Blog Post #11: Relationships with Technology; Individual and Societal Experiences

    If I were to open my computer and search the name ‘Madison Mae Miracle’, hundreds of results would pop up within seconds! Links to my different social media accounts, records of my athletic accomplishments, and articles from my high school. However, if I were to search up my fathers name, only professional results pertaining to his career would show up. Now, where this difference arises is the way in which we each use the internet and the many applications that come along with it.

    As a Social Media and Digital Communication major, I have always had a passion and certain level of intrigue with social media and the different ways to utilize it. I grew up watching different lifestyle creators on youtube, taking note of the talent that went into the photography and editing of these clips. After watching these relatable people online for years, I finally decided to put what I had subconsciously learned to the test. During the COVID-19 quarantine, I purchased a Canon G7X Mark III camera, which was one of the best vlogging cameras at the time. I began filming pieces of my life and tinkering around with different editing softwares such as Final Cut Pro and Premier Pro. Though my Youtube career did not immediately take off and lead me to fame, it brought me something much bigger and more valuable than views or money. I had finally found my passion. Growing up, I was convinced that college was not for me; I was going to go to cosmetology school instead. However, through exploring the different platforms and media outlets that the internet had to offer, I was determined to learn more and to be more. From Youtube, I then tried my hand at TikTok when the app first launched. What started as a fun and creative pastime quickly turned into something much bigger.

    That is what brings me here today. At 20 years old, I have a collective social media following of over 90,000 people. My TikTok brought me the most success and opportunities with over 89,000 followers. I now work full time from my phone, bringing in more money in one month than I have ever made in a year at an in-person job. I work with High Point University as a Student Influencer and Social Media Ambassador, allowing me to work directly with the school on their social media marketing. All of this goes to show that I openly live my life online. I am very well accessible on the internet. I am linked to Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, Youtube, LinkedIn, and more. However, I do have guidelines and boundaries that I am very careful to never cross. I will never give out my address or the name of my small hometown, and I do not share my phone number. Additionally, I always strive to be authentic, and honest.

    Where I have frustrations with influencers is when they are not transparent and when the realities and hardships of life are not addressed. It is important to share that I have experienced poor mental health, which was in large part a result from social media. Comparison truly is the thief of joy, and social media knows exactly how to target their perfect fragile market of young women. I have found myself feeling isolated and lonely while doom scrolling on social media. However, I was able to pull myself out of this vicious cycle when I went from scrolling behind the camera to then producing content in front of the camera. I took a negative and potentially harmful habit and turned it into something truly beneficial.

    With the way that the world is progressing, social media will continue to grow. Forms of paper marketing are being transferred to online, overtaking what has been done and perfected for years. To put this into perspective, I asked 10 of my friends when the last time they picked up a newspaper or magazine was. The answers varied from “I have no idea” to “Where do I even find one of those”. This general study shows that the newer generations completely and solely rely on social media and the internet for information. As a whole, the world is reliant on the internet and social media. Though people utilize them in different ways, we all have access to it. The next time you pick up your phone and scroll through social media or surf the internet, I urge you to think, “What would I do if all of this was inaccessible tomorrow?”. Where would you get your news from? How would you contact your friends? How would you spend your newfound 7 hours of free time that you typically spend daily on your phone?

    I often worry about the things that we as a society miss while our nose is in our phones. We are so widely trained to check social media throughout the day that we unknowingly miss out on real, face to face connections and conversations. Though I am impressed by the power of the internet, I believe it is slowly taking away human and personal skills. We are so impressively dependent on the internet in ways that we struggle to acknowledge, such as for GPS maps while driving, and as an endless data bank to store loved ones cell phone numbers. Where one advantage of progression and possibilities comes, a disadvantage of loss of interpersonal skills surely follows. 

Blog Post #10: Antiwar

     Is the government providing us with the true and accurate information, or with only what they want us to see? After spending some time browsing on the websites The American Conservative and Antiwar, it became apparent that there is a large amount of government information on the internet that we never seem to see. Additionally, reputable news sources that the country depends on do not share these anitwar perspectives and information. 

    Today, we must go out of our way to find full perspectives and stories because the government has the full ability to shape what we are exposed to. Antiwar views are oftentimes seen and unpatriotic, therefore they are suppressed. Information that the government does not want the general population to be exposed to is difficult to find, therefore suppressing them below reputable, perfectly crafted sites and sources that shares views with the common government beliefs. However, since the sites and stories are still visible on the internet after some deep diving, this is not classified as prior restraint since the information is not fully banned. However, it is a clear example of the government executing their powers to reach the top and infiltrate public opinions with their power and visibility tactics. 

    The idea of antiwar views dates back to the Progressive Era in the early 1900's. This period in American history is also known as the Roaring twenties, a time where civil social and political reform was at the forefront. During this time, America was beginning their involvement in World War I, which sparked major controversy and differing opinions from the citizens of the United States. Many people did not agree with the US involvement in the war, and formed strong Antiwar opinions. Riots and protests broke out due to these strong differing opinions and dissent. 

    It is no secret that the United States is a melting pot. During this time especially, we welcomed in people from all nations, increasing our immigration rates. However, when immigrants spoke up about their disagreement with Americas involvement in World War I, their patriotism was questioned. A majority of the US immigrants at this point in time were from Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe. 

    Prior to this assignment, I was unaware of the strong antiwar voices that still remain active today, as well as the longstanding battle that they have endured. While I understand that the government censors what agenda is pushed out, it seems as though they are extra concerned about the antiwar voices as they do not want public opinion to be swayed in any other way than what the government puts out for us to consume. 

Blog Post #9: EOTO 2 Reaction; Online Influencers

With social media taking over the internet, online content creators and influencers have created strong and widespread platforms. I have watched and followed many social media influencers throughout the years on Instagram, Youtube, and TikTok. Recently, within the last 3 years, TikTok has become the easiest site to grow on. With over 1.5 billion users on the app, the range of content varies. However, there have been celebrities created from this one single app alone. One of the most notable and watched online influencers is Alix Earle. Earle began on TikTok in 2019, posting videos yet only receiving a thousand or so views. She began to go viral in 2021, reaching millions of people with her videos about fashion, college, and lifestyle content. Now, Earle continues to reach fame with over 7 million TikTok followers. 

As someone with an interest in social media, I enjoy watching other online influencers. However, viewers tend to believe everything they see and hear from these well known users. Unfortunately, oftentimes online influencers speak and post without double checking the accuracy of information, which can lead to a mass spread of misinformation. Additionally, another issue that can arise in this position of online power is difficulty being transparent. Many brands want to sponsor and work with these large creators, oftentimes in exchange for money and free products. This results in false reviews, and influencers promoting things that they do not truly like and enjoy. 

As social media continues to grow, more and more people are able to make money off of these platforms. In the year 2023, Earle reportedly made nearly $5 million dollars through her position as an online influencer. Social media is providing people with full time jobs, accompanied by excellent payments. By building personal brands and gaining large followings, these influencers have a large sway in public opinion and spread of information. 

Blog Post #8: The Illusory Truth Effect

    Carrots drastically improve your eyesight, and per year, you swallow 8 spiders while you are asleep. If you have ever heard any of these common sayings, you are a victim of the illusory truth effect. This theory states that the more frequently you hear a piece of information, the more likely you are to believe that it is true. The reasoning behind this is that repetition increases familiarity, tricking your brain into believing the validity and accuracy of the familiar claim.

    The illusory truth effect was first established in the early 1970s through a series of psychological studies. Lynn Hasher, David Goldstein, and Thomas Toppino are credited with the initial research on this theory. They tested their subjects to see if repeating a statement would increase the likelihood that others would believe it. Participants were shown a series of claims by the researchers, some of which were true and some of which weren't. Researchers discovered that people were more likely to trust things that had been presented more frequently, whether or not they were accurate, after hearing some of these comments repeated several times.

Researchers observed that, under controlled conditions on a series of tests several weeks apart, each time an incorrect statement was repeated, participants' confidence in the validity of the statement rose; judgments of the validity of assertions presented uniquely on each test never changed. This theory applies to both information that is true and false, however, the false information that is recognized to be true aids in the spread of misinformation and swaying of public opinion. 

Recently, the world was exposed to the illusory truth effect throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, the claim that this pandemic was created as a deliberate biological weapon was rapidly shared and gained traction as true, despite a lack of credible evidence. While information and medical statistics were rapidly shared on line, the accuracy of the information was not often confirmed by reputable sources. Due to an overload of posts regarding the health crisis, it was reported that over a quarter of the posts shared on Twitter regarding the COVID-19 pandemic were false information, yet it was globally perceived to be accurate. 

While the illusory truth effect can benefit the spread of correct information and aid in educating the public, it can be far more harmful to the spread of false and potentially harmful information. Younger generations who utilize various online and social media platforms are at a higher risk of intaking false information, yet processing it as true through repetition on multiple sites. However, older generations may escape the negative effects of this theory if they rely on receiving their news and information for reputable sources. 

The illusory truth effect is pervasive, and appears in our daily lives without our acknowledgement. While this theory can help to process and retain important and correct information, it can be just as damaging with the reverse and incorrect information. No one is excluded from this theory, as every person has been exposed to this memory and recognition game.

Blog Post #7: The Age of AI

 "It is the future of this, not the past that scares me. We are in the early decades of a multi-decade adjustment". The world will never operate as it once did. Where hundreds of workers were needed for one job, they have all been replaced by one, large machine generated by AI. These new machines will soon run the economy. 

In this day and age, Artificial Intelligence, or AI, has made its presence stronger than ever before. However, this new advancement is only it its beginning stages. Over the next few years, AI will continue to grow, taking over human jobs and turning the world to a place ran on solely technology. While these advancements are impressive and truly unbelievable, there are negatives that come along with it. 

As AI will overtake offices, grocery stores, data analytics and everything in between, ethical problems are sure to follow. Job displacement is a leading concern, with the country turning to a place ran on machines, rather than humans. While the machines are being crafted to be far more efficient than any human ever could be, this leaves humans in a place of helplessness and low to no income. This is changing the common idea that 'America is the land of opportunity'.  

Additionally, privacy is among one of the top concerns that come with this AI development. Companies that we use daily such as Facebook and Instagram, study us and our information. The world and internet will adapt to us without us even knowing it. 

"We came into this world thinking that we were users of social media, however, social media was using us". This powerful quote from the Frontline documentary is eye opening and sets off a certain sense of alarm in my head. Though we believe that we have control over our online information and what the internet knows about us, it is genuinely the opposite. The internet is an endless data bank, filled with information about us that we are not even aware of.

Though the developments that society is making is astonishing and new, these advancements need to be approached with a certain level of fear. From exploiting personal information to affecting our livelihoods and incomes, technology is truly at the heart of it all. 

Blog Post #6: EOTO 1 Reflection

 

    How many times a day do you send a quick text message and end it with a cute smiley face or other quirky emoji? These fun little graphics are pervasive in society today and help us to communicate emotions and reactions. However, where did the idea of an emoticon originate from? Back in 1979, computer scientist Scott E. Falhman created the first widely used emoji which was created with a colon, dash mark, and a parenthesis, the direction depending on if you wanted the emotion to portray happiness or sadness. Later in 1988, Japan released the first full keyboard set of over 100 emojis, beginning the worldwide emoji spread. Since the launch of this emoji set, they have continued to grow and evolve, with new emojis continuing to be released every year. As of September, 2024, there are over 3,700 available emojis.

    Emojis are most commonly used to express emotions, which can be helpful when interpreting text messages which has become a more popular mode of communication than phone calls. Additionally, emojis have been found to help build emotional intelligence, which in turn can result in increased self-awareness, self-regulation, motivation, empathy, social skills, and improved mental health. 

    Lastly, emojis are inclusive, allowing everyone to participate in this universal language. What originated in Japan is now utilized daily around the world, allowing for people of every background to understand and interpret these graphics in the same universal manner. The large variety of emojis allows for self-expression and customization of text messages, enhancing this form of communication. 

    The next time that you use an emoji, I challenge you to stop, pause, and reflect on why you chose that particular emoji. What message are you hoping to send? Why does this emoji fit better in the message as opposed to one of the other 3,000? This presentation opened my eyes to the daily communication form that I have taken for granted, and helped me to better understand the origin and intention behind these small emoticons. 

Blog Post #5: Privacy Online & Off

 

    Taking photographs and posting them online for friends and family to see is a pervasive practice in this day and age of social media; however, who all is really seeing these posts? Where we think that we are being safe online and utilizing private accounts so that not everyone in the public is able to view our content, the wide reach of the internet is always one step ahead of us. 

After watching an incredibly eye opening Ted Talk video, presented by Juan Enriquez, he shared frightening insight on how our personal photos and images are being utilized in a data cloud larger than we could ever imagine. Enriquez shares a company with us called 'Face.com'. Have you ever heard of it? Probably not, but, your face is probably on it! This website was sold to Facebook in 2018 with other 18 billion photo images of peoples faces from around the world. Where we are getting impressed by facial scanning and recognition in our personal photo apps on our phones, those images and information is being shared across the internet without our knowledge.

    If Enriquez's insight did not frighten you enough, let me share with you one more astonishing piece of information. When we think about the police, the average person considers them to be a safe haven, helping to protect us and our information. However, what is your reaction when I share that every day, police are capturing images of peoples cars, faces, and whereabout through small license plate reading cameras on their police cars? Mike Katz-Lacabe was intrigued about the alleged storing and tracking of information by police cars, and went into the station to see if his local police department had any information on his vehicle. The findings were more shocking that he could have ever imagined. The police department had dozens of instances where Lacabe's car was caught on camera, including the date, time, and location of where he was. One of the examples showed him in the driveway at his own home, with him and his 2 daughters faces clearly captured in the image. This example of data tracking and storing is overwhelming to comprehend, and impossible to avoid.

    Although we all think to limit and censor what information we voluntarily put onto the internet, it is vital to consider what personal information hits the internet without us sharing it or knowing about it. The rise of technology is incredibly useful, however, at what point has technology and the internet gone too far?