updating and changing. 

Early Majority: These people are willing to take ideas once they have seen success and the advantages it has. 

Late Majority: These are the people who don’t know how to feel about change and will only adjust if they can prove that it is successful. 

Laggards: These are the ones who stick with their traditions and are not willing to make changes if there’s no changes to be made. 

The way that individuals are grouped into these categories has to do with the generations they are born in. 

It definitely plays an aspect in how people view social media. 

For example, people around their 70’s are not really on social media compared to people who are in their mid 40’s. 

More people around this age tend to be on Facebook compared to instagram. 

The newer generations as in millennials and generation x are on instagram. 

As newer generations happen the younger people are when they first start out on social media platforms. 

Due to the fact kids get technology and learn how to work it at a younger age.