EOTO Reax #2

Overton Window 

°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

    The Overton window is something I hadn't realized I had always been aware of until I heard Greyson's presentation on it. To put it in simple terms, it's an ever-shifting "window" or perspective on what is popular and normal vs what isn't. Here is a visual of what that looks like that helped me have an easier time understanding it: 

                         

    Grey used the example of gay marriage shifting from being unacceptable in mainstream media to becoming an acceptable thing to speak about and support. Upon doing my research, you can see the shift in the Overton window over US history. Whether that is when Christianity went from being frowned upon to freely practiced when pilgrims moved to the United States, to the Salem witch trials, to the civil rights movement. Public opinion on political issues will always change, with more policies that were once seen as "radical" being put into policy. 

    Politically the Overton window also states that politicians are only able to work within what is seen as normal. If they want the narrative to be shifted to something outside the window, they must be careful with how far outside the window they choose to go. Going too far out of the window can lead to public criticism and is generally not a good idea for politicians. 

    Not all shifts will be positive shifts, especially if a very influential figure might make a comment. That has the chance to quickly change the narrative from a taboo topic to a normalized one. Understanding the Overton window is essential for being knowledgeable about current and past politics.

Grey's EOTO: 

https://tbgmedialawlit.blogspot.com/2024/10/overton-window.html

Final Blog Post

Society's Relationship With Technology, Technology's Relationship With Us

------------✧♡✧------------✧♡✧-----------✧♡✧-------------

    Societies' relationship with technology is far too codependent, and it will only continue to worsen. An appropriate amount of screen time will vary from person to person. For example, a 9-year-old kid probably shouldn't have 6 hours of screen time per day, but a 30-year-old man working a 9-5 in finance will likely surpass that. We definitely shouldn't use technology as much as we do now, but it's become an unavoidable thing we need to take advantage of. For the most part, we need it for our jobs, education, and some hobbies. The question is, is it helping or hurting us? 

    I don't think tech itself is misleading us, but some people using it might be trying to do so. The internet is a mixed bag of reliable and unreliable info. It become increasingly difficult to differentiate this info with anybody being able to post anything they would like. If you know how to find reliable info, the internet can be a great tool to learn new things useful for anyone. Some misleading or incorrect info is guaranteed to slip through the cracks; finding reliable info isn't a seamless process. If it was, chances are anyone would do it. Despite this, teaching these skills from a young age in school in tandem with internet safety is now a key life skill for kids to have. 

    I'm not one to keep track of my friend's online activity, but I do stay conscious of what my family does. I have had countless conversations with my grandma about what to look for in common scam calls, emails, or texts. Everyone in my household has private social media accounts where we post very little in the first place. We also do not have any smart devices in our home like Alexa or Google Home. We aren't conspiracy theory level of paranoid, but a bit weary of having too much in the home. Most homes of friends I visit typically have at least 1 smart home device that they use, so I am assuming that society as a whole has moved to use them more frequently. Millennials and Gen Z are living on their own now, so it makes sense that more smart homes exist than ever. Personally, the integration of technology into society doesn't bother me, but that's when I still have the choice to keep it out. If by some chance all homes become smart homes, I will begin to have a much larger problem with it. 

    Upon googling my name in parentheses, all I found were incorrect public records, 2 links for flashcards I made on Brainly, my name in a volunteer recognition pamphlet, obituaries I was mentioned in, and my blog. From a young age, I was told how important it is to be conscious of your online footprint. It's important not only for your possible employers/prospects but also for your safety. Also, no pictures of me show up. Most of the accounts I made when I was younger didn't feature any part of my name other than ones made for school. This kept my footprint small, as I tend to do that today as well. 

    Overall, society depends a lot on technology, but I think we are forced to in modern-day society. We are still at a point where we can dictate how much we let into our lives, but most of us don't want to due to convenience. It can make everything easier, but sometimes too easy. I hope that we can keep it at a healthy level, but I know that is very unrealistic. 

#10: Anti-War

Anti-War

⋆｡˚ ☁︎ ˚｡⋆｡˚☽˚｡⋆

    Anti-war opinions are ones that people can't typically spread in mainstream news spaces. News is meant to be concrete and not very opinion-based. It can be biased, but overall, opinions should be avoided. If we are always in wartime and the news is constantly reporting on it, how can they be antiwar? Of course, they could condemn it while reporting on it, but that becomes a slippery slope. Once you rope opinions into the news, the writers or the website might lose credibility.

    More people should consume independent/obscure media because writers can give alternate opinions without consequences. All you need to do is view the titles of some of the articles featured in "The American Conservative," such as "Modern Wars are Wars of Attrition." The subhead under another reads: "Ukraine–Russia war has dragged on for at least two years longer than it had to—and for what?" This article about the Ukraine-Russia conflict lays out what we know about possible peace talks and negotiations orchestrated by other countries. 

    Most of my political media is consumed through Twitch and Twitter, leading me to do separate research on various independent sites. I consume a lot of opinion-based press because it is more digestible and aids me in forming my own opinions from different perspectives. After this, I will go to independent media to further my research. 

    There are a lot of truths I've learned from doing independent research. No one likes war, but so many groups benefit from it. War provides jobs. War includes money for the US through arms deals. Last year, they made $80.9 billion. I'm not saying this is good or bad; it's just a fact. Whatever groups benefit from it will suppress whatever media they need to so they can keep the public out of the loop. This is how the world works and will most likely always work. We need to do our best to keep these independent media outlets alive and thriving so people can read about what is happening worldwide.  

#9 EOTO 2

EOTO 2: TikTok bans

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。..・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

You might have seen news of a possible TikTok ban in the US, but what does that mean for us? 

    First, we will start with the background. The Chinese app "ByteDance" bought out the app "Musical.ly" in late November 2017 and relaunched it under the name "TikTok" in 2018. The app remained the same for users, with a different name, logo, and color interface. At the time, not many people thought much of it other than some distress from users. Soon, that disappeared, and the app started gaining more traction. As the app grew, security concerns regarding national security and data privacy began to be raised. The United States government gave ByteDance an ultimatum: They needed to sell the US side of their company, or the government would ban the app. 

    Banning the app in its entirety could decrease security risks and protect our data, but it could also lead to adverse effects. This ban could result in job losses, advertising shifts, disruption of news sources, and creativity limitations. 

    Job losses refer to the influencers and content creators relying on TikTok as their primary income source. Forms of entertainment, such as live comedy, have found a new life in the form of TikTok lives. These lives can bring in many new fans and money for the creator. Cutting this off forces these people to transition to a new app to share their comedy, which only sometimes has a high success rate. News on TikTok is typically not backed by sources and can be hearsay. As I mentioned in my first blog post, I will hear something on the app and then use a different website or app to fact-check it. Typically, the story resembles what was said in the TikTok video but is a much calmer and less dramatic version. 

Who could this ban affect?

    As I mentioned previously, content creators' lives would shift dramatically. What about TikTok's primary user base, the youth? They don't only use it as an entertainment app; it's a way to connect with their friends, learn, and keep up with their favorite influencers. The platform is also used for activism, particularly by Gen Z. It's a straightforward way to spread awareness about social issues worldwide. During the height of the black lives matter movement in mid-2020, the app was a center for activism. TikTok as an activism platform is super effective because awareness about problems can be shared in digestible ways because of its short-form format. This allows the user to see hundreds of videos an hour if they desire, which is a lot of content to consume in a relatively short time. 

Why is the government allowed to do this?

    Back to what I mentioned earlier, it's become national security and caused data privacy concerns. It all comes down to the US being nervous about what China might do with our info. They have referenced laws that allow the Chinese government to demand data from Chinese companies. They hold all of the American data, which threatens our government. 

    Many people find the TikTok bans aggravating, but the idea behind them is meant to prevent any possible issues in the future. 

#8: Diffusion

Diffusion: TikTok

˗ˏˋ ꒰ ♡ ꒱ ˎˊ˗

    Let's view TikTok through the lens of the diffusion theory. The app used to be considered embarrassing, but it quickly became the top app for Gen Z entertainment. 

    Many were early adopters because it was previously another popular app called "musical.ly." ByteDance bought the app and turned it into TikTok. I was a user then, and I remember many people being upset at the change, although everything about the app stayed the same. Quickly, the users declined. 

    People started re-downloading the app for many reasons, such as boredom and wanting another app to share things with their friends. It blew up again around 2019 and was active during 2020 when everyone was at home in quarantine. This user base has steadily increased until recently, with all the bans due to security concerns. 

    This platform is, for the most part, fun, but it could be bad for some people due to overuse and possible adverse mental health effects. I can see why someone would delete social platforms or not sign up. I think they can suck you in with a gnarly force, and it's hard to escape that. You learn to get the tiny bits of dopamine from other things outside a social platform. You most likely save time, too! This is all relative to the person. What might damage one person's well-being could be ineffective for another or even positive. This paid off monetarily for ByteDance, but it might have damaged us mentally in return.

#5 Age of AI

Age of AI

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

     The idea of AI is something I find terrifying because of how it can negatively affect our society. Corporations that always want to find cheaper ways to do things will rely on the development of AI to save money. Robots don't need benefits, breaks, or pay. Aside from maintenance, that could help companies like Amazon immensely. The issue is that Amazon has around 1,525,000 full-time and part-time employees worldwide as of the end of 2023. They have 800 warehouse facilities with more than 700,000 employees working in them. I know 3 people who work for/ have worked for Amazon in fulfillment positions; These positions are threatened by AI, as they've already implemented it in several of their warehouses around North America.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWonAz7Kczs&ab_channel=NBCNews

    I think AI does have important uses, especially in the medical field. Using AI to detect different types of cancers early can save lives. There is only so much humans can see and predict, but by using artificial intelligence, we can assist people in detecting cancer and provide treatment as early as possible. It also speeds up the process for radiologists who review the scans by being able to have problem areas broken down ahead of time. In 2021, a software called Paige Prostate was authorized by the FDA that is: 

“The first artificial intelligence (AI)-based software designed to identify an area of interest on the prostate biopsy image with the highest likelihood of harboring cancer so it can be reviewed further by the pathologist if the area of concern has not been identified on initial review.”

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-authorizes-software-can-help-identify-prostate-cancer

    My dad works at Duke as the research practice manager for the radiology department. When asking him about this, He agreed that it did an amazing job of dictating problem areas. But can it replace radiologists? The simple answer is no. In his words: “AI can see a ball, but an experienced radiologist can tell what kind of ball, how it probably got there, and how old it is.” As AI gets more info, it has the ability to detect things more efficiently. Once the AI stores the data from the radiologist, it can use that data to help the next scan. It’s a group effort! AI software isn't authorized to access patient history at this point, so the radiologist can cross reference that with the findings. We need the radiologist to have that human connection and get background on the patient to decide on treatment. This means that the AI will have to review notes written by people who might have human errors. The AI will store that human error and use it for future studies because it doesn't realize it is an error. This isn't a large issue because it's fixable, but with cancer research, it's an error that could be life-threatening to future patients.

    AI is something I don't go out of my way to consciously use daily, but I understand the appeal of it. The United States is built on technological advancements, and this is an impressive one. Chat GPT can help people write professional cover letters, answer questions, and even correct their grammar! AI will only develop further from here, but when will it be too much?

#7 EOTO1 Reaction: World Wide Web

EOTO1 Reaction: World Wide Web

⊹˚₊‧─────────────────────────────────────────────────‧₊˚⊹

    The World Wide Web started with the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, or ARPAnet. This launched during the Cold War when the US and Soviet Union were racing to beat each other technologically. 

    ARPA’s first project was building a large-scale computer network. They connected two computers on the same network using the concept of “packet switching.” This was later used to send messages between two computers, this was important during the Cold War when reliable info was a necessity. Internet Protocol was intended to be a universal communication between computers. This allowed this military tool to start being used by the public. Years later, businesses are created and transformed using the web. 

    E-commerce platforms, banking, and marketplaces are things we use now in our everyday lives. Most of us use the web every single day; it has truly transformed our society and allowed us to connect in many ways. The web is an amazing tool, but has its pitfalls. People began throwing their money into technology stocks due to the rise in e-commerce, which resulted in a huge market crash in 2000. This shows how rapidly things on the internet are able to change, for both good and bad reasons. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guvsH5OFizE