The Progressive Era

 The issue with mainstream media is that they only tell the public what they want to hear. They look at the news as more of a business than a passion. They want to make as much money as possible so they just agree with the most common public beliefs so people watch and listen. I can't even watch the news anymore because of this. I personally like to hear opposing views on-topic but, nobody does that because they are afraid to get canceled and lose viewers. It totally goes against the marketplace of ideas concept because it preaches that we are only supposed to hear one viewpoint and agree with it. 

These websites are very interesting. At first glance, they look very poorly funded which makes sense because not a lot of people have ever heard of them. I think that mainstream media sources don't want people to hear these articles because they go against everything that the majority of their viewers believe. I also think that a big thing is that people don't like to read as much as they use to. It is so easy to just turn on your tv and watch mainstream media. People don't like to go through the work of having to do their own research on the news going on around the world. People also just don't like to hear things that disagree with their beliefs. This is a major issue in the world we live in today and I don't see it ever changing. 

Final Post

     The Futurama video made some great key points about technology. They did have some things that they predicted incorrectly but, it was made a long time ago and their prediction has some relevant information. Technology has definitely been a savior but, it hasn't solved all our problems and it has actually created more problems.  

Technology has been able to advance in ways that nobody could've ever imagined when this video came out. For example, the invention of the iPhone has made its own advancements since it first came out in 2007. People like to say that the iPhone has taken away a lot from society which it definitely has but, the same people who say this still own an iPhone. The phone does more good than bad just because of its advancements in communication. With things like facetime, you are allowed to see and talk to someone in real-time. Facetime allows you to still get that face-to-face interaction even when the other person is across the world. The iPhone has also completely changed the way that people take pictures. There is no need to buy an expensive camera when your phone can take just as good of pictures and these pictures can easily be shared via airdrop or by text. 

As seen in "Mad World Remix of Moby Video (Are You Lost In The World Like Me)" technology has also caused some problems in the world. In the video, it is seen that a person is standing on the edge of a building ready to take their own life. There are multiple people standing and watching doing nothing to help. Instead, these people are filming this person when they are the people who should be getting help. I do think that this example is a bit extreme but, it makes a good point. In today's world, it is seen far too often that people would rather record something and watch it later than enjoy living in the moment. People will spend thousands of dollars to buy tickets to events such as a concert or sporting events and they would rather film than watch. 

Another thing that this video touch upon is how big of a distraction technology is. It is seen in the video that people are so distracted that they walk into a sewer drain and the guy working on the sewer drain doesn't even notice because he is on his phone as well. Also, at the end of the video, it is shown that hundreds of people are so distracted by their phones that they just walk off a cliff. Once again these are overly exaggerated examples but, these things do happen quite frequently. The CDC released an article on distracted driving which number I would've never thought was so high. It was reported that 3,100 people were killed as a result of distracted driving which is only about 1/3 of the total number of people who are killed from drunk driving each year. The article also says that 424,000 people were injured as a result of distracted driving. An interesting fact I found was that 1 out of every 5 deaths was not in vehicles. These were people that were walking or riding bikes. 

I think that my relationship with technology is very healthy compared to the average person my age. I have no problem not having my phone on me. I also don't really care for social media/texting all that much, which is in my opinion easily the biggest distraction to my age group. I do have social media but, I don't use it nearly as much as the average person my age. I think that people get to caught up in the world of social media that they forget to stay connected with the real world. Personally, I think that it is all a waste of time and nothing that I see or do on social media is going to matter in 10 years. Also, I can't stand the concept of having a conversation over text. If you ask any one of my friends they will tell you that I would rather have you call me than text me. I can't stand having to type on my phone and I don't like reading texts on my phone either.  I also think that you can't understand someone's emotions or motives in a text nearly as well as you can do through a phone call or facetime. 

Although there are a lot of problems that technology has caused it has definitely helped with workloads. Before technological advancements, everything had to be hand made and it took forever. The issue is these machines take the place of humans and a lot of people have lost their jobs because of it. The breakdown is pretty simple though, you don't have to pay machines. There is just the upfront cost and the occasional maintenance. Technology is also great for staying in touch with people. The majority of people who own a phone always has it on them so it takes seconds to get in contact with another person. The phone is also great for emergencies because of how easy it is to contact the services. I think that all in all technology has definitely been a positive impact on today's society. The industry will never stop growing and I'm excited to see what happens in the future.

Alternative Media V. Mainstream Media

The main difference between alternative media and mainstream media is who views it. Mainstream media is viewed by a lot more people than alternative media. Media is defined as the main means of mass communication regarded collectively.  Media can be found in broadcasting, publishing, or the internet. 

Mainstream media is a lot easier to find than alternative media because it has built up so much trust by the public. Mainstream media has more viewers because it usually represents generally accepted ideas and beliefs. These are companies such as Fox News, CNN, and New York Times. These are well-funded companies because people watch and listen to what they want to hear. Mainstream media seeks to make as much money as possible so they give people what they want. There is no real care for their viewers, they just want as many viewers as possible. Obviously, they care that their viewers come back and use their source again, but there is no real connection to viewers. Mainstream media also promotes societal norms and will rarely ever challenge them. This is a major issue in news sources today because if they find a story that is meaningful but, it may cause controversy with their audience they will not broadcast it. Another issue that I've personally had with news agencies is that they will only cover a major story for about a week even if it goes on for a month. For example, when the war between Russia and Ukraine first started there was so much coverage and everyone had a good idea of what was going on. After just a few weeks there was little to no coverage and everyone doesn't have a good idea of what is going on unless they do research on their own. Mainstream media is considered to be more credible than alternative media, but sometimes major sources will pick up a story that was originally published by an alternative media source. There has been some credibility lost because of "fake news" but, mainstream media is still considered more credible. 

Alternative media has a lot fewer viewers than mainstream media does, its audience is a lot more selective as well. This type of media focuses on specific viewpoints and ideas and typically goes against the public's beliefs. Some examples of alternative media sources are Zero Hedge, South Front, and Signs of the Times. Personally, I had never heard of any of these sources before except for Signs of the Times. I did some research on their websites and thought that they didn't look anything like major news source's websites. They looked very underfunded and some covered very specific topics. To me, South Front's website looked like a cheap online video game website. It only covers news on wars and militaries. Alternative media viewers are a lot more faithful to their sources because they simply don't trust mainstream media. A lot of these sources are actually funded by their audience. There are a lot of people who believe that mainstream media is not credible and they just tell lies, so they don't mind funding a source that they believe covers stories that are valuable and true. Unlike mainstream media, alternative media isn't afraid to challenge societal norms. Their viewers want these norms to be challenged that's why they rely on these sources. Alternative media is considered to be less credible than mainstream and their stories are really only considered credible when they are picked up by a mainstream source. Personally, I like that there are sources that aren't afraid to challenge general beliefs because Americans shouldn't have their ideas come from major companies that are only trying to make money by agreeing with the public. The issue is that alternative sources don't bring in a lot of money which basically forces them to ask their viewers to fund it. I like how there is a different perspective that is being shown in alternative media. The issue is in our society today people are so quick to shut down a different perspective before it is even explained. 

What I Learned EOTO 2

 Propaganda started in Athens, the Athenians weren't happy about the propaganda that was made for Greek games, theaters, and festivals. Propaganda is more formally known for the World War 2 era. It is also used to promote change in the world. For example, it was used after George Floyd died. Propaganda is usually taught to be a bad thing but it can be used for good things. 

Disinformation is information that is deliberately and wants to influence public opinion. Misinformation is information that is false or inaccurate regardless of intent. This can be seen in fake news, which would be considered disinformation because these news sources are trying to spread false information to make people look bad. The issue is when disinformation occurs a lot of people don't do their research and just believe the first source that they read. This is how people's images can be ruined even when the information is false. One famous case of misinformation is when President Obama was running for office and people were saying that he might not be from the U.S because he was hesitant to share his birth certificate. This was proven to be false.

Five eyes is an alliance between the U.S, Canada, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand. It is a top-secret agreement between these nations. They share information with each other and vow to not spy on each other. Now there are the 9 eyes and the 14 eyes. It is now known that these governments would monitor their own citizens as well as each other,s citizens. The 5 eyes are considered an invasion of privacy.

An echo chamber is an environment where the same opinions are voiced over and over again. The majority of echo chambers are found on social media. The issue with that is that the majority of people get their news from social media. People are finding repeated messages which lead them to believe they are true even when they aren't. The positive impact is that it brings an audience together. It makes it a lot easier to find people with similar interests. The negative impact is that it goes against market place of ideas. This is negative because no other opinions are being shared which causes people to only believe one opinion. 

Eight Values of Free Expression

 The Eight Values of Free Expression are very important, especially in the world we live in today. I think that the most important value of free expression is a marketplace of ideas. We live in a world where people will hear one thing on Tiktok and completely believe it. This spirals into them telling their friends about it and claiming it as fact which will cause a group of people to believe the same false thing. I think that it is important to hear all opinions on subjects to learn different perspectives on things. 

I think that the world should encourage people to speak freely and express their opinions and values in life. This is the only way for people to actually understand where someone is coming from. For example, the one thing that everyone says you aren't supposed to talk about is politics. This is because the world is so divided and people don't wanna make others mad or disappointed because their views are different. This leads to people not understanding the other side's opinions and just calling them stupid or uneducated. I've never understood this rule because I have friends who have completely different views than me but, we are able to have civil conversations about it, and are able to understand why each person has these views. 

The world is constantly changing and with that our language is constantly changing. Some things that were completely fine to say a few years ago will now offend a lot of people. The new thing that has been starting up recently, especially for celebrities is cancel culture. This cancel culture is ruining people's careers even when the news about them is proven to be false later on. When cancel culture goes for someone they try to make everyone in the world against that one person. Personally I think that cancel culture is ridiculous because everybody makes mistakes. Just because someone words something incorrectly one time doesn't make them a bad person and the world shouldn't turn against them. These people who are getting canceled don't even get a chance to explain themselves. Also, a lot of these things that people get canceled for are for social media posts. You can't really tell someones emtions based on their social media posts. People can interpert things the entire wrong way but, it's just becuase thats how their mind reads it. 

Another reason marketplace of ideas is important is to find the trurth. People should be encouraged to spread ideas because the more opinions that are heard, the more understanding the world will be. People don't like to hear others opinions if they disagree with their own. If everyone was encouraged by others to express their opinions the world would be a much better place. Some people are very shy when it comes to opinions, but if they were encouraged to I think they would. Under the First Amendment you are given the freedom of speech, so people should be encouraged to use this freedom. Even in a company setting it is important to have a marketplace of ideas. There shouldn't just be one person who makes all the decisions and it's their way or the highway. It is important that people in a company are allowed to brainstorm and express their ideas because better decisions will be made. When one person is the only person in a group that makes decisions a lot of things will be overlooked and mistakes will be made.

EOTO

 Facebook was founded in 2004 in Cambridge Massachusetts. It was founded by 4 Harvard students named Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes. Facebook was originally started for just Harvard students. You needed to have a Harvard email in order to sign up. One day after Facebook was released it reached over 1,000 users. The platform grew to more and more colleges and after just one year it had over 1 million users. Today, Facebook has over 3 billion active monthly users making it the largest social media platform in the world. 

Facebook also owns 94 companies, with the top three being Instagram, Whatsapp, and Oculus. They have recently changed their company name to Meta which many people say is a surprise. Why change one of the most recognized brand names? The company is trying to expand itself to the metaverse which is a new technology still in its early stages. It is a virtual reality world that is always running just like the world we are living in today. You can currently buy plots of land in the metaverse and almost do anything that you can do in the real world.

Facebook has made a major impact on the world. It created a new way of social media that anyone could use no matter what age they are. It opened up the door for other major social media companies like Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and more. Facebook created a new and easier way to communicate with anyone you want. It helps people stay connected with people. This could be done by posting a status update, where you give updates on current things going on in your life. This allowed you to stay in touch with people that you don't see everyday. Facebook also allowed people to communicate with the friends at the same time. If you make a Facebook post it is avaliable for all of your friends to see. This made it much easier for people who live far away from eachother to stay up to date on whats going on in eachothers lives. 

Although Facebook has a lot of positive impacts on the world, it came with some negative impacts. Facebook has been involved in multiple scandals regarding privacy. Facebook was caught giving out private information from over 87 million people in one of their biggest scandals. This was also investigated deeply because it involved the 2016 presidential election. There has also been other things that were out of Facebooks power that have impacted the world negatively. One of the major impacts is cyberbully. It is a major problem but, there is no real way to stop it. People are allowed to comment pretty much whatever they want on post, which leads to a lot of hate. Another issue is that it's a major distraction because it's addictive. People can easily scroll through the Facebook app for hours. Lastly, Facebook is very stalker friendly. Anyone can find your account and people even make fake accounts acting like they are someone else. Also, a big issue is that people don't think before they post. For example, someone could post that they are on a family vacation not thinking that it clearly shows they aren't home. This has been known to cause people to break into homes. 

Overall, I would say that Facebook's positive impacts outweigh it's negative impacts. It has created a platform for people to stay in touch. People love to talk about themselves and what is going on in their lives. This gives them the option to tell everyone they know about their lives. I do think that with all the scandals that they have been involved in, people should be very careful when they post on Facebook. Without Facebook I don't know if other major social media companies would be a thing. 

Diffusion Theory (Facebook)

 Facebook's pioneers were its founders Mark Zuckerberg, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes. The early adopters were college students who attended Harvard University. The idea caught on because Zuckerberg had recently made a website where men would grade the women who attended Harvard based on attractiveness. This website was a huge hit for men, but was not a hit for women. Zuckerberg came up with an idea that brought all Harvard students together, which was Facebook. On the first day that Facebook was released, it already had over 1,000 people join.

The early majority of Facebook were college students, which is ironic because today college students barely use it. They use social media platforms such as Tiktok, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. The idea caught this early majority's attention because people saw what Havard students had and they wanted it for their campus. This led to Facebook spreading to college campuses around the world. After just one year, Facebook reached over 1 million users. Facebook then became more than just a platform for college students. Facebook was opened up to the public, and there was no student email necessary to join. This led to high school students joining and even middle school students joining. Facebook quickly became the largest social media platform in the world. Even the parents who joined Facebook at this time would be considered to be part of the early majority.

The late majority was mainly parents who knew of Facebook but, didn't exactly understand it. These parents knew of Facebook because their kids and all their friends were constantly using it. Once these parents joined they because just as addicted to it as their children were. I would say that today, the main people who still use Facebook are part of the late majority. Facebook has lost touch which high school and college students. They haven't changed their platform to fit the standards of that generation but, not having that change could be the reason that the late majority still uses it. I would even put some of the grandparents who found Facebook early in this.

The laggards are all the people who got Facebook late. These would be people who were against social media or people who neglected to get a smartphone until later in life. I would think that you would rarely see a high school or college student in this section. This would fit more of the parents and grandparents demographic. I would think that these people still frequently use Facebook since it is still new to them.