EOTO Reflection

 

After reflecting on my classmates EOTO's presentations, the one that stood out the most was news deserts. I had heard this term before but did not know what it meant. I learned that they are communities that are limited to information that is reliable and credible either rural or urban.  A lot of these areas in the country are not receiving world and local news because they do not have access. 

With the rise of technology, news papers and local news stations and channels are being taken over and a lot of them are not making enough money to keep up. The simplicity of social media is easier for most than sitting down and reading a newspaper in the span of their busy days. This generation does not relax, nor sit down and read or watch the morning or night news. A lot of these news stations are unable to create a website, social media, or radio for easier access due to lack of information or not enough funding. 

The other issue with news deserts regards the information that is received in the areas. The information is not usually reliable, credible, or high quality. A large issue that pertains to lack of information nationwide effects voting. People in news desert communities do not vote nor are informed enough on who and why to vote for a certain candidate. Or they only receive biased information from their small community or social media. 

I learned that there are a few solutions to help relive this issue. One being finding ways to fund the news sources that do not have the budget anymore to sustain new technology or keep printing. This could be though donations or possible tax incentives from government funding. If enough people understand the hardship in these communities and lack of knowledge they are receiving, they may be more willing to donate time or money. 

EOTO Presentation

 

One of the forms of technology and communication that I learned about from my classmates presentations was emoji's and emoticons. They are two different concepts and many people tend to get them confused with one another. 

Emoticons are glyphs used to represent a facial expression through a text or form of online communication. It was first used in 1982 by American computer scientist Scott Fahlman and he explained that :) means funny and :( means serious. When people started to catch on and begin to use them in texts or emails, there was controversy as to whether or not they were needed and if they were a lazy form of communicating with one another. 

Emoji's are digital pictograms that can portray all emotions, food, hand signals, clothing, animals, weather, actives, travel, flags, etc. There are over 3,600 emojis to exist. Emojis have been widely used on texting, emailing, and social media across all device types and were first started in Japan which then lead to Unicode standardizing them throughout the world and devices. 

There has been recent discussion regarding the effects of emojis in society and the digital world. Even though the faces on emoji's have the same interpretation worldwide, they can still be misunderstood in thee context of a message. They can come off sassy, angry, or sarcastic depending on the language used with them.  

Emoji's are often word replacers or they enhance a conversation. They can brighten a conversation and make it more casual. I believe the invention of emoji's and emoticons was a step in the technology world, it lead to personality in texting and online communication. I can see the negative downsides such as miscommunication with both forms because someone can have a harsh conversation yet go and use a sarcastic emoji, which in turn will lead to confusion and disagreement. 

Age of AI

 

AI is slowly taking over our world more than we may realize. It is taking over our minimum wage jobs, raising costs, and decreasing the amount of jobs that people need to survive. Most assume that it is making everyones lives easier having a machine or technology take over a task, however, it is compromising the job force. 

As mentioned in the video, even the starters of Google were able to hide the use of algorithms and information being tracked and watch for their gain of sales. Which should scare all of us with the use of AI and new technologies and social media platforms. All of our data is being taken, tracked, stored, and tailored to what they know what a certain person likes. We have lost all of the idea of privacy. 

The recent designs of AI in our homes, cars, and public areas has taken over our privacy. Alexa, the Amazon speaker that has built in artificial intelligence, listens to more than most people think. The questions and conversations that normal people have with their Alexa in their spaces is recorded and stored. Most of our society will say they don't care, they don't have anything to hide from the government, however, they do not understand the extent to what it tracks. 

EOTO Confirmation Bias

 

Conformation bias is the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of one's existing beliefs or theories. It was first described by Peter Wason in 1960 in which he performed a study proving people falsify their beliefs and have bias in their decision making process. It is a biased approach to making a decision which usually leads to being unintentional and efficient because it was the easy answer that goes with ones previous ideas. This concept distorts reality from evidence due to the fact that the decision is made through personal conformation. 

This theory can affect our society today through many aspects including medicine, law, and relationships. Even doctors will sometimes have bias towards treatment or diagnosis of a patient due to their previous bias. As well as relationships because of either previous knowledge, he said she said, or miscommunication which all lead to having an impression of someone before even knowing or meeting them. People see what they want to see and don't want to be told they are wrong, it is human nature to want positive reinforcement and have bias towards people, ideas, or things. 

Conformation bias can also effect the world of communication and the media with which stories are pitched, who is interviewed,  and what information is gathered and featured. This happens throughout journalism, politics, social media, job interviews, etc. Our brains initially will go for the easy instinct answer. 

I can see how conformation bias has affected me and my generation in the past dealing with relationships and friendships and pre judgment. Our society is so used to everything digital and online communication through social media that we automatically have a pre judgement regarding someone via what they post online. I can see how this leads to conformation bias regarding relationships, we tend to either interpret someone as being a certain way based on existing beliefs and actions of someone similar acting that way. This is evident even on college campus's with sororities and fraternities. If someone hears someone is in a certain sorority and you go to meet them, you will automatically have the sororities image and character placed on them with a biased distorted behavior. 

A way that we can overcome conformation bias is simply by looking at the other point of view, we tend to lean towards the reassuring answer that we are comfortable with and can defend easily. However, if we look at topics, people, things in another light and overcome the pride of being wrong as well as looking for reasoning beforehand, there will be less bias. 

Overall, conformation bias affects everyone. It can affect a job interview thinking someone isn't good enough for the job because they are too young or too old, a man or a woman. It can affect politics, how certain stories are perceived by the way the editor or host verbally explains the topic. The reason for these are due to humans wanting to be right to feel good, making an easy choice, and staying with the safe route. 

Diffusion of Innovations

 

As I discussed in my EOTO presentation, I looked into the history of Instagram as it has changed our world in communication and relationships. The diffusion of innovations is a concept that how, why, and the speed of new concepts especially through technology. Our world is ever changing with recents inventions of technology and communication, there will always be a new idea being tested. 

The innovation of social media platforms has spread like wildfire in the past 13 years. However, not everyone adapted to this communication change. Generation Z were the early adaptors to catch onto the trend due to the fact that they were growing up when the introduction of the iphone, ipod, ipad and smartphones that are readily available. Facebook started out with everyone joining, however then over the years it has transitioned to the older generations and parents and grandparents of the generations z's. Instagram, snapchat, and the recent invention of TikTok is for the younger generations. Some people may make the choice not to join these platforms due to lack of interest, not relatable to their life, they don't have time, or they would rather be present than on a phone. In order to weigh whether the pro's vs the con's are worth the new communication technology such as Instagram, someone has to inwardly think if their life will be better because of it such as keeping up with family and friends, learning new trends, following celebrities or it would be negative due to comparison, wasted time, etc. 

The innovation of TikTok has been recently controversial. Many were quick adaptors to the technology, and then they spread the interest to friends / family and persuasion was included. Especially in younger generations, the five stages of adaption process are run through quick. Persuasion and implementation happens quick, which then leads to addiction which can be a negative consequence. Overall, the diffusion theory is important in the way technology communication evolves. 

The Progressive Era

 

After looking through both AntiWar.com and The American Conservative I can tell why they are not mainstream media news outlets. The AntiWar site almost looks fake as it does not look as put together as others and it can be interpreted as messy and misinformation. 

However, this is not how it should work. News sources should not be silenced by the government because it is not information that goes against what we are told we should believe. What the main news sources such as Fox News, CNN, etc. are covering is not what these websites are covering. The government is trying to regulate what information is "allowed" to be seen, just as they are censoring information on social media platforms. Regarding Twitter before it was rebought, the government was taking down any content that went against what we are told to believe and only tried showing the public accounts that benefited their views. Thee government is trying to regulate information based on their opinion, which I do not believe is fair in anyway. The USA is based around the freedom we have including freedom of speech. However, I do not see how punishing other views, opinions, and facts is giving us our freedom of speech. 

These websites are speaking on real world issues that should not be silenced. I have never heard of them, my family has never talked about them, and they are not websites that will show up on google search right away. They want their information and opinion to be reachable, however the government is controlling and wants to keep the power that they have to shift our opinions they want. In my opinion I do not think this is right and goes against our First Amendment rights, websites like these should not be punished or banned just as Twitter accounts have. 

Eight Values of Free Expression

 

The fourth of the eight values of free expression is referred to as individual self fulfillment or self actualization. There are eight values of expression; marketplace of ideas, participation in self - government, stable change, individual self fulfillment, check on government power, promote tolerance, promote innovation, and protect dissent. All values are ways in which society can express their thoughts and opinions without government interference. 

After reading individual self fulfillment and learning it is free speech that allows someone to define themselves and create their own personal identity, I can relate to this value the closest in my life. I started my own brand and image when I was a freshmen in college. I started working with brands as a content creator on Instagram and soon developed my own brand "company" and promoted it. I have been able to grow my trusted following and gain my personal image online throughout the years. I gained a community that engages with my opinion, values and trusts what I share. Social media is controlled by the social media platform themselves, not the government meaning I can post what I want with free speech. I mainly use Instagram and TikTok to promote the fashion companies that I work for and leverage my brand, making it easy for my target audience to find me. I do not have to worry that the government is going to restrict what I post online, post on social media, or how I build my own identity. Each one of us has the freedom to become who we want and build the reputation we want. This also promotes talks regarding opinions, views, things we like and don't like, agree and don't agree on, we are able to think how we want and show it as well, which is freedom that many other countries are not allowed. Even though all social media has its freedoms, there is also a lot of hate speech, bullying, and comparison on every platform which comes along with individual self fulfillment. We can all make our own presence and identity, including on a platform, however that comes along with getting negative feedback that will build character. 

Self actualization is the top or most important value in my opinion. Everyone is allowed the opportunity to become the person they want to be, fulfill their personal goals, growth and needs, and think for themselves. Everyone deserves the respect to speak what they want when they want and become who they want without being stopped, punished, and silenced.