Final Blog Post

 Having been born in 2002, there has never been a time when technology has not been a part of my life. In fact, throughout my twenty years, technology has been constantly evolving to the point where it touches every aspect of our lives, regardless of age. It is interesting to hear stories about what life was like without technology as well as to compare how different generations use it.

The YouTube video Futurama, which depicts what the vision of the future looked like in 1964 at the New York World’s Fair, provided me with insight into a time when technology was only a possibility. The video, which focused on the faces of a young boy and an older man watching what their future might look like, gave two unspoken perspectives. Although both of these individuals watched with wide eyes and great interest, it was obvious that their way of looking at the presentation was quite different. There was clearly excited anticipation that spread across the boy’s face, knowing that one day he might experience the technological advancements that lie ahead. The elderly man’s expression, however, reflected someone who was intrigued but who also knew that he was not likely to see this progress in his lifetime. 

I can’t help but wonder if the young boy, who is probably in his sixties today, remembers that experience in 1964 and recognizes how that “future” technology has positively impacted his life to this day. It has enabled him to connect with family and friends who do not live close by, to keep up with current issues and events, to easily access entertainment and information, to video conference with doctors, to stay secure, to shop online, and to even work from home. These are conveniences that Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, and Generation Xers have come to rely upon but that those considered Millennials and Generation Zs take for granted. 

As with anything in life, there are always negatives, and that is certainly the case with technology, which the YouTube video Mad World Remix of Moby highlights. There are problems and issues that face us today because of our technology-based world. When the older gentleman in the Futurama video was growing up, as well as throughout his life, there was no such thing as cyberbullying, inappropriate material was only available in questionable magazines, and friends talked to each other in person. Today, the overuse of social media has eroded face-to-face communication, enabled unkindness among young people, and has affected mental health. Teenage girls who are trying to fit into the perfect mold struggle with body image, self-esteem, eating disorders, and depression. Social media can also lead to the fear of missing out (FOMO) or comparing your life to another’s, which can lead to a feeling of isolation and a lack of confidence. 

In 1964, I don’t think that those who created the Futurama presentation envisioned that technology would grow so fast and so tremendously affect our lives. I’m not sure what our world would be like without it, yet it might be fun to experience it for a short time. I think the key to our ever changing technological world is to enjoy the ride but to also have a balance. Embrace the positives because they have made our lives easier, but be wary of the negatives, as they can affect our wellbeing.

I personally feel that technology is key for communication, especially in today’s society. I use technology to get a hold of my family when I am away at college and want to talk to them on a daily basis. When I am home and I am trying to get a hold of my friends, that’s when I can text, call, or FaceTime to communicate my way. Not only is technology used for communication, but marketing a company or even yourself is constantly evolving on social media. For example, influencers are able to promote products through their platforms to help advertise and reach a certain target audience. Due to the fact that social media is one of the biggest outlets, companies are thriving through these marketing strategies on these platforms. Overall, technology is very important in our world and our lives wouldn’t be the same without it. 

Blog Post #10: The Age of AI

The PBS Frontline documentary “In the Age of AI,” exposes the effects of artificial intelligence on our society as a whole and on each of us personally. Quite honestly, the information presented in this video was both disturbing and frightening. 

As a society, most people embraced technology as a positive factor in our lives and our future. We essentially believed that it would always improve our lives or make things better overall. Technology had a “persona” of being an entity of good will. Unfortunately, this is not the case. As the video points out, “We gave technology a place in our lives it had not earned.” This place has invaded and manipulated our lives in a way we never could have imagined through the onset of artificial Intelligence. 

Artificial intelligence is used in different ways for different purposes. Artificial intelligence (AI) is the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, especially computer systems. In general, AI systems work by ingesting large amounts of labeled training data, analyzing the data for correlations and patterns, and using these patterns to make predictions about future states. The video highlighted the use of AI in performing jobs and also as a way of gathering information about our lives. In each case, the information presented did not paint a rosy picture of using technology to benefit everyday individuals, like you and me.

The impact of AI in the workforce, in factories, fast food restaurants, stores, offices, human resources, finance, law firms, and even on Wall Street has resulted in the loss of jobs and how we as a society make money and support ourselves and our families. In many industries, robots have taken the place of factory workers who once made a decent income at these jobs and were able to provide their families with a quality middle class lifestyle. According to the video, the use of AI in these jobs has caused inequality among workers as well as a lack of economic stability. People at the top are raking in the money, while those under them are struggling to support themselves and their families.  The capital that is earned has become far more important than the labor that goes into the job. The wealthy are becoming wealthier and the poor are becoming poorer. This impact has the potential to tear a society apart. The video emphasized that the loss of jobs is not due mainly to offshoring, but rather to automation--”the silent job killer.”

Artificial Intelligence has also invaded our privacy and unknowingly manipulated our lives. I thought it was very interesting that in the beginning of their venture, the founders of Google were focused on running an ethical business. That changed, however, when the need to increase revenue arose. To do that, Google, as well as other corporations, like Facebook and AT&T, began exploiting individuals by collecting data on them and saw the results when billions of dollars came rolling in. Their power over an unwitting public only escalated. This “surveillance capitalism” tracks everything we say, do, buy, etc. so that the technology companies can put more money in their pockets. When Google went public in 2004, it was discovered that their revenue had increased 3590% between 2000 and 2004, all as a result of the data they had collected on us. 

The fact that we as private citizens and consumers have become the target of greedy tech companies is invasive and very scary. If we use technology, as most people do, we open up the intimate details of our lives to people we don’t know nor ever will know. It seems as though it is a violation of our basic rights as human beings. 

Technology certainly has made our lives easier and more efficient, but it has also harmed us in ways we could not have imagined. This video was an eye-opener and has caused me to reevaluate the information I share.

Blog 11: EOTO 'GateKeeping'

 

After listening to my classmates' EOTO presentations, I will be discussing Madeline’s presentation on gatekeeping. I was interested by this presentation, because I feel that my generation has been exposed through this concept due to the use of our mainstream media.Gatekeepers ultimately craft and conduct what is being published to the masses, therefore they determine what is to become the public’s social reality, and their view of the world. Basically the idea of this term is to hide what is being shared to the public and limit the amount of access the people can have on certain information being discussed in the outside world. Throughout this presentation, it was highlighted how gatekeeping was used to protect the news from being leaked to the public, however, over the past few years, I have been more exposed to the term “gatekeeping,” specifically, on social media. 

I never understood what the purpose was to hide information from the people, however, it can be used as a form of privacy and protection. As being an active follower on social media, I have been exposed to the term gatekeeping through celebrities and online influencers. For example, well-known people typically use the act of this term, because they don’t want certain information to be released to the public, especially news outlets creating false narratives. Today, the majority of the information online can be false and fake news, so these celebrities/influencers are being cautious on what is being exposed to the outside world. Also, I follow influencers on social media such as TikTok and Instagram and they share fashion and beauty products on a daily basis. However, they “gatekeep” their favorite products so it is hard for their followers to see what they use and what they should buy. For example, I follow someone for skin care tips, but she won’t share certain products because she doesn’t want them to sell out fast. 

On the other note, major news outlets constantly take part in gatekeeping. When a tragedy is going on throughout the world, they will only release the highlights rather than the scary and unfortunate news that the people should know. For example, at the beginning of COVID-19, our country was not as informed about how severe the coronavirus was. I remember being in high school, sitting in class, and my teacher saying it won’t affect us and we will still have in person classes. I feel that the news outlets didn’t want to share false information, but also didn’t want to scare the people due to how intense the virus was affecting people around the world. Gatekeeping is a common act used through mainstream media and has many pros and cons to the word. 

Blog 9: EOTO Online Influencers

 

Throughout the past few years, online influencers have taken over the internet with the use of social media platforms. These platforms include Instagram, TikTok, Youtube, etc… which allow people to express themselves through their creativity, image, and brand. They have the ability to create a brand for themselves by promoting their passion of interest. Whether these influencers have a small or large number of followers, they are able to use the marketing techniques of advertising, selling, and recommending new products to other people. However, they can connect with their followers on a deeper level whether it is mental health related, their personal experiences, or educating the people on updated news that they feel is important to discuss. Although online influencers have been evolving for decades, I feel that online influencers skyrocketed at the start of COVID-19 in the beginning of 2020, because everyone was quarantined. Blake Chandlee, TikTok’s VP of global business solutions and head of ad sales, discusses how the service and its many tools kept more than 100 million users engaged in lockdown conditions.  The people started downloading the app as a source of entertainment and to create content for themselves and others to enjoy during a difficult time period. 

Online influencers carry a major role through social media and along with their role comes benefits. First, they are able to make money from being a brand ambassador, posting sponsored content, or promoting products. Someone who is just getting started might earn $100 here and there. While some of the influencers with the largest followings can earn millions of dollars. Although your income depends on the amount of followers and the contracts you have signed, it also depends on the type of content you are posting and the brand you are working for. Along with these brand promotions and advertisements, these influencers are increasing sales for these companies whether it is for a big or small business. 

Although there are many benefits from being an online influencer, there are definitely negative components that come along with it. These people are putting themselves online for the world to see their every move. Their life is on display for everyone to judge and leave negative comments on anything they do. Social media has become a toxic environment for these influencers, because it can destroy one’s mental health. Dixie D’Amelio who is known to be an online influencer and took off in her career at the start of 2020 shares, “tea pages and negative comments and checking who's talking about me every day has a big part of my anxiety."  This example shows that it doesn’t matter who you are or what you do, but even the most successful influencers can be affected by mental health. Not only does mental health have an impact, but body image has impacted young adults and children when it comes to comparing themselves to one another. Scrolling through social media and seeing all these influencers posting their “perfect” pictures can feel degrading. Facetune is an app where you can edit your insecurities and make photoshop your face or body. From my personal experience, I have learned to not compare myself to influencers, because nothing on social media is real. 

Online influencers play a major role in our society, because of how much we depend on social media. It’s interesting to look at the generational differences between my generation and the generation of my parents and grandparents. Especially having my generation growing up with social media, my generation idolizes many influencers such as those that are on instagram, tiktok, youtube, etc… However, my parents and grandparents are not as familiar with any influencers on those social media platforms. Therefore, content that influencers on these platforms may post influence those that are in my generation, however, may have no effect on the older generations. Younger generations are more likely to buy products based on influencer recommendations, as well as consider them reliable. In addition, there are many influencers that have come from nothing. I think this inspires many people who may not be as privileged and grew up in a poor environment that they are capable of succeeding. It takes motivation, creativity, and passion to develop a successful platform. Therefore, I believe that influencers can have a positive impact on those that may not be as fortunate. 

Blog 8: Privacy

 

Privacy is not only an important priority for myself, but also for my family, friends, and every other person in this world. We are constantly socializing and surrounding ourselves with people on a daily basis, so having those private moments is what makes someone feel safe and comfortable. However, our lives are always feeling invaded due to the technology of tracking devices. 

After watching the TED talk videos and learning more in depth knowledge on how our government invades our space, I feel uncomfortable. There is not a day that goes by where I am not surrounded by people and doing my day to day routine. However, my daily routines are not only including what I thought was just myself, but the government. For example, Catherine Crump has educated me on mass location tracking. This is a system where police are able to catch wrong-doing actions of people but also track each and every car that passes them at any given moment. They are able to take note of every license plate and track where you are traveling to. In addition, from tracking your daily life, this information is sent to the federal government to track each US citizen. 

Another video that caught my attention was from Christopher Soghoian discussing the tracking through our devices. I use my phone everyday as a form of communication whether it's texting, facetime, calling, or social media. What I found out from this TED talk was how our government can hear and see each conversation we have with a friend, family, or loved one. I feel even more scared, because someone could hack into the surveillance systems such as a hacker, criminal, or stalker and this could lead to dangerous situations. These people could find out any information and run with it. 

These issues affect not only myself, but my friends and family, because the world we live in could be dangerous and having our information out there for anyone to see is an invasion of our privacy. The government should not be allowed to capture our information unless they know for a fact they have evidence of criminal acts. To limit these issues, we should change our passwords often, keep our social contact limited, change our social media accounts to private only, and limit the information we put on the internet. Overall, everyone should respect one another’s privacy, so we can all feel safe and comfortable in our own lives. 

Blog 7: Diffusion of Innovations

 

Online grocery delivery services, which became increasingly popular during the pandemic, was an innovation that actually began in the 1990’s. HomeGrocer.com was one of the first online supermarket players. It started in 1997 in Washington state and quickly obtained investment to allow it to create the infrastructure needed to support the business, including a huge warehouse and a fleet of vans. Since then, services like Instacart, Peapod, Shipt, Whole Foods/Amazon Prime, Fresh Direct, and independent stores have successfully entered the realm of grocery delivery.  

My grandparents have told me that when they were children in the 1940’s and 1950’s, milk and dairy products were delivered by the local “milkman,” groceries could be delivered from the neighborhood market, fruits and vegetables were picked from a truck driven down the street by a nearby farmer, and they even could summon alcoholic beverages by phone. This was at a time when most women did not work or drive or did not have access to a car during the day and were expected to have dinner on the table when their husbands came home from work.

Today, as the schedules of two-parent and single-parent middle class families became busier, grocery delivery services became a reliable and convenient timesaver. In addition, individuals who are handicapped or homebound do not have to rely on the assistance of family members or friends to bring them groceries. The upside is that consumers can shop online at their favorite stores and have them delivered by services such as Instacart, Shipt, or Peapod, whom the grocery stores contract to shop and deliver their goods. Delivery from Whole Foods, which is owned by Amazon, is available to Prime members. Fresh Direct has its own warehouse, from which consumers can shop and have items delivered. Even though there are negatives, such as not being able to contact your shopper, poor substitutions for out-of-stock items, and late delivery, people continue to utilize these services because it makes their lives easier. 

These services, out of consumer necessity and the need to quarantine, caught on and grew significantly from the onset of the pandemic. Grocery delivery companies such as Instacart experienced heightened demand during the pandemic. Our data shows that between the first and second quarters of 2020, Instacart's sales grew 157 percent and have remained elevated. Despite this, there are still many people who prefer not to order groceries online due to security concerns, cleanliness, preference when selecting groceries, fees, and higher cost of items. In the end, however, if you weigh the cost of time, savings on gas, elimination of stress, and the ability to have more quality time with family and friends, the positives far outweigh the negatives.

For me, as a college student with a busy academic and social schedule, I, as well as many of my friends, frequently use Instacart to purchase food and toiletry items. Although some of the demand for these services has slowed, many people who did not use them prior to the pandemic, have realized their value and continue to rely on these services.

Blog 6: EOTO television

 

After listening to the EOTO technology presentations from my classmates, I was able to learn about each product that I’ve never known until now. The presentation that stood out most was the invention of television. I was drawn to this most, because I am someone who uses TV almost everyday for a source of entertainment. Not only is it a source of entertainment, but it is a worldwide source for us to receive important news on what is going on in today’s society.

Television was invented by a 21 year old guy known as Philo Farnsworth in 1927. I was shocked to learn he was only 21 years old, because to be that young and create such an impactful creation is outstanding. Growing up I was attached to television and most of my childhood memories are related to watching Disney channel. I never realized how much television has had an impact on our world until I got older. My parents and grandparents always joke around on how much I am addicted to technology in general. When they were younger, inventors were still in the works of the majority of our technology, so they didn’t have the access to television as much as our generation has today. I’ve realized that as I got older I am more connected to our world, because of the major news outlets on tv. I am interested in being updated with what is going on throughout our world. For example, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine has been the focus on the news and has impacted not only Europe, but the United States as well. Many US citizens, including myself, have family and friends who are being affected with this tragic event. Luckily, the news outlets being broadcasted on a daily basis is able to keep us updated and connected with other countries. 

The most fascinating part about television that was mentioned in the presentation was the fact that we are able to watch major events such as the Olympics and World Cups. These events are able to bring the world together to celebrate the incredible talent these individuals portray. The first ever Olympics to be broadcasted was in 1936 which is a few years after television was invented. The first time it was aired, hundreds and thousands of people were able to watch and today there are over millions of people tuning in. 

Overall, television has impacted our world for the better and allows the people to stay connected through technology. Without television, we would not be educated enough by current worldwide events. Not only are we able to gain knowledge about the news, but it gives us a source of entertainment.