The Progressive Era

The Progressive Era

After reviewing both ANTIWAR.COM and The American Conservative we notice that both websites have strong takes on war and that they are against it. But what makes these two sites different is that The American Conservative is more right winged, where as ANTIWAR.COM seems to be more left winged. Although both sites have the same anti-war message they highlight it in two different ways. 

One of the biggest things about the content on these two sites is, yes we hear about it, but we never seen the anti-war point of view. Mainstream media acknowledges the Ukraine war, the bombing in Gaza, and other horrific things that are happening in our world, but we never see people who are speaking out against all of it. 

Anti-war has always been a big thing because the public can't fully agree on everything so the country isn't going to be all pro-war or vise versa. United States citizens in WWI and WWII both expressed their opinions on anti-war saying that America shouldn't get involved, and that we shout just do nothing. However, America does a good job at publicizing patriotism which tends to create an untied front within our citizens. In the beginning of WWII U.S citizens were divided to three opinions; pro-war, anti-war, and pro-aid (helping our allies with resources). With all of these different point of views, although we disagreed we co-exisited. Unfortunately the citizens came to an almost full united from of pro-war for WWII after the Pearl Harbor bombings which shows that certain events can change our perspective on situations. 

Although we never see any anti-war speeches, articles, protests in our mainstream media we still know it exists, just not at a grand scale. We don't tend to see this type of content in our newspapers and news channels because it tends to affect the public perception and influence. Many major media outlets have financial ties to other large corporations therefore negative influences on war would effect the media outlets source of finances,

Another reason we don't acknowledge anti-war ideologies in mainstream media is in order to not portray out military and government in a poor light. As I said before, the media heavily influences our thoughts and opinions; to highlight anti-war content on a platform like ABC News it may cause our government and military to be viewed as a system that like morals. It is the media's job to help encourage our patriotism and American citizens.

Overall, although I think reading and hearing different views on big events going on in our world, such as wars, is incredibly beneficial to help the public form their own opinion on the matter; I do understand why the mainstream media choosing to ignore it instead of highlighting it. 

Eoto 2 Reaction Post

 EOTO #2 Reaction Post

During my peers EOTO presentations three presentations really caught my attention; those topics were whistleblowing, alternative media and citizen journalism, and gatekeeping and agenda setting. In each of these presentations I learned new theories and terms I didn't know before. 

Whistleblowing

The definition of whistleblowing is someone who reports waste, fraud, abuse, corruption or danger to public health and safety to someone who is in a position to rectify the wrongdoing. Their main purposes are to be transparent by exposing the wrong doings of others. White-blowers act as the behind the scenes information for journalists and news outlets. They could do things like report people in power, regular citizens, anyone they deem important to spread news about. 

Their main impact can be good because it helps expose wrongdoings to protect people as well as promoting fairness and accountability. Although whistleblowing can be seen as very beneficial it also comes with risks such as losing your job, legal consequences, threats to public safety, and other consequences that can harm your reputation. 

Alternative Media and Citizen Journalism 

Alternative Media is defined as a non traditional source of news and information that challenges the narrative presented by mainstream media; some examples include podcasts, video platforms, and independent journalism. Which leads us into our next term which is citizen journalism which is the practice of ordinary individuals reporting on news events, often using technology like social media or blogs, rather than traditional media outlets. When looking at these two terms defined we can see exactly why the go hand in hand. 

Although alternative media and citizen journalism allows for the public to vocalize their opinion through journalism there are pros and cons to both terms. Some of the pros include social movements, accountability, communication, diverse perspectives, and independence. On the other some cons are potential misinformation, biased reviews, defamation, and negative influence. 

Gatekeeping and Agenda Setting

The term gatekeeping is the activity of controlling and limited the general access to something; a example would be if you asked someone where their pants were from and the didn't want to tell you because they didn't want you owning the same pair as them. Agenda setting is a communication based theory that explains how media influences what we think is important. These two terms go together because they both explain how media influences the public perception.

Gatekeeping in the media can cause people to decide which stories are newsworthy which determines public awareness. It can shape perceptions by choosing to highlight or ignore certain events and topics going on in our word. While agenda setting does the similar act of viewing those topics that are being highlighted as important while not really caring about the topics the media chooses to not highlight. 

Age of AI

 Age of AI and Privacy Concerns

Over the past couple of years AI has grown and developed, it has been deemed useful but also rising some concerns for peoples jobs, students cheating, etc. After watching Frontline PBS: The Age of AI documentary they highlighted AI's effect on the impact on employment, ethical and societal impacts, and surveillance and privacy concerns.

One thing that frightened me most was the surveillance and privacy concerns. One of the main concerns to the public is how governments use AI to monitor individuals. In the documentary they talk about China's usage of AI to surveil their people. China has multiple things like facial recognition through their security cameras that can detect every person the camera catches. They also have a social credit systems that assigns scores based on behaviors as well as monitoring minorities with their country. Although these issues don't affect me personally they still make me uncomfortable for Chinese citizens because their government shouldn't need to monitor them this much. 

Although not as extreme the United States and European countries use AI on their citizens as well. They use it for things such as license plate readers, surveillance drones, and predictive policing which is a system that uses data to identify potential criminals. So yes, the United States usage of AI isn't as extreme as China's, it also could make people feel just as uncomfortable. The predictive policing, although could be useful in some cases also feels like a big invasion of privacy because it allows the government to go through your data and analyze it. So things such as google searches, apps, texts, etc could all potentially be used to surveil you as a potential criminal. 

As we all know AI is here to stay and it will continue to grow. Although there are a lot of concerns around what people will use it for, at the moment there isn't a lot we can do to regulate it since it's still such a new concept. However we can acknowledge how some people may use AI for invasive things and continue to stay aware on the issue. 

Diffusion

Diffusion of Innovations: Instagram

The Diffusion of innovations theory according to Wikipedia is, "...a theory that seeks to explain why, and at what rate new technology spread." To look at the diffusion theory I want to highlight the innovation of Instagram. Instagram is one of the post popular apps in social media today, it is a platform that allows you to share photos via a post or a story to show all your friends what you're up to, the app also allows your to share content with others such as videos and pictures. 

Instagram was released on October 6th, 2010 and was created by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger. The two first photo up a location based check in app called 'Burbn', however the noticed the photo sharing aspect of Burbn was more popular, so they took the idea of sharing photos and created 'Instagram'.

The app gained its popularity from its main feature of sharing photos in a quick manner, in fact Instagram gained one million users just after three months of people released. A lot of people started to use Instagram as a way to show their friends what they're up to; if they're at a coffee shop they'll post that photo, out shopping, on vacation, etc. We as people love sharing the exciting things in our lives and instagram gave the people a platform to do that.

I go Instagram back in 2015 so I've had the opportunity to see the platform grow over the course of 10 years. My original use for Instagram was to post silly selfies, slime videos, and photos of my Barbie's onto a private account that only follows my family and a couple of my friends. 10 years later I only post events I go to such as concerts, formals, dinners, but sometimes there just a casual post for no event at all. Instagrams purpose has no changed but the way I use it has. I will now only post "content" if I'm doing something exciting for if the photos come out really good, which were not concerns of mine back in 2015.

Although Instagram is a fun form of social media, between posting photos and sharing videos with friends, it also has negatives. Since everyone is constantly posting photos, you find yourself constantly comparing your life to the lives of others. If someone I follow is out going to different countries, concerts, other fun events, I find myself wondering why I'm stuck in my room doing nothing exciting. But I have to remind myself that I have good opportunities coming and that just because I'm not always doing something exciting, doesn't mean I'm not happy. 

Another issue is the constant comparison of like counts, I find myself beating myself up for not having enough likes while other people get hundreds of likes within the span of an hour. Comparing isn't healthy. In May of 2021 Instagram acknowledged the issue of like counts and choose to implement a feature where the creator can turn off their like count to the public eye, this feature is a life saver that I use all the time.

Overall Instagram plays into the diffusion of innovations theory because we as people are and always have been nosy as to what other people are doing in their lives. This platform allows for the indirect communication of just liking someone's post and having it count as you acknowledging them even if you don't leave a comment of actual words. I think we like the fact that this communication is so effortless and not at all time consuming that we gravitate towards it.

EOTO #2: Propaganda

 EOTO #2: Propaganda 

Although it is rarely acknowledged propaganda is used by every single government all the time. When we think of propaganda our first thoughts go towards popular war propaganda such as Uncle Sam and other pieces of media used to encourage and unite the nation during times of war. However propaganda is far more stingier than that. Propaganda is used for persuasion and manipulation through visuals.

When you google the word 'propaganda' the definition states that it is; information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. Although the definition from one google search tells you that propaganda is used in a biased or misleading nature, we tend to skip over it and accept it as normal patriotic behavior. Every single government uses propaganda to gain support, unify the country, present the government in a positive light, influence actions, shape intention opinions, etc. 

But one of the main usages of propaganda especially in war times was to undermine or weaken morale or political standings verses opposing countries. We see this very strongly in World War II. WWII propaganda aimed to reinforce nations political ideologies while tearing down other using hate, fear, and disgust towards the enemy. Propaganda was made to be simple and memorable in order to reinforce these ideas in your head. 

All countries, Axis and Allied Powers, used propaganda. The Italians used posters and newspapers such as II Popolo d'Italia, cinema and radio, music and paintings, and public events to reinforce fascist ideologies. They would also censor rival views to keep their people in the fascist state of mind. Germany used major themes such as German superiority and demonizing and belittling the enemy to continue to enforce Nazi ideologies of German purism onto the German people. Japan used propaganda at a more calm approach, they mainly highlighted family, honor and their Emperor, Things such as The Bushido Code (death before dishonor) encouraged their soldiers and citizens to keep their fighting spirit. 

Although the Axis Powers usage of propaganda seem ruthless the Allied Powers were guilty of the same actions. American propaganda used dehumanization and racism to belittle the enemy through short animated clips depicting the enemies as cruel, stupid, and incompetent. They would also draw each countries people with hideous and animalistic features. 

Propaganda throughout the Untied States (and other countries) continued to be just manipulating as they were in WWII. Three big examples of U.S propaganda are; The Sinking of the USS Maine, Iraq & WMD, and Gulf of Tonkin. Each one of these were used to push for invasions, war, etc. without the public realizing it. 

The USS Maine was sent to Havana in January of 1898 to protect Americans during the long standing revolt of the Cubans against the Spanish government. Published in the papers was The Sinking of the USS Maine on the front page; it was said that Spain suck the ship but in reality the USS Maine's gunpowder's magazines exploded causing the ship to sink. But the usage of blaming Spain helped persuade U.S citizens into being pro-war for the Spanish-American war.

Iraq & WMD was when President George W. Bush said that Saddam Hussein's regime possessed WMD (nuclear, biological and chemical weapons) and were actively developing more, posing an immediate threat to the U.S and its close allies. Because of this serious accusation United States military along with their allies launched a military invasion in March 2003 to disarm Iraq of their WMDs and remove Saddam Hussein from power. After the military invasion no stockpiles of WMD were found in Iraq, leaving people to wonder if the information given to the Bush administration was flawed or if it was just an excuse to invade Iraq. 

Lastly the Gulf of Tonkin incident, where two U.S Navy destroyers were attacked. These attacks lead to the Gulf of Tonkin resolution which was passed by congress on August 7th, 1964 and allowed President Lyndon B. Johnson to take all necessary measure to repel any armed attack against U.S forces to prevent further aggression in Southeast Asia. This resolution passed with unanimous support and effectively gave the President authority to escalate military presence and involvement in the Vietnam War. This further escalated the United States involvement in the Vietnam War. 

Although we might not always see it in clear daylight our government uses propaganda to reinforce our patriotic ideologies and make us agree with what our government is doing regardless of how good or bad it may be. 

Eoto 1 Reaction Post

 EOTO #1 Reaction Post: Invention of Magazines

After listening to my peers present their EOTO presentation, the one that stood out to me the most was the invention of magazines. Magazines started in the 17th century after the printing press was developed. The earliest known magazine was produced in Germany by Johanna Rist and titled: Edifying Monthly Discussions. This magazine went on to inspires people all over Europe and people started publishing their poems, short stories, and news.

In the 18th century magazines brought many women into the area of literature. Women would publish their own pieces of work which caused a chain and inspired female readers and writers to start reading and publishing in these magazines. This helped magazines thrive through the high number of female readers who read them for entertainment and knowledge. 

Magazines started taking off in Britain in the 18th century, these magazines would publish everyday or several times throughout the week. These were classified as "fast newspapers" but had the exact same style as a magazine. A Britain magazine titles The Review wrote about domestic and foreign affairs as well as political articles which helped expand knowledge of the people.

Today you can still get a printed magazine either mailed to your address through an online subscription, you can pick up magazines at the grocery store or book store, or you can simply look up an edition online. Although the content within magazines has changed a little it is still the same source of entertainment they used back in the 17th century. 

Privacy

 Privacy

Since we live in the day and age where everything and everyone is online it is incredibly simple to find any information you want on a singular person. Growing up I was always told to "watch what you post" and I always thought it was stupid, because I could delete it and it's gone, but thats wrong. Because of technology we unlocked a new form of invasion of privacy.

Everyone has a digital footprint, which means, anything you have ever posted is always out there for anyone to see. The first thing most employers do when they're looking to bring in a new hire is googling their name and seeing what they find. This means they will look through all your social media, indeed profile, anything you can possibly find on google about yourself they will look at. They do this because it gives them a prospective of who you are, what you do, and how you choose to carry yourself online. Meaning if you post photos of yourself on instagram partying they could view this as unprofessional behavior and choose to not hire you. Some may argue that personal life has nothing to do with your work life, but many employers would disagree.

The biggest invasion of privacy on technology is GPS and data tracking. According to the TedTalk, the government and local police will use things such as your GPS and roadway camera and know exactly where you're going. This feels like an invasion of privacy because these are things they really don't need to know. However you can argue that these two things are in place for crimes committed which aids local police in tracking down who their perpetrator is; this is sensible but still feels invasive.

The biggest thing mentioned in Darieth Chisolm's TedTalks titled: How revenge porn turns lives upside down, she discusses how people use explicit images as blackmail and post them for everyone to see. This is a big issue that goes overlooked all the time. Although there is one federal bill called the ENOUGH Act by former senator and vice president Kamala Harris that could criminalize revenge porn it has not been passed. Only 40 states and D.C have laws in place for revenge porn; but these laws are only $500 fines as of 2018. This action of putting out explicit images could effect anyone and cause people to lose their jobs, reputation, etc. 

Not only do we need to watch what we put on the internet, we also need to protect the people who have pictures posted of themselves against their will. The government should be helping people who are affected instead of using traffic cameras to track our every movement.