Media vs COVID

            The idea of corona, and catching it, has taken over the mindsets of people all over the world for the past month or so. It wasn’t a big deal, until all of a sudden it was. Initially people were pushing it off like “it’s just another flu,” but then when people started to take it seriously the world shut down, and social media had a part to play in that. 

            People are easily persuaded or convinced by things they read on the internet, regardless of how much fact the writer has to back up their point. Then you have the fact that different websites say different things which get the readers all confused. People are also starting to come up with their own theories without any knowledge of the real information and causing havoc. 

            However, I would be lying if I left out the good social media has done during this time of attempted isolation. I say attempted because not everyone is following the recommended guidelines. But, for those who are this time can feel very lonely. So, through social media people are able to feel connected to one another and still communicate on a daily basis. People can feel less alone because they can facetime with a group and workout or cook, or anything to make them forget they are alone. 

            As many downsides as social media has proven to have, there are sides of it that make it worth it because if people couldn’t connect right now, this would be a whole lot harder. 

https://time.com/5802802/social-media-coronavirus/

EOTO: Propoganda

           

Propaganda has been used for centuries as a way of persuasion. Propaganda is “a mode of communication used to manipulate or influence the groups to support a particular cause or belief.” Propaganda can take any form as long as it is captivating enough to encourage people to thing a certain way. There are plenty of events in history that would have not occurred if people hadn’t been manipulated into thinking it was right.

            There are good and bad sides to everything, it just depends on the person that is developing the propaganda which way they are taking it. Are they using it to convince people to think the Jewish holocaust was correct? Or are they using it with a heavy emphasis on the benefits that can be provided from believing a certain way? Usually there is at least a little lie in both sides, but one is more personal and the other is anti-someone else. 

            Most of the articles I read did not have good things to say about the motives behind propaganda. One article says that it “helps to pull people apart by forcing them into the role of combatants rather than citizens.” It is trying to make all of society see one specific way and be their only source of information. This way, they will have no reason but to believe what the propaganda has to say. However, this is not how society works in the US. So, if they began to try and implement it here it would be harder, and people would fight it more. Social media will play a big role in our government’s ability to have successful propaganda because people are so easily manipulated by what they read online.

            I think the idea of propaganda could be scary to anyone who doesn’t fit a mold, which is honestly most people nowadays. There is already a weak acceptance of gays, and mixed marriages. People also have mixed feelings about people who are homeless or people who are really old. If you are not in the prime of your life or helpful to the economy, then some people may see them as useless. That is where propaganda can step in and convince people of all sorts of horrible ideas. Humans have already proven that they can be easily manipulated to hurt other humans, so what is to stop it from happening again? 

            Propaganda could impact my friends and I because we are at the age were, we would get drafted for something, or our tolerance of other people could be affected. We have grown up in a time were tolerance has been promoted, but if for some reason that changed, we are still at an age were changing out opinions is not incredibly hard to do. It could change the whole dynamic of the society my friends and I have grown up in. 

            Propaganda is a sensitive topic because it has led to some of the worst events in history, but it is good to know about it so that you can catch the signs ahead of time and not be manipulated. Eventually, you will realize you didn’t believe what they made you think you did. 

https://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-propaganda-definition-techniques-types-examples.html

https://jods.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/jyzg7j6x/release/2

Lack of privacy on and offline.

For as long as we have had social media, we have been told to be careful what we post because it “never really goes away.” After watching the ted talk about your posts being tattoos because they are permanent, I went and read an article about the same concept. 

The idea behind both is that when you post something on the internet, it is no longer private to you, there is no such thing as private when it comes to posting online. Your employers will be able to see everything when they are looking to hire you, the government can see everything you do, and people can steal your thoughts and act like you. 

People sometimes naively believe that because it is their account, it is their personal information, and that is false. The government has access to everything you do. Also, the police can track you through the posts you make or the websites you view. It is scary when you think about how little privacy we have nowadays. If you talk about something a few times, odds are you will start to see ads on your social media for that product. They are “not listening” but they are. 

https://www.inc.com/meredith-fineman/what-we-post-online-is-forever-and-we-need-a-reminder.html

My Online Footprint

          As part of the Gen Z generation, social media has been a big part of our lives. Since we got smartphones, we have had access to it. I feel that personally I have a large online footprint, while I do not have a personal website, I do have Instagram, snapchat, facebook, pinterest, tiktok and others.  On these social media platforms, I usually post pictures and videos, either of trips I have been on or events I have been too. The only link I have attached to any of my accounts is my vsco, which is another form of social media.

            From just looking at my profile online, someone would easily be able to tell a few things about me. They would be able to tell where I go to school, who my best friends are, and that I am currently on my colleges cheerleading team. They could tell these things because of my bio, my locations tagged on my photos, and the people who make up the majority of the pictures on my feeds. 

            On my personal accounts, I do not give away a lot of private information. However, to make an account for most sites, you have to provide an email or a phone number that can be used if you forget your password or someone hacks your account. I usually use an email that I only use for social media accounts that is not connected to anything else incase an account were to get hacked. 

            I think social media definitely has the ability to cause people to feel all sorts of ways based off what they see. There has been a lot of controversy about social media making people depressed because they see the way that other people look or the other way that people are living their lives and they feel inferior. It can also make people feel lonely if they see people together and they are alone, or they see their friends together and they were not invited. It is all based off the perception you have when you view it. 

            

https://www.digitalgrads.com/social-media-footprint/

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/is-a-steady-diet-of-social-media-unhealthy-2018122115600

Snapchat Success

            Snapchat is a form of social media that my generation has become very accustomed to. As long as we have had smart phones we have had snapchat as well. The idea behind the app is to be able to send a picture, or video, and write, or draw, something on it as well. Snapchat is a more fun way to communicate with people and is mostly used by a younger crowd. 

            Snapchat blew up in late 2011, early 2012. Timing was very important for the launch and success of this app because this was the time when teenagers were getting front facing cameras and snapchat seemed like a fun app at the time. This app was growing like wildfire all throughout high schools and colleges. The original intent for the app was college students, but it spread through high school students faster.

It was not hard for the app to take off because people talk and asking your friends to download it was the key to spreading the app. However, the app can be good because you can communicate with people all over the world easily and in a more fun and entertaining way. There are also downfalls to this app though. You can say things in private, and people can screenshot whatever you send them. Thankfully, the app  does tell you when your snap has been screenshotted, but there isn’t anything you can really do about it. 

https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2018/02/16/how-snapchat-gained-success-by-going-viral-at-high-schools-across-los-angeles/#5bb8d2183b36

The Eight Values of Free Expression: Promoting Tolerance

Of the Eight Values of Free Expression, I would like to focus on the idea of “promoting tolerance.” I thought this one was an important value to focus on because of the lack of tolerance in our society today. It says that people have used the idea of freedom of speech to practice hate, as opposed to tolerance. This is why I think that this value is the most overlooked, and underrated. 

            I found in an article, that hate speech towards the government is punishable by law. However, the same does not apply for hate speech directed towards other people. People feel they can say whatever they want under the “first amendment,” and other people can’t attack them back for it. They can be punished as crimes in domestic law if they are extreme enough, but these circumstances are not taken seriously on most occasions. 

            Tolerance is very important because of how mixed our society is today, “people from different nations, cultures, religions, and lifestyles are working together and living in the same neighborhoods” (Waraich, 2018). He says that the world is so much smaller now that people of different ethnicities and cultures are living so closed together, the world is less divided. This also leads to more hate, and less tolerance, because different types of people have to deal with each other on a day to day basis. However, it should lead to less hate, and more tolerance because people of different races are not an unusual sight in day to day life. 

            Growing up in a society that has been racially integrated since we were born, my generation tends to look at race a little different. However, we are not the majority of people in the workplaces, in the government, and in the world. So, the generations before us are still treating people of different races differently, and it is trickling down to us. This is a problem in my eyes because if we ever want to overcome the lack of tolerance, then people have to become more accepting, rather than learn from their elders a lack of tolerance. 

            This free expression needs to be promoted and enforced by all companies, all governments, and all people worldwide if we want to make a positive change. There will always be people that look down or take advantage of their first amendment rights to cause harm to others. There are also so many things that overlap the expressions. Freedom of innovation could be a huge one, and people of all different races could contribute, but without tolerance they will never successfully work together. 

https://www.refworld.org/docid/45cb12332.html

https://www.alhakam.org/tolerance-its-importance-in-social-life/