Final Post: My Thoughts on Technology and Society Today

    

https://saleschain.com/

     My parents run their own software company, so a reliance on technology has never not been an option for. I grew up in the world of computer programming, and therefore learned early on both the positive and negative impacts of technology on our daily lives. Even though my parents spent a good chunk of time on their computers, I never really relied on my phone or computer for entertainment until high school. Technology is their main source of income, but I was always expected to spend my days outside - be that walking the family dog or helping take care of the horses on Aunty Karen's farm, I was never addicted to my phone in the way that many of my friends are. That being said, my parents running a tech-based company taught me very early on what a healthy relationship with technology looked like, so I've never really worried about my own screen time. Like anyone else, 2020 and Covid lockdown rolled around and I spent all day, everyday in zoom class or on TikTok.   

    As seen in the Futurama video,  modern technology has vast benefits ranging from limitless information at the touch of a button to effortless buying and selling of goods. Programs like WeChat offer free messaging services with automatic translating options to allow communication with those in other countries (my family uses this app frequently to communicate with international students we've hosted, as well as their families). 

https://recruitingdaily.com/how-far-are-we-with-texting-as-a-candidate-engagement-driver/

    
        Despite the many benefits technology has provided, it's important to acknowledge all the downsides and negative side effects (although unintentional) we experience because of our dependence on our tech. Although not a trademarked term, I think we're all familiar with the "Snapchat Generation". I categorize them as young gen z-ers who likely started using social media far too young, and have developed their entire personality around it (or in my opinion a lack of personality).  We're a generation of people who genuinely never learned to communicate face to face - we relied on Snapchat and other means of online messaging to stay in touch with friends. This is demonstrated brilliantly in the Steve Cutts video remixing "Mad World".  This animation also touches on the impact social media has on mental health - including a shocking visual of a girl jumping off a building after a video of her dancing was shared online and used to poke fun at her. This goes to show how detrimental online communication can be, as people are comfortable saying things they might never in person when hiding behind a screen - resulting in increased rate of cyberbully, and snowballing in greater youth depression and suicide rates.  

Screen shot from "Mad World"

    We can already see technology taking over the world through a growing reliance on AI - self driving cars, drones, etc. We are truly living in the age of AI. 

I, Robot

    Moving on to my own relationship with technology: as mentioned earlier I grew up very close to technology, but never felt a strong dependency on it until high school, so I feel as though I have a fairly healthy relationship with my technology. I'm a social media and digital communications major, so naturally I do spend quite a bit of my time using social media - however this is mainly for the purposes of maintaining a media presence for my photography business.  In looking at my tracked screen time, I spend and average of 30 or so respectively minutes using Instagram and Snapchat. 

https://mjslive.com/team/

    My parents always stressed that I shouldn't post anything online that I wouldn't want my grandmother to see, so luckily I seem to have a pretty limited digital footprint. When typing just my name (Margaret Szczygiel) into a Google search, the first thing that comes up is my photography Instagram page. The only picture of me that comes up is my profile picture on the "our team" tab on the MJS Live website (the production company I work for). Other than a statement put out by my high school, including a few pictures I took at an arts field trip, nothing too notable comes up. When adding my hometown to the search, my facebook profile and a monthly news letter from the church I attended confirmation classes at - in which my name and birthday are highlighted at the end - are the first two results. 

https://www.phoenixrehabgroup.com/text-neck-pain.html

    All in all, I think that the immediate benefits of technology tend to outweigh the unintended consequences. We see these side effects in terms of negative impacts on mental health, cyberbully as well as physical conditions like texting-spine. However we also see incredible advances being made, be that increased access to information and education, cost effective communication, access to tele-health and so many more. Over all, like anything, too much of a good thing can become a bad thing - and we can clearly see that an excess use of technology can have disastrous results. But technology, in mediation, is an incredible advancement and asset to anyone willing to take the time to learn to use it properly.  

Extra Post: University Sued for Violating 4th Amendment with use of Honorlock

 

honorlock.com

    

    Myself and many other college students dread using Honorlock. From the constant technical difficulties, to the straight up invasion privacy when a room scan is required, is Honorlock really providing enough benefits to outweigh these negative aspects?  

    Personally, I would much prefer to take proctored exams in person, where my professor can monitor, rather than being watched by a random online employee.  My home, or in this case my dorm room, is my safe space: a place where I expect a reasonable amount of privacy. In situations where I've had to take exams using Honorlock requiring a room scan, I never staying in my dorm room. I went to the library or another public place on campus to avoid giving the online proctor any kind of insight into my life. 

    Aaron Ogletree recently spoke out on the matter, filing a lawsuit against Cleveland State University, stating that "digital surveillance of students while taking tests violates the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable search and seizures". While taking a remote chemistry test, Olgetree was asked to scan his room, and quickly realized he had important tax documents laying out that he wanted to keep private. So he put forward the lawsuit. 

    The court pointed out that Ogletree is the first person to have objected to these room scans that became so routine during the COVID-19 lockdown. They also noted that just because these scans have become routine doesn't necessarily mean they're ethical. The courts final decision stated "Though the intrusion in this case was not physical, the same principles protecting the sanctity of the home apply to a visual intrusion conducted through remote technology... Mr. Ogletree’s privacy interest in his home outweighs Cleveland State’s interests in scanning his room." 

    Cases like this spark the conversation on ways to ensure academic integrity. While Honorlock might have been essential when we were all stuck at home, classes have more or less returned to in person learning, and therefore could easily return to in person test taking. While in person might not always be ideal, the idea of a professor walking around the room and observing as students fill out an exam with a pen and paper, or even having a professor stand at the back of the room so they could see student's computer screens is much less of a privacy violation than having students record a room in their home. While I don't necessarily think we should completely do-away with programs like Honorlock, I do think education institutions need to seriously look into the programs they're using, and the privacy protections policies they have in place. 

EOTO Presentations: Radio

 

https://unsplash.com/s/photos/radio

    I've been an avid Spotify user for about six years. As soon as I was old enough to have my own iPod, I began using streaming services like iTunes instead of relying on the car radio for music and entertainment. Since moving into the smartphone era, I hadn't really thought much about public radio, and the dependency society used to have on it. Considering I look at the "radio" button in my car nearly everyday, and choose to ignore it in favor of the Spotify subscription I pay for monthly, I was particularly intrigued by Carmela's presentation on the history and invention of the radio. 

    It was really interesting to learn about radio began as morse code messages sent as a telegraph used by the Navy to transmit messages overseas. I appreciated the in depth review of the evaluation of the radio, beginning with the military use, and leading into the societal reliance on radio for news prior to the 1920s shift to entertainment and music broadcasting. 

    A few notable impacts of the radio include allowing Americans to receive war time news very quickly. Radios also allowed for the broadcasting of presidential speeches, solving the issue of long wait times to receive news and updates. Radio also opened the door for spoken advertisements, so many companies took advantage of the opportunity for paid programming. 

    In the early days of radio, many skeptics claimed that "Well-informed people know it is impossible to transmit the voice over wires and that were it possible to do so, the thing would be of no practical value.” While some negative aspects include health issues related to the exposure of radio waves and the steady decline in newspaper sales and live entertainment in favor of pre-recorded or broadcasted media, the invention and adoption of the radio opened doors for many significant technological advances.

Each One Teach One: Social Media

    As a social media and digital communications major, and avid social media consumer, I felt it was important to do a deep dive into the communication technology that over 72% of Americans are utilizing. For the EOTO project, I looked into the history of social media: who invented what platforms, when were the apps we all know of first released, and how has the roll out of social media impacted human communication. 

https://www.booksaresocial.com/timeline-of-social-media-2021/

    Per the Webster Dictionary, social media is defined as "forms of electronic communication (such as websites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos)". The idea of social media evolved in the 1970s with the release of email servers that could receive and store messages when the receiving device was not connected to the internet. This idea of online messaging was further developed with the introduction of programs like multi user domain and the bulletin board system. These systems allowed "users [to] log into the system to upload and download software, read news, or exchange messages with others". The idea of social networking unfolded, and thus, in the 90s programs like Blogger and Napster launch, closely followed by the 2000 release of Wikipedia, and later in 2003 we got programs we’re probably familiar with: MySpace and Linkedin, and then in 2004 and 2005 Facebook and YouTube launch, introducing us to what we know as social media today.

 

    Six Degrees, the very first social media platform launched in 1997, and was popular until 2001 before it was effectively replaced by MySpace and Facebook. Andrew Weinreich designed Six Degrees to be a platform that allowed users to create profiles and build friends lists in order to keep people connected. The platform was advertised as connecting two strangers through six or less "friend of a friend" statements. Due to limited access to internet connection the site's popularity dwindled quickly. 

https://www.click.co.uk/resource/the-pros-cons-of-social-media/

    With the introduction of social media came a whole new world of digital communication. Social media provided a platform that anyone could use: be that for promoting a business, keeping in touch with long distance friends and family, or keeping up with current news, social media has for everyone to enjoy. People use their social media to stay connected with friends, family, and others they might not be able to stay in touch with otherwise. Social media also provides people with a platform to express themselves, and showcase their artwork, achievements, anything they might want to share.  

    Other benefits of social media include providing a platform to facilitate political change. As seen during the 2020 surge of protests, many users took advantage of their social media platforms to show their support for the Black Lives Matter movement. Around the same time we also saw users sharing information put out by the CDC, and other health organizations urging everyone to remain in quarantine, and encouraging the use of masks to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Social media provides a great outlet for people to share things they're passionate about, express their opinions or simply aid in the spread of needed information. 

    However, that being said, social media also opens doors to the widespread of misinformation. With social media allowing news to travel faster than ever, false information is also be spread faster than ever. With the click of a button, one can repost or share misinformation without a second thought. While many platforms now claim to be filtering posts to avoid this, that starts the discussion of a whole other issue: government censorship. 

    There's an endless list of pros and cons to social media, so in the end it's up to the individual to decide if the pros outweigh the cons. 

U.S. Supreme Court

     I really appreciate that part 1 of this video about the Supreme Court pointed out that the justices appointed are still just people. As a society I think we tend to forget, especially after particularly controversial rulings, that the SCOTUS justices are in fact, just humans appointed to uphold constitutional values as they interpret them. In the wake of a ruling such as that in Roe v. Wade, it's easy to view the Supreme Court as a group of high up people abusing their powering, when these videos and article clearly show that they're just doing what they feel is necessary to pass fair judgements. 

https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/courtbuilding.aspx

    With the Supreme Court being the most powerful judicial branch, meaning it's their job to make sure the government doesn't create any polices that violate our constitutional rights. While my thoughts on the Supreme Court didn't necessarily change after watching these videos, I think it's important to note that the court has remained in such a high place of power based on a foundation of trust they've built up over time with the American people.  

5 Media Sources

    Nowadays, the news is riddled with opinions on the subject rather than actual facts. It's become increasingly difficult to find media that isn't overtly left or right in the search for factual news. Some of my past research based classes have instructed me to look at charts like this one, showing where popular news sources fall on the scale between Liberal and Conservative, as well as between opinion based versus fact based reporting. 

https://bjpeters.medium.com/30-tips-on-using-media-from-a-media-scholar-91ab5bcf6f11

In an attempt to avoid participating in confirmation bias, I tend to look toward these five sources: 

    Like most people my age, I'm often made aware of major news first through social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. While I think we can all agree that social media platforms are not reliable sources, these programs in which users can easily share and repost media make it easy for news to spread fast. And while that can be seen as both a good and bad thing, there's no denying that social media can get people talking about current events shortly after they occur. 

    Of course, the downside of social media is that it is largely algorithm based, so each user's feed is tailored specific to them based on previous posts they've liked and viewed, making it near impossible to stumble upon posts conveying opinions different to those the user already held. 

    

    Growing up, I'd often end up listening to Fox News, simply because it's what my dad would put on the t.v. when he was watching the news. I can honestly say I have never been a fan of Fox News, the constant yelling and berating of the opposing party always bothered me. While I dislike the t.v. news portion of Fox, I don't mind occasionally reading articles posted by them in order to look at a story from a perspective I don't typically agree with. 

    On the opposite end of the spectrum, I also like to look at CNN, as their opinion pieces tend to align more with my personal views. While CNN does demonstrate a left leaning bias,  I feel that they're able to do it without openly mocking the right. As compared to other opinion based sources on the bias chart pictured above, CNN is the one I gravitate toward as it still fairly close, although still slightly left, to the neutral standpoint. 

    Looking at a more neutral source, I also love National Public Radio. I particularly enjoy the wide range of podcasts they offer, as well as the radio news. NPR does a really great job presenting a wide range of topics, be that updates on current events, to new entertainment reviews. Where it's necessary, I think NPR also does well to incorporate differing opinions into the same piece. This works well to remind us that people can agree to disagree, rather than continue to polarize people for having different opinions. 

   

    Lastly, and while this might be a controversial one, British Broadcasting Corporation is likely my favorite news source. Because BBC is a British based news source, they provide an unbiased outsider's perspective into American political issues. While most other media sources truly sway left or right, or fail to keep the writers' personal opinions out of the posts, I've found that BBC actually manages to present news, simply as "here's what's going on in the world" which actually allows the consumer to form their own opinions rather than just following in the footsteps of the anchor or journalist presenting the information.