Final Blog Post: My Relationship with Technology

 Technology has become a vital resource in our everyday lives. We use our phones for phone calls and send messages, and now we use Artificial Intelligence for work. I practically grew up with technology, with the first iPhone coming out in 2007. As the growth of technology continues, some positives and negatives go with it. 

Technology, for the most part, is exciting if you think about it. You can search something up on Google and find a million answers to your question in 3 seconds or less. You can post something on social media on your phone within 5 seconds. You can do anything you can imagine on your phone. In the video "FUTURAMA," they attempt to show the accuracy of what the future would look like, though some to most of it was inaccurate, you can hear the excitement in their voices for what the future holds with technology. Though the future looks different than they expected, it is still a growing future. My relationship with technology is like that of a typical teenager; I use Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok daily, which can lead to the death scroll, which can be unhealthy. Using social media for hours on end can lead to social anxiety and depression. Social media is a big part of a teenager's life and then can lead to cyberbullying. 

It is important to me to keep in touch with friends, which leads me to use my phone constantly to keep up with their updates and stay in contact with them. I will admit technology can take up most of my days here and there, not allowing me to do work. Being in college, we tend to have two days to a week to do homework, study for tests, or complete projects. But with technology, I tend to do them last minute because I get sucked into social media. Another negative with my phone is that I tend to stay up late as well. This is common for people, as the light coming from our phones tricks our brains into not feeling tired. 

With the growth of technology, you tend to learn more information. But some of that information may be misleading and wrong, making you believe the wrong information. You just need to double-check with the source the information is coming from. We watched a second video, "Mad World Remix of Moby Video," and it showed how technology can be a negative thing to be a part of. Many people are glued to their phones and not paying attention to what is going around them. 

Technology has definitely affected my friends and family around me. Family dinners can not be finished without going on our phones, and hanging out with friends equals going on our phones for hours and not talking to each other. It is something that needs to be changed. But being the only one to move far away from home to get an education, I can see updates being posted, and I feel like I am at home again. 

When looking up my name online, it was surprising to see my name is common. It was hard to find anything about myself, only my LinkedIn. In my opinion, I believe that is good due to my professional presence online. Yes, people have personal lives, but in a professional setting, it is good that it is not the first thing that pops up. 

Technology is all around us, we need to be aware of how it affects us. 

The AntiWar Voices, and Where are They?

You see different views on many topics all over the internet. But when it comes to AntiWar voices, we wonder where they went. It is difficult to find these voices due to many different situations. In the news, you tend to see the opposite being praised in favor of war. You tend to see only one opinion on mainstream media, so where are the other opinions you do not get to see?

The first website I looked at was Antiwar.com. This is where you see the opposite views of war like the White House asking Ukraine to send their young men to the front lines. Would you see this on any mainstream news sources? No, you most definitely would not. This website shows the other side of almost every single controversial topic that would not be seen anywhere else, most likely. 

Another website that falls along with antiwar is The American Conservative. This website also shows different opinions on different topics as well like the previous website I mentioned above. Reasons why you do not see Antiwar views are due to many reasons, including corporate interests, government influence, and lack of representation. These are common issues, but is it surprising that this is happening?

Corporate interests are when companies are shaped by mainstream media like ABC or CNN. This can then help these companies because they can make sure they benefit from what is being streamed on the media. The government can have some sort of influence on what is being streamed as well; therefore, they do not look like the bad guys when presented. Though many people have their own opinions on the government and how it is run, they still do what they can. Lastly, lack of representation plays a major role in this as well. Not a lot of views for antiwar will make these websites more popular, where they can be viewed alongside mainstream media. 

Typically, mainstream media can be influenced by a higher power and, therefore, not see the other side of issues like war. When seeing something that is along the news, stop to think if there is more to the story. 

EOTO 2 Reflection: Online Influencers

EOTO 2 Reflection: Online Influencers

The topic of online influencers has always been interesting to me because of their lifestyle, their impact, etc. When learning more about them I genuinely thought it was fun to learn about. This is what I learned about online influencers.

When learning about these online influencers I think about how they tend to start like us, ordinary. Not that that is bad, but they tend to not come from a celebrity family. They can easily influence anyone with outfits, makeup, workout routines, etc. Another way they can easily influence is one's view on politics or any important, controversial matter. One may view a topic one way, but if their favorite influencer says they view it the opposite way, they will change their view on the topic. 

There are many different types of online influencers and connect with others with engagement. The one issue with these influencers is that no matter what they say, people will believe them. But there can be cases where they do not have the right information and tell people the wrong thing and they will believe them. The internet can be easily believable when it comes to it. However, I believe that online influencers should stick to their normal content so therefore they do not in the problem of giving the wrong information. When influencers are caught saying the wrong things, many people can easily criticize the influencer which takes a toll on their future content. 

When receiving backlash from fans. this can affect them making future content, and take a toll on their physical and mental health. Like I said earlier, online influencers tend to come from a normal background and are just one of us at the end of the day. So therefore we have to be cautious of what we put online, it may not always be true, and you need to remember we are all human behind the screen. 

EOTO 2: The Spiral of Silence Theory

The Spiral of Silence Theory

When I selected this topic, the name of the theory itself was intriguing enough. When I took a deeper dive into the theory I was intrigued even more. Here is a look into The Spiral of Silence Theory.

This theory started in 1965, with a German federal election campaign. Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann sent out a series of surveys that were made to see people who participated in election opinions. The results show that citizen's intend for voting on a certain party did not change until the last minute. The idea was that people noticed that the party with the majority of people was going to win, so, therefore, they decided to change last minute because their vote wouldn't change the outcome. 

The Spiral of Silence is a theory that if someone's opinion is with the minority of the group, they prefer to stay silent rather than talk about it. This is usually when it comes to more controversial or morally loaded topics, for example, elections. The willingness of people to express their opinions will decline if they are on the minority side. But the opposite will happen with the majority of the group. You will be more vocal with your opinions when you know you side with the majority of the group. 

With this theory, you are making decisions in your head without realizing it. Many people have that fear of isolation, whether they know it or not if they speak about their opinions if it does not match with the group. Therefore people avoid talking about their opinions in public so they would not get hate for them, even though they have the right to their opinions. But people care about their reputation and how they are perceived so to avoid criticism they stay silent. This then will create a spiral of silence because they will stay silent more often than not. Another unconscious decision being made is when they see other's opinions as a threat. When someone has an opinion that is part of the minority, they will immediately criticize them or even not talk to them. Therefore people will not say something to avoid criticism and backlash from it. 

When someone feels confident about their opinions being with the majority, they will speak out more often. However, the fear of speaking out about one's opinions may build up constantly having someone stay silent. On top of this, one may feel they have to distance themselves from places as well. What people do not realize is that they believe that one's opinions have some sort of moral component to them, which will strengthen one's criticism against another. Many people try to use social media as a platform to help those with the minority opinion to feel that they can express their opinions. But, it was shown that social media did not have a big impact on helping those expressing opinions. Many people prefer to express their opinions face-to-face setting, though it will lead to the spiral of silence theory more often.