Final Blog Post

The Reality of Technology: Mental Health and Social Media 

In today's day and age, technology is everything. But at what cost? From my own experience getting a phone at 12 years old, yes, it was for safety. Yet the bad has outweighed the good. The unintended consequences like cyberbullying, revenge porn, mental health, and youth suicide rates are rising by the day. Mental health has become something we have become more understanding of as a society. Have we ever thought that the connections with more technology/social media go hand in hand with mental health? Does that mean our relationship with technology is unhealthy? 

From my point of view and based on my own experiences, I think that technology has harmed the world. Think it created an entirely new form of bullying. Think of those whose careers have been ruined because of revenge porn. Think of how many lives have been lost from our youth. Yes, it has brought good to the world, like having easy access to information at your fingertips or the major improvements to people's jobs/work industry. But the consequences go above and beyond. I remember, as a child, my parents telling me how bad my phone or the television was, but now I understand why. If the roles were reversed and I knew the things I do now, and I have my own experiences, I would shelter my child from technology. Having experienced cyberbullying, I don't think anyone should have to go through that. Of those who are victims of cyberbullying, 41% of children have social anxiety because of it. These victims are more likely to experience mental health problems, which can include suicidal thoughts, depression, and anxiety. Taking a further look into this form of bullying, "69% of individuals report having behaved abusively towards others online, but only 15% acknowledge being cyberbullies, which suggests a lack of awareness of what cyberbullying actually is." 

Imagine going through ample years of school and all the hard work you've done to get your job, just for that to be wiped away due to a photo of yourself on someone else's body or someone that you trusted sharing private content with the world. Revenge porn, now being reported, has shown a 40% increase during 2020 and 2021. The consequences of being a victim are severe, including difficulties in current or future relationships/employment, PTSD, anxiety, and depression. This has also created things like deepfakes, which can be photos or videos that have been altered to look like someone else; statistics show that 96% of deepfakes in 2019 were explicit. 

There is no question that social media goes hand in hand with mental health. This issue has gotten bad enough to the point the U.S. surgeon general released about the links to social media and youth mental health in a significant public advisory, "the first public warning supported by robust research." But it doesn't stop there; research has also shown that body image dissatisfaction and disordered eating "has been linked to decreased quality of life." Furthermore, COVID-19 created a mental health crisis surge as it contributed to heightening mental health in youths. Sadly, the circumstances of the pandemic did bring more attention to mental health and put it in the spotlight. In the newest generation, it's normal and okay, but in my generation, it was no, nothing is wrong with you. The statistics on increases in mental health conditions include anxiety increasing by 93.6%, depression by 83.9%, self-harm by 333.93%, and substance abuse by 62.7%. And it doesn't end there; youth suicide rates in the U.S. are a national trend that, by federal data, has shown lower life expectancy overall. "There is substantial evidence that the Internet and social media can influence suicide-related behavior." It doesn't stop there; it can disrupt sleep patterns and be a distraction to learning, peer pressure, and unrealistic views of others' lives. 

Overall, technology has done wonders in the world, but social media has the cons outweighing the pros. How can we fix this? How do we begin to help bring down these statistics of mental health and suicide of our youth? Some answers include parental guidance, social media platforms' responsibility, promoting positive content, well-being features, mental health support, promoting offline activities, and more crisis interventions that will need research and collaboration. These things will require collaborations between government agencies, schools/universities, parents, mental health professionals, and the technology industry itself. By doing this, we can work towards creating a safer and more positive online environment for our youth.

Blog Post #11

Gatekeeping

After watching the presentations for EOTO (Each One Teach One), the one that caught my attention was gatekeeping from my group on communication terms and concepts. In simpler terms, gatekeeping is not telling someone information. But this can also include invalidating experiences, limiting access, and privatizing information. An example of this can be as simple as not telling someone where you got a t-shirt. It can even go to resources, opportunities, and power. The opposite of this is gate breaking; this is previously private information, and now it becomes public access. But just like gatekeeping, it can have negative uses. A more real-life example includes doctor-patient confidentiality. 

Issues from this include making people feel as if they do not belong or are not worthy of something. It can even insult their intelligence and create a dynamic of “Us vs. Them.” Overall, just being out of the loop, in general, can affect content and voice diversity in a negative impact. This can create delays in wait times and affect service quality. Especially when work is being passed down from one person to another, it will affect the person waiting and put the gatekeeper in a case of power/authority. 

Although it comes with more issues, some positive aspects include quality control, consistency, and streamlining. Having the gatekeeper doing the work removes the need to train employees
, directly leading to decreased error rates. Overall, having someone with experience do the work is better, leading to quality control. Consistency comes from following guidelines and procedures. For example, screening future employees with the gatekeeper and ensuring the same is used for all. Streamlining creates the gatekeeper to be the one someone goes to when they have a specific issue, which is efficient to have a single person of contact to address problems. 

Despite the pros and cons of gatekeeping, it has primarily become an issue in my generation. Looking at it from another perspective, like social media and influencers, not from a business perspective. This keeps things “exclusive” and unique because the only person who knows is the one withholding the information, and their audience/following are the ones who want the information. They could be doing the aspect of not wanting their favorite products to sell out due to their audience's interest. 

I do not see the positive side of gatekeeping, whether on a business side or an Instagram influencer. Withholding information as long as it’s not confidential has no purpose other than depriving others. 

Blog Post #10

 In the Age of AI

“Oh, you would be horrified if you knew how much we knew about you.” This was said to Alastair Mactaggart about the new surveillance businesses when talking to an engineer who worked for Google. After watching this video, this was the one thing that really stuck with me. Knowing someone’s entire business is about finding out as much as they can about you is frightening. Mactaggart’s explanation about how they can know your friends, your desires, and your thoughts, including your private thoughts, is true power, and that is the perfect way to put it into perspective, from privacy concerns to economic impacts. 

I was surprised to hear about larger companies buying smaller successful companies and attempting to replace their workers with machinery and other technologies. I understand both sides of this problem as it can make processes more efficient and will cost less. But in today’s day and age, employment has become rather tricky, and the loss of thousands of jobs like this could affect a severe amount of our population. 

Going back to privacy, I understand the pros and cons. Starting with the good, companies being able to understand what you want and what you like based on the data they have on you would be better to help those companies profit and sell to consumers. Even the police forces help find suspects and perpetrators of crime. But the bad is our loss of privacy. I myself would not want companies to know everything about me. It disrupts what our country was built on. Which is our First Amendment and our Fourth Amendment right. Considering that under the 14th amendment, a corporation is made up of people and, therefore, is treated as a person. Our data privacy and the First Amendment conflict because then the government would have to create restrictions that would be unconstitutional to speech. Due to this being from corporations and not the government, it cannot be unconstitutional. Which leads to the question of what can we do to protect our privacy? 

In this generation, technology has taken over everything. It is easy to find out everything about a person. We are usually told to use stronger passwords to have a “fake email” and not overshare on social media. But in reality, the information will be found from other companies buying the companies that you are using data. However, this data being sold and used by other companies can lead to more significant issues if there is a data leak or if it is given to a bad company. 

Overall, some parts that come with artificial intelligence and machine learning will be good and can lead to endless possibilities, but when is enough enough? How can we deter from the risks of a de-humanizing downside? The scariest part is we will not know until it’s too late. 

Blog Post #8

Privacy 

I’ve always known to be safe on the internet, but I had never even thought of the things brought to my attention in the provided TED Talks. As a child, I was constantly made aware by my parents and my school that the internet is a scary place, and I’ve always known that. But in today’s day and age, it’s even scarier. From police license plate scanners to revenge porn to our phones being created for surveillance, I am astonished. It's unsettling to think that someone could have been listening in on almost everything I have ever spoken about on the phone, and I’d had no clue. Or all my emails since I was in middle school, which was over a decade ago, could basically tell someone on the outside everything from what I want to do to my friends, to my education, my interests, my loans, etc. That is petrifying to me. 

Watching Catherine Crump’s talk about how the police track you makes me want to go to my local police station to see what they have. Considering that they have information on everyone, criminal record/criminal activity or not. I understand wanting to keep people safe and using high-tech surveillance equipment, but at what point is it too much? Obviously, I want the correct departments to find those breaking the law, but what about those not and their privacy? Then, Christopher Soghoain talked about how our phones were created for surveillance and how our government could be listening all the way to another country's government to hackers and even other criminals. I think the one part of his talk that gave me the most relief was about iPhones. It took a weight off my shoulders hearing about how hard it is to wiretap things like iMessage, meaning you’re sending a message to another iPhone, and even Apple itself is unable to see those messages. Continuing that FaceTime and FaceTime audio are the same way because it is two iPhones for Apple products communicating. Even with something like this that gives me hope in privacy, countless issues remain. These issues can range from how we are able to protect ourselves, let alone our friends and our family.

And what if the police wrongfully accused you? Or they mistake you for someone else? I had multiple emails and different accounts on social media without my name, but I bet money that, in some way, those accounts can connect back to me in ways I have never even thought of. Even with these accounts, I have my own personal accounts that I do share my life with via social media. My parents, on the other hand, are completely different. They have absolutely no forms of social media, only the typical emails for themselves and for work, and then there are phone numbers, and that’s about it. In today’s day and age, it’s very hard to stay away from social media and different things like that, so I really envy that my parents can do that, and I would imagine that their digital footprint is significantly smaller than mine. 

The government has all this information on us. In reality, I feel as if it’s a good thing. But if this information did fall into the wrong hands, it could be bad. I believe that if this is what the government needs in order to catch some criminals and figure out what types of crimes are being planned and executed without them knowing, then it’s something that’s needed. It just needs parameters and how far they should be allowed to go; therefore, innocents do not get caught in the crossfire. 

Blog Post #7

Diffusion Theory

The theory of diffusion of innovations was allured by the book Diffusion of Innovations by Everett Rogers. In simpler terms, this theory is how new ideas extend through a population. These new ideas can also be products, practices, and technology that are brought upon in speed, rates, and patterns. Five main elements: innovation, adopters, communication channels, time, and a social system determine how this new idea will spread. Social capital is needed for innovations to thrive, and they must be largely adopted to self-sustain. 

I think the Apple iPhone is An innovation that goes perfectly with this theory. This innovation caught on and spread due to it being a device that has the features of a traditional phone but also would be the first to have internet communication and a music player, like the iPod. This device started a smartphone revolution because it went above and beyond the competition. It also paved the way for new cutting-edge technology due to a unique combination of innovations. But with this came many early adopters while also late adopters. 

What is an adopter? They can be organizations, like schools and businesses, but are mostly individuals. This is looked at as a social system; the categories range from innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, etc. But I’m focusing on early and late adopters. Early adopters had more advanced education, and they chose to have a “central communication position,” which, when relaying to the iPhone, was exactly that. These early adopters had seen this technological advancement and realized the revolutionary technology it would bring, as there had been nothing like this before. Late adopters are more so just following others after the fact that they have realized how impactful innovation is. Lastly, some will never adopt due to what they are used to or only need to be in contact with a select few, like family and friends. 

A large downside of the innovation of the iPhone was that it now controls everything we do in life. Especially in my generation, we are always on our phones. This leads us to miss out on some of the beautiful things in life that we just don’t get to see because our faces are constantly on our phones. I truly envy those who have been unable to go with the typical norm and do not have smartphones because I imagine their image of life is so much different than mine. I understand both sides, the positive and the negative. As I have just touched on the negative, I feel as if the positive is being able to have everything in one place. Especially in the past, even 10 or so years ago, we didn’t have everything we have today on our phones. I believe it creates safety in a certain way, but I can also be contradicted by social media. I feel that no matter what, every positive and negative will contradict each other regarding iPhones and new communication technology. 

Blog Post #9

Confirmation Bias 

Confirmation bias has always surrounded us, as simple as politics on Fox News. They are a conservative news outlet, which means that most of what is presented to the public will better the Republican party. Furthermore, what they put out in the news is based on their views and beliefs. Britannica's definition of confirmation bias states, “People’s tendency to process information by looking for, or interpreting, information that is consistent with their existing beliefs. This biased approach to decision making is largely unintentional, and it results in a person ignoring information that is inconsistent with their beliefs.”

But then comes the question of what are the positive and negative outcomes from this? First, looking at the bad, the impression of others can become inaccurate and biased. For example, if something has a different political belief, this doesn't make them bad. Secondly, looking at the good, it can be efficient to look for specific things because it takes too long to evaluate information while creating decisions that are unbiased. 

How is this affecting society? When one looks for things that only connect with their viewpoint and
beliefs, they block out everything else they don’t believe in. “Individuals with confirmation bias operate in an echo chamber, limiting their ability to think outside the box. It makes it harder for people to understand thoughts or beliefs that differ from their own. As a result, it may limit their ability to innovate and flourish as a society.” 

How is this affecting others? For the rich and the poor, those who are well off, some might look into helping others get off their feet to one day achieve the success they have, but it’s not seen very often. While those who are less fortunate tend to hate those more well-off. An example of this is to tax the rich and not the poor. For the old and the young, my generation, in comparison to older generations is more flexible with different viewpoints and beliefs. But from what I’ve seen throughout my life, it’s hard to even talk to older generations about things today because they feel no need to change their beliefs. Like you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, or if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. For males and females although in this century, equality between men and women has made large changes to be equal. There are still issues with women being stereotyped as weaker and letting the men do the work. But it has become more normalized for women to be in the workplace and be in higher positions, unlike 50 years ago when it was looked down upon. 

How does this affect my life? I have definitely had confirmation bias on certain that’s what my parents
believed in and what I heard growing up. But now, I try not to let that interfere with my thoughts on the other side of politics. For my friends, I could see someone overlooking/ignoring something to protect me. Or not letting our beliefs affect our friendship because, in my mind, it truly doesn’t matter. For my family, our beliefs are what I grew up around and were some of my first beliefs. Although they were not my own, I was not old enough to understand that concept. For example, my family went to church every Sunday, and I went to Sunday school, too, while I was growing up. After I stopped Sunday school because sports got in the way, I didn’t go to church anymore until I joined a club in high school that made it enjoyable for me. I was biased in how my parents' beliefs on learning about religion differed from mine in that I needed to learn in a more interactive and fun way that made it no longer feel like a chore. 

How does this affect my generation? Social media is the largest part of my generation's upbringing. Growing up while having everything online, from real to fake news, has created a takeover of confirmation bias. An example of this is the non-smoking ads popping up on social media due to it being an epidemic for my generation, and those seeing it with real statistics and ignoring it, saying it's not true. Or, going back to politics again, those will repost or share information that confirms their beliefs, which can spread fake news or mess with one's opinion, creating this information to spread even more when it is simply not true or biased. 

Blog Post #6

The Right to Dissent and Antiwar Voices 

When looking at the website ANTIWAR.com, I immediately noticed that I had never seen anything like this before in my life. Everyone has seen the different political stories on the front page of news on almost every news outlet. In reality, when looking at websites to talk about the United States government, it’s typically always politics and, at the moment right now, about Donald Trump and Joe Biden. This can be seen in the picture on the left when one searches for American politics. 

Looking deeper into ANTIWAR.com was extremely difficult because there is so much different information on one page. Almost everything on this page, I had absolutely no knowledge these things were going on. This then brings me to the question of why have I never seen something like this before? When learning about the progressive era in class, one of the more critical things was antiwar voices being silenced for voicing their opinions. From my point of view, this must be something still going on because I haven’t seen anything of this nature before on any part of the internet. I believe from the two websites provided that the government is trying to silence antiwar voices. 

This also makes me wonder the question of is why our mainstream news is filled with so many irrelevant aspects of politics? Continuing with us, is it possible that our mainstream news is using the politics in the United States, like our former presidents, to fill up those spaces that people should use to voice their antiwar opinions? 

Looking at this on an even larger scale, this goes against our First Amendment right to dissent. Being able to voice different viewpoints is a key to our constitutional democracy. With this, the government is able to understand things that need to be changed or things that are working. Overall, the government needs to hear everyone’s voices like they are supposed to, as our constitution states, we the people. 

I find it interesting that these websites are obscure, and this is due to the fact that they are trying to stay hidden so they will not be taken down. The American Conservative website looks like your typical news website. Still, once you start looking deeper into it, you’ll notice that you most likely have not heard of or touched on the topics the mainstream media discusses. For the more obscure websites like the antiwar website, it is very busy. There are so many different things on the screen that someone could look at and not want to look further into. I feel these websites' strategies are to look very obscure or very normal to stay hidden from the government trying to silence them, as they had done in the past due to World War I.