Final Post

                                                       Technology- is it Healthy?

Technology has been around for many years and has progressively gotten better, quicker, and more reliable. We are surrounded by it from all corners. We use technology every second of our day, whether it be for school, business, or personal use. We are constantly utilizing it. With anything, there are pros and cons to technology. Such as for pros, we are being able to communicate with others very easily, stay on top of the most recent social media updates, and can voice our opinions and ideas. While on the other hand, it can be very addictive and can certainly create lots of distractions for us.  It has clearly made our human lives easier and we have become completely dependent on it. 

My Relationship

My relationship with technology has tremendously helped me as I have gotten older. Thinking about it, I do not know what I would do without it. I am constantly on it as a source of communication with friends and family. In addition, I rely on it heavily with my school work such as for sources and general information. It truly started once I got my first iPhone in middle school, moving forward I have drawn more attention and have been grateful to have it. I believe my relationship is healthy because I balance social media and my own life. I make sure that I am not overly addicted to it and live in the moment.  Having a healthy relationship with social media/technology, allows people to control their emotional health and well-being. There are many ways to limit your phone use, such as turning off your phone while you are doing something. This will allow you to focus on more important things and complete tasks that need to be done. Also, we have an option on our phones where we can set our time limits on apps which can restrict select how many hours you can be on a certain app. This is extremely helpful because it sets boundaries for yourself. 

However, we come to an understanding that social media is this great thing, however, it was not always great for me when I was younger. There were some downfalls that come with technology and social media. For example, since I constantly gravitate to social media as it is my main source of communication, there are lots of negative effects to it such as comparing yourself to others. Looking at people's appearance and comparing yourself to them is an extremely difficult thing to try to forget about. I let it not affect me as I have become older and more mature but in my youth it was hard. According to JED education, "Although perhaps unconnected, it is worth noting that concerning mental health trends (e.g. depression, anxiety, body image issues), in youth worsened during the same period of time that teen smartphone and social media use increased." This is very accurate because once my friends and I got their phones, shortly after social comparison began. I felt judged which made my self-esteem decrease from seeing other people my age look and act better than me. I even felt my self-esteem lower with girls especially those who were the same age as me. If they happened to even look or dress slightly better than me, I felt defeated. This is a huge problem that will unfortunately still be around from time to time. However, I realized that this doesn't define me and is just something that you must go through when you are young. 

Balancing your mental health with social media is very hard because although technology is very positive at times, it can be very degrading to our life. It is scary to say that the platform is designed at times to put people's anxiety and depression at risk. While I was researching social media to write this, there were so many ideas that I found to balance your mental health with social media. One of the ways that stuck out to me was finding a purpose for being on social media. Whether it be searching someone up or wishing someone a Happy Birthday. Find that purpose and log off after you complete that mission or at least try to. Therefore, this will help to not fall into the rabbit hole of scrolling for hours upon hours with no purpose. 

Online Footprint is also a crucial thing to technology. It is the data you leave when using the internet. Whether it be, shopping online, leaving a review on a website, or as simple as posting something on social media. Within seconds it is traced or even worse your personal data can be spread as well. So, it is very important to keep track of what you put out there because it truly never "goes away". This has especially been a problem recently because of how many people overshare on the internet. Ever since I have been exposed to the internet, my parents always told me about this problem and that I must be aware. From now on, whatever I search for I know how quickly my information can be collected. It is a privacy issue and will stay there once it is kept online. It is hard to not share your personal information with the world but it will save you in the long run. 

According to Fast Company, learning about what you put online is crucial to your identity. 

Sonia Bokhari, who is an 8th grader joined social media and discovered that her mom and sister posted about her life. She began to find that her family posted embarrassing photos and memories about her. She confronted her sister and said, " Don't do this anymore without my permission." Once they had stopped, she made her account private and made sure she had controlled herself on all social media platforms. She also made sure that nothing she put out there had her location since that is a huge issue in today's world with stalkers. Since she opted out of social media, she felt more secure about her life and information.

This all ties into the fact that maybe taking a break or even quitting social media will help people's mental health and enables them to become less stressed and distracted. Although many people will not do so, it benefits the majority.

On the other hand, while people try to not become too attached to the internet, they don't want to miss out on anything. FOMO (fear of missing out) is in a huge effect today when people are worried they will miss out on anything social media related. Whether it be news on something or even celebrity drama. This is why people frantically check their phones constantly so that this doesn't happen to them. The anxiety that's caused by potentially missing out on something causes frustration to others. This even happens to me, if my friends are talking about drama on social media and I have not heard or seen it yet, I get frustrated because I can't engage in the conversation. It is crazy to wrap your head around it because since we are on our phones constantly, it is pretty challenging not to miss anything. However, it is also important to have a balance with the internet in order to have a healthier life. 

Below, this stat shows all these percentages of how many people cannot live without their phones. Some feel "uneasy" about accidentally leaving their phones at home. It also says Americans check their phones 344 times a day. Which, if you just think about all those times of picking up your phone instead of doing something more important in your life, shows that we are all so addicted. 

The short video "Mad Crazy World" shows how extremely addicted we are to our phones. It is becoming a worldwide issue and looking back at the video, it is pretty disturbing that most of us don't face reality and live in the moment rather than being on our phones 24/7. We have all been there, myself included where we are engrossed in our phones whether it be watching something or as simple as scrolling on TikTok. This is something that our society cannot fix, unfortunately, this is the type of thing that will just get worse. This affects our mental health (anxiety, depression, etc...) Thinking back to 2020, when we only had social media and the internet as our source of entertainment due to COVID-19. I believe ever since this epidemic, addictions have been even worse because that's all we had. We became very bored and isolated during these sad times and as a coping mechanism, we used the internet as an escape from what was going on in our world. 

Finally, I am very grateful to have the internet and social media as an outlet for me. Although there are some negative aspects that come along with it, it is a vital part of our lives. We can all agree that technology has made us more intelligent and advanced. In addition, I have learned a lot in this course and have a better understanding when it comes to technology and the dangers that arise. 

EOTO #2 Reflection

 One of the most interesting topics that I've listened to in our presentations is National Security. This is a huge issue across the world that has been an ongoing problem. Our privacy whether it be our phones or even our social development.  One of the most prominent threats to national security is terrorist attacks. Terrorists are organized in a way to penetrate our society by turning the control and power of technology against us. Our society tries to protect our world from a terrorist attack ever happening again. Nothing is kept "secret" which is pretty scary. 

National Security by definition, involves a national government working autonomously to protect its citizens from threats. There is an article regarding that New York residents have been charged with operating in secret with the Chinese police station. Obviously, Chinese government denied that those two people were in communication with them but there is proof that they did which included driver licenses and camera surveillance. As a result of this, they charged 40 Chinese officers with cyberspace and transmitting information with U.S. residents and whose political views and now being punished by the Chinese government. This is just one of many stories that this has affected our society as a result of how negative national security is to our world. 

It is pretty hard to try and say that there will be a solution anytime soon, but we do need to enhance and improve our laws when competing with other countries in the world. Especially China which is one of our biggest competitors. Going forward, we need to make sure that our borders are secured and that we are paying attention to what information is being shared whether it be to Americans or even citizens. This is a big concern in the U.S. and our government is worried that China could possibly use its national security laws to access our personal information. 

Another topic that was brought up was propaganda. Propaganda, misinformation, and fake news all have been the potential to polarise public opinion, which then promotes bad hate speech and even violence. They overlap in many different ways. Although propaganda has always existed, in today's society it is represented as one of the threats to the national security of countries. Propaganda also connects with misinformation of facts, rumors, and arguments that influence public opinion. This is a huge problem because it is hard to distinguish what is true or not. 

EOTO #2

The Restrict Act

According to an article, the Restrict Act is a risk-based process that is still going on today regarding the changing of Americans' privacy and foreign threats to information that countries want to take from us. This act only will apply to companies such as Chinese and Russian-owned security. In early March of this year, Senator Mark Warner was in the process of banning apps like TikTok, which is a Chinese- based company that is taking user data information and giving it to the Chinese government. They are doing this because they want to be the world's superpower by slowly dominating the U.S. and its shared power. He said, “The Restrict Act is focused on foreign corporations, not on users. The 1st Amendment protects Americans’ right to share and receive information – and this bill doesn’t alter that,” Warner tweeted. He wants to make sure that Americans know that their rights aren't being taken away, they can still be able to send information to each other. 

In terms of the positive aspects of this Act, once Congress bans TikTok or other applications that are an issue to citizens, it will protect Americans' privacy by banning the most popular apps that we use today. Senator Baldwin said, “We need to protect Americans’ data and keep our country safe against today's and tomorrow’s threats. While many of these foreign-owned technology products and social media platforms like TikTok are extremely popular, we also know these products can pose a grave danger to users and threaten our national security.” He is right because we as a society must ensure that our citizens are safe by putting their information out there to the world. Although it may be a struggle to actually ban a very popular social media platform, if that is the only way to save Americans’ privacy, that may have to be a solution. 

    This act is more in effect to the youth because if this act is passed soon, TikTok will not be accessible to the youth anymore. Many kids and teenagers are addicted to that platform which can be a very shocking thing to take away from them. Going forward, although this is an ongoing situation for the past few years, it may help to ban platforms that are taking away people's rights and privacy. By solving this, people will feel safer in a society where their information is not being shared and given to foreign corporations. 

    This Act is not only in effect to TikTok but the overall privacy and security issue for Americans. This has been an ongoing struggle in our society that we simply cannot get under control. Any technology that we use from the government is considered a "foreign adversary". Those countries include China, Cuba, Iran, Russia, and more. Therefore, it will help the consolidate where we get our technology from and to contain our use. 

    If passed, the Restrict Act would allow the Secretary of Commerce board to take measures into their own hands and deal with the identified risks and enforce criminal penalties to individuals or corporations that are caught taking away people's privacy. 

Diffusion of Innovations

  Over these past few years, technology has rapidly changed through the evolution of artificial intelligence, how fast we find information and communication among others. Technology has entered our lives for the better. It has helped with our communication and to gain a better idea of the social system. The Diffusion of Innovation is a theory created by Everett Rogers. He believed that diffusion is the process that makes innovation communicate over time with the use of social media and technology.  Innovators are the people who want to try innovation, meaning, we Americans will take risks and are the first to develop new ideas. This theory helps us understand how trends occur and how the spread of new ideas and technology in our society expresses those trends. 

With the invention of Apple products and its success and popularity, this theory works a lot. The invention of Apple products gives Americans the opportunity to communicate with each other every day. These successful products would have not been created if it weren't for Steve Jobs, the inventor.  They vary from iPhones to Apple watches, iPods, AirPods, etc. Especially with the invention of the iPod, it became a spark and allowed for other products to become popular. They were also able to spread across the whole world when Apple made history by becoming the first to publicize trading U.S. company to be valued at $1 trillion, as measured by how fast the market is growing. Ever since they have been one of the most valuable companies in the world. 

This ties in perfectly with the Diffusion of Innovations because it shows how much our technology is improving and spreading across everywhere. People see this product as something they can use for social media, communication, news, and much more. Apple's main purpose when creating these inventions was to enrich people's daily lives and entertainment. They have definitely proven the purpose because we cannot live without our technology.  It is nearly impossible to not be attached to them. We all are in desperate need every day to use technology. It is so easily accessed and is proven that without this, we would not be able to communicate with one another as fast.  

Another reason why these products are greatly used is because of early adopters of the products. It is all about growth and how addicted people are to it. Like anything in this world, there are positives and negatives to everything. According to Investopedia, early adopter people are most likely to pay more for the products than later adopters but will still get the improvements and benefits of reduces it costs, efficiency, and social status. In regards to the late majority, people don't like the idea of change, this is why mostly everyone uses Apple because of how reliable and successful it is. They tend to be skeptical about trying other products or other technologies because of the risk to change. 

In the end, I think Apple products are still very successful no matter the addiction rates. We are able to communicate with one another and stay ahead on news, social media, etc. It gives us a better understanding of what products people tend to use more and how they adapt to that service. Therefore, this theory will help more going into the future because it will allow other corporations to notice people adopting these products. It'll keep them to continue to invent products that people will keep purchasing.

Age of AI

 The Age of AI

Artificial Intelligence has taken over our technology these past few years. From airport detectors to Face ID on our iPhones. According to the documentary, Kai-Fu Lee said, "the wealthy getting wealthier, the poor getting poorer. It may not be specifically related to artificial intelligence, but A.I will exacerbate that and that will tear the society apart." The rich will just overcome the poor and will be defeated. Unfortunately, it will just be worse and worse as the years go on. Although we use technology every single day, eventually it will come back at us in a negative way because of our privacy. We think our information is kept "private" but it is certainly not. The government tracks and keeps a record of all the information that they want to hold.  

Going forward and especially after watching this documentary, I will be careful and make sure what information I am sending out into the world. Many Americans easily make this mistake by putting all their information whether it be their address or even credit card information. Another example is let's say you search up colleges later on you will then get advertisements on your computer or wherever platform you are on to target you based on your recent searches and interest. This makes the government and especially China like the documentary said gather everything that citizens put out on the web.

According to this article, it is pretty frightening that our government knows everything about us. This is very disturbing and strange because we live in a world where we should feel comfortable with our privacy. Unfortunately, that is not the case, in fact, it is getting even worse. We think that we turn to social media to express our opinions and use it for socialization, but instead, they are using us. Google and other organizations are purposely giving them either advertisements or messages that people would click on and attract. 

Today, our world is becoming smart by enforcing more security reasons that protect us. Websites have created questions to ask people if they would want to save their information like addresses, phone number, credit card information, etc. This is helping our situation therefore will stop the spread of information that is not consensual to Americans. 

EOTO Reflection

My Reflection

Listening to the other group's presentations about inventions over the past years has been very interesting and I enjoyed them a lot. One of the inventions that stood out to me the most was the invention of paper. According to an article, paper was invented about 2,000 years ago by inventors in China creating not only paper but cloth sheets and tools for writing that were necessary during that period of time. The printing press was not invented until the 15th century which spread communication and knowledge throughout the past years. We do not realize how much paper we use every day. Although lots of information and books are online today, some people prefer to have that physical copy. Paper is made up of not only books but magazines, textbooks, newspapers, etc. 

We value and need that access to resources for knowledge and skills every day. Myself included, I used lots of books and textbooks throughout my high school and college experience. Without that, it is pretty difficult to not obtain the information needed in order to be academically successful or intelligent. Still to this day, people still write letters to one another as a form of communication. Therefore, if this did not exist communication would be cut off from many individuals in our world. In the corporate life, we find paper to be a necessity. 

Today, our world is gradually going paperless to limit the environmental system. This results in less paper consumption, and saves money on consumable expenses. Also, it is easy for people to access essential information that they need online because everyone has access to the internet whether it be their phone or computer. For example, most if not all bank companies are paperless in depositing and receiving checks on banks' mobile. It is a more efficient and easier way for customers to keep their information safe and also eliminates the need to visit in person. People would much rather do their financials online than have to physically go to the banks. Similar to books being online, people would much rather do everything online than have to go out and buy books. It is more convenient for them. 

Misinformation

Another huge topic that was brought up in a few of the presentations is the spread of misinformation among individuals. This has been an ongoing issue that our society is trying to fix. Many people believe anything that is put out to the world. On the other hand, people know that information is wrong but they tell it to others regardless. The answer to this is that people do not know any better, and are very naive. To solve this, our society has to make news clearer on the internet or any social platform so that people believe it is true. If not, this will be a continuous problem that we will not be able to solve. 

With that being said, this is why our world is spread with false facts all the time people don't know what to believe is right or wrong. Recently, misinformation has been a crucial problem during COVID-19. People would search about the spread of the virus and they didn't know what to believe if it was true or not. It's pretty sad that we live in a world where information is continuously misleading and makes it harder for people to find accurate online information. Exposure to misinformation can reduce trust in the media and what people believe is true or not. 

Blog #6 Progressive Era

The Progressive Era

The Progressive Era has improved drastically from the 1920s until the present day. This was a period of time where social and political reform was focused on making society better. Clearly, this era was successful and did help us with the reforms and rights that we have today. However, the anti-war did hold a negative effect during this period of time. 

As looking at both websites, Anti-War and The American Conservative show that they do not look professionally accurate as other popular websites are. It seems like the information is not organized and property arranged the way websites should be. Additionally, when we do get information about anything news-related it is either sent to us or we google search it ourselves. We believe the news, articles and more so therefore citizens do not trust these sites and many others. We don't have to go out of our way to try and find websites that tend to be suspicious information. Therefore, I can see why we have never heard or came upon these sites. The reason behind this is because of the government, once again, trying to control everything that we have access to. They don't want us to be getting information on sites that could possibly switch our perspective on either political views or in general. Therefore, this can make the government look bad that sites like these are publicized around the internet spreading such false information.  

In terms of anti-war in connection with these websites, is because the government purposely is shutting down our access to these sites and only targeting us with factual websites. Therefore, it is pretty hard to find and research websites like this because they are trying and successfully hushing these sites down. It also makes sense that we do not get information or answers about anti-war voices because of this exact reason. We do not want the public to be hearing that people were against the war. In regard to current events, this article questions where these "anti-war voices" are. We as a society, are so used to mainstream and popular sites that we all go to on a daily. We trust sites like Fox News that give us accurate information necessary for us to know.