Posts

My Relationship with Technology

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I have grown up with technology for basically my entire life. The first iPhone came out when I was 5 years old. I have been using social media since the 5th grade. I got my first iPhone on my 11th birthday. Technology has played a huge role throughout my life from playing games on my parents' iPhones when I was a kid to constantly using social media on my iPhone and laptop today.  The Futurama, the most famous display at the 1964 World's Fair in New York, predicted right - technology has saved our world. Without technology, I truly don't know how I would live my life. I use technology for so many different purposes that I wouldn't know how to live without it. From communicating to googling to social media to entertainment, technology has fulfilled my life in so many ways.  My relationship with technology is definitely a love-hate relationship. I love that I get the opportunity to express myself online and post whatever I want on social media. I love that I can google an

Privacy Concerns in the Online World

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After watching the TED Talk videos, I am shocked about how little privacy we have in our society. I learned from the videos that in order to be a part of the online world, we must sacrifice some of our privacy. I also discovered that police use automatic license plates to stalk people all around the world, anyone can eavesdrop on your phone calls due to surveillance backdoors, explicit photos of you can be online without knowing, emails aren't actually private, and phone companies take advantage of people's personal data. These issues are extremely concerning for myself, my friends, my family, and people all around the world.  I am very involved in the online world, so the videos made me very alarmed about how little privacy we have, especially on social media. I have multiple social media apps on my phone that I use on the daily. One of the social media apps I use the most is Instagram. I enjoy posting Instagram photos of myself and my friends, as well as interacting with my f

In the Age of AI

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 The video "In the Age of AI" taught me so much about artificial intelligence and how fascinating it is. Artificial intelligence is intelligence that is demonstrated by machines, instead of humans. The reason why artificial intelligence was created is because machines have a bigger information storage capacity than the human brain. This means that machines are capable of providing more data than humans and can store an amount of intelligence that a human can't handle. The information I learned about artificial intelligence is quite shocking.  China is the country that currently uses the most artificial intelligence. China relies so much on machines to the point where multiple jobs are getting taken away from humans and the government is invading people's privacy.  For example, people in China shop in stores without cashiers and pay for items using facial recognition, instead of credit cards. The use of facial recognition takes away millions of cashier jobs in China, m

Online Influencers

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                                                    Online influencers are people who have credibility in a specific industry and post online information about the industry to a large audience. Influencers have the ability to persuade their audience to buy a product they recommend or act a certain way. These people have the power to persuade others because they have gained a substantial amount of popularity over the internet. An online influencer can be a blogger, celebrity, social media star, or online entrepreneur. Each influencer affects our society in different ways. Some online influencers have positively affected society, while others have negatively affected society.  Some online influencers have positively affected society because they raise awareness about what they are passionate about. For example, famous Tik Tok star, Charli Damelio raised awareness on Tik Tok after gaining millions of followers for her dancing videos. After going viral on the app for her dancing, Charli

Instagram Through the Lens of Diffusion Theory

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A professor of communication studies, known as Everett Rogers popularized the theory Diffusion of Innovations. The theory is used to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread. Rogers believes that communication channels, time, a social system, and the innovation itself are the four main elements that influence the spread of a new idea.  An innovation that spread at a fast rate is the social media app Instagram, created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. Instagram was released on October 6, 2010 for iPhones and in April 2012 for Androids. The app is a social networking system that allows people to share photos and videos through the app. These photos and videos can be publicly shared or only shared by accepted followers. Instagram quickly grew to become one of the most popular social media apps in the world.  How did Instagram grow so quickly? Lets start the explanation off by discussing Instagram's history. In 2009, Kevin Systrom was working at a travel rec

The Censoring of Antiwar Voices Through Propaganda

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  Antiwar voices have been censored in the United States for years and are still being censored today. The censoring of antiwar voices became prevalent during the Progressive Era, specifically during World War I. Multiple groups in the United States, including the Women's Peace Party, the American Union Against Militarism, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, and the American Friends Service Committee, protested against World War I. Although, these antiwar movements against World War I were overpowered by World War I propaganda that persuaded people to become pro-war. The propaganda consisted of posters with illustrations and words to convince Americans to fight for their country during the world war.  One of the most iconic pieces of propaganda from World War I was created by James Montgomery Flagg . The poster consists of an image of Uncle Sam pointing to the viewer and the words "I Want You for U.S. Army "  below the image. This poster was one of the most popular pieces

The Creation of Netflix

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Netflix is a streaming service that allows people to watch TV shows, movies, documentaries, and animations without commercials. Netflix can be watched on any internet-connected device that offers the program, such as computers, smartphones, smart TVs, game consoles, tablets, and streaming media players. In order to access Netflix, a person must subscribe to the streaming service by creating an account and paying for the service monthly.  So, who created Netflix? Two serial entrepreneurs named Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph invented Netflix in August 1997.   Reed Hastings is a businessman, as well as an advocate for education reform and a former member of the California State Board of Education. Marc Randolph is a speaker, advisor, and an environmental advocate. Marc Randolph also works at High Point University! How cool is that? Randolph is High Point's Entrepreneur in Residence. He works with HPU students of all different majors on campus, specifically students with communication