What I have Learned

What I have Learned......

I found that I was able to use blogger as a way to learn more about the topics we covered in class. For my blogs, I decided to go along with the concepts and ideas we covered, and did not veer off on my own. 

I was able to more indepthly learn about ideas we discussed such as privacy and gatekeeping through the research I did for my writing. I utilized notes, informational videos and articles that discussed each topic in order to do this. 

Before this class, I had never used blogger and had never written a blog post in general. Doing these assignments gave me the total blog experience. Blogs are used for all kinds of things, and are becoming increasingly popular in todays world which revolves around the Internet and social media. 

Experts in a particular field use outlets like blogger to talk about topics they have a lot of knowledge about. Blogger is also a place you are likely to find answers to any questions you may have. They are full of information. 

Writing these blogs throughout the semester also helped me become a better writer in terms of fitting what I want to say in 500 words or less. I have found that it is a lot harder to grab peoples attention and write what you are trying to say in fewer words as opposed to many. 

In this class, I also used my freedom of speech, as stated in the first amendment, through the use of these blogs. I expressed my opinion on various topics, such as my blog about being lost in a world consumed with social media. 

On a more personal level, the thing I found the hardest about keeping up with my blog this semester was evenly spacing them out so that I didn't have to cram them all at the end. 

What I found enjoyable about keeping up with these blogs this semester was being able to more effectively learn about the topics covered. When I have to do research, and creatively write about them in my own words, I am able to better understand the information and learn more. 

For future students, I recommend that you plan and space out your blogs each week. This will help you keep up with them so that you don't have a lot of work to do at the end. I would also recommend that you use the blog prompts that are given to you. These prompts go along with the materials covered in class, and will give you a better understanding of what you are learning as opposed to just writing about any topic you find interesting. If you want to write about things that don't pertain to the class, I recommend starting another, more personal blog. 

Privacy in Today's World

Privacy in Today's World 

Todays world is run by technology and social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google, and many more. The ideas that gave birth to these things have forever changed the way we communicate. Most importantly, they have changed our personal privacy. Today, everyone, unless they are completely off the grid, which is extremely unlikely, has a lot of information online. Overtime we search for something, or do something as simple as sending an email, we are sending out our personal information. 

Whats scary is that the data we willingly send out lasts forever. Our data will inevitably outlive us after we are long gone. We also increasingly have no control over our data and privacy. The newer generations have been taught to share everything online. We couldn't go a day without checking our various social media sites, and constantly share what we are doing in our lives. In 20 years, word privacy is going to mean something completely different for the older and younger internet users.

Before communication technology such as email, we sent letters to speak with people. Now, when we send an email, we are essentially sending a postcard. This is due to the fact that the contents in the email we send are able to be viewed easily. People like internet providers, email providers and the government could potentially see what is contained in the emails you send. Any government can access your information without you being aware of it. 

Today, our business model is not compatible with privacy. If we want privacy online, the only way to succeed is getting the whole world on board. Steps need to be done to make privacy more accessible and secure. A start to this is the technology for ProtonMail. This is a way to send messages without a server being able to read the emails that are sent. 

An example of why our privacy needs to be better protected is the Kayla doll, which is marketed towards children as a toy. This doll connects to the internet and talks to kids as their friends. It listens to and steals information, which they in turn use for advertising and share with third parties. Anyone with a smart phone can connect to it within a certain distance, showing how weak its security is. This becomes an issue when potential creepy people could access the doll and tell the child to "come out and play." 

This doll is banned in many countries and was removed from Amazon and Walmart shelves. This is a classic example of why we as a society need to pay closer attention to what data we are sending out, as well as what we are agreeing to every time we download a new app. We need to demand more understandable agreement terms before we click that accept button and protect our fundamental right to privacy. 

https://www.ted.com/talks/andy_yen_think_your_email_s_private_think_again/up-next
https://www.ted.com/talks/finn_lutzow_holm_myrstad_how_tech_companies_deceive_you_into_giving_up_your_data_and_privacy/up-next

What Is Gatekeeping?

What is Gatekeeping?

In communications, there are several communication theories that one must have an idea about. Gatekeeping is one of them. This is the process of selecting, and then filtering, items of media that can be consumed within the time or space than an individuals happens to have. This communication theory falls into the role of surveillance and monitoring data. The decisions made by those that are gatekeepers are done every day in order to determine what is relevant and what an audience will see.

In gatekeeping there is something we refer to as the information gate. This refers to what information will move on to a particular audience. The role of a gatekeeper is to decide what will pass through this gate based on their knowledge and expertise. Gatekeeping is also sometimes referred to as those who are data decision makers who control information flow to an entire social system. You become a gatekeeper when you are a pro in a particular topic, and have the knowledge to know when something is relevant to that topic or not. They allow information to reach audiences based on their personal expertise, experience in the professional world, social influence, and personal biases.

With gatekeeping comes advantages and disadvantages. Gatekeeping is considered an advantage because it filters out information that is not relevant or pertinent to audiences. In other words, it allows information to be straight to the point on a topic and does not waste an audiences time with information that isn't necessary. This communication theory is also thought of as a good thing because gatekeepers are supposed to be educated people that we can trust to have correct and factual information.

A disadvantage of gatekeeping is the fact that you are only getting information from one source as opposed to many different sources. Although gatekeepers are typically knowledgeable, they also filter out information according to their own personal bias. This can become an issue when an audience relies too much on one persons information and bias. It closes them off from opposing sides and different arguments that can be used to create a bigger picture.

As a whole, gatekeeping affect society by having the power to sometimes have an influence on policies and procedures, playing the role of watchdog within society, or simply playing onto the audiences conformation bias. Confirmation bias refers to the idea that when people would like a certain idea or concept to be true, they end up believing it to be true. The view of audiences in society are affected. Gatekeepers can change the priority of news, causing influence in society like racism, sexism, classism, etc. This can lead to an inconsistent dissemination of information against certain groups, causing even more of a divide.

In my personal opinion, it is very hard to make an informed decision or have an informed belief if you don't know information on all sides of an argument. Gatekeeping has contributed to a society even more polarized and unwilling to reason with those that they may disagree with. 

https://masscommtheory.com/theory-overviews/gatekeeping-theory/
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-confirmation-bias-2795024

Auditing My Social Media Accounts

Auditing My Own Social Media Accounts 

When auditing my own online footprint, I think its say to say that I make somewhat of an impact but it is for the most part small. It is however, enough that my name is still out there, and some of the things I do and say are visible. In the past, I have had my own website, DiFabio Photos. I used Wix to create it and paid to own the domain. Now, I primarily use my DiFabio Photos Instagram account to promote my photography because it is more accessible, easier to use and is free to use. On my own personal Instagram, I have roughly 2000 followers which consists of family, friends, mutual friends and those I have met over the years. I like to keep my accounts private for the most part, and not easily accessible to everyone. 

The social media sites I use are Facebook, Instagram, VSCO, Snapchat, Twitter and Tik Tok. I use Facebook to post photos and life updates for close friends and family. Primarily, the people that follow me on this platform are older family member the don't have other forms of social media. On this app, I have posted links to articles, given academic and career updates, and have shared things that I think of as significant. 

On my personal Instagram, I post images from my personal life while being careful about what I post. I know that my future employers will do research on me and look at my stuff, so I always keep things respectable for the people that follow me. Usually, I post things on my Instagram story about quotes that I find and new music that I am listening to. 

My professional Instagram is for my DiFabio Photos business. Here, I share images that I take and promote myself and my work. This has become somewhat of my online digital portfolio. In the bio of this account, I have linked my personal email and phone number so that people interested have the ability to contact me and make an appointment. 

My VSCO account consists of similar content from that of my personal Instagram. I use this app primarily for its image editing software.

Snapchat is a social media site that I spend the most of my online time using. I use it as a form of instant messaging with my close friends. On Snapchat, I share my day to day activities on my story and have conversations with my friends.


Twitter and Tik Tok are the apps I use solely for my own personal entertainment. On these platforms, I favorite and repost dumb statements and videos that I find funny. They are not serious forms of social media, instead my comedic relief.

From looking at my social media, a visitor could infer that I have a love of photography and music. They could also tell that I love to travel and experience new things. A majority of posts are of me going to new places and sharing them with my followers.

In regards to private information, I have voluntarily given out my email and phone number for each of the platforms I use. Most of the time, you have to divulge these things in order to create an account in the first place. Other than this, the only other information I have given our is my gender and birthday on apps like Facebook. 


https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100008519538459

https://www.instagram.com/difabio7/?hl=en

Roger's Diffusion of Innovations: Anti-Smoking Sentiment

Roger's Diffusion of Innovations: Anti-Smoking Sentiment 

In the past, smoking was a natural part of US culture. It was as normal as sipping a drink casually amidst a social event. A majority of people smoked, or at least knew a friend or family member that did. Nowadays, the number of people who smoke or use tobacco products is significantly smaller. This is due to the increased knowledge of the effects these products have on the body and research that continues to emerge. The model above, using Rogers Diffusion of Innovations, shows the events I find most significant in leading to anti-smoking sentiment.

The model starts with the pioneers of the movement. In 1954, research was posted in the British Medical Journal by Richard Doll and A. Bradford Hill that linked smoking and lung cancer. This was one of the first times research like this was conclusive and available to the public to see. Effects weren't seen in drastic measures following the release, but I believe it to be the kickstart of a movement moving away from tobacco products and towards a healthier society.

Next are the early adopters in the model. This takes it a step further from early pioneers. In 1966, the first warnings about cigarettes and the consequences for using them were integrated on the actual cigarette pack. This was due in part to congressional legislation making tobacco companies required to add these labels to their packaging. The warnings on these packages read, "Caution- cigarette smoking may be hazardous to your health."

Twenty one years later, in 1987,  Aspen Colorado became the first area in the nation to require smoke free restaurants. Up until this point, smoking in public spaces was a normal part of life. Even if you were not a smoker, you became accustomed to people smoking in confined spaces, in places like restaurants, bars and even airplanes. Back then, people were not aware of the consequences of smoking, and definitely didn't understand the idea of secondary smoke. My dad was never a smoker. He never enjoyed the smell or being around it and never once took a puff from a cigarette. His parents at the time didn't know the effects their smoking would have on their son. He developed severe asthma from this, which has slowed him down his whole life from playing sports and participating in physical exertion of any sort. This ban in Colorado started to really open peoples eyes to the dangers of smoking, especially in close-knit areas.

The tipping point of anti-smoking sentiment occurred in 2002. The American Lung Association did a lot of advocacy work resulting in the state of Delawares statewide smoke free law. This was the first state in several years to have made a law like this. This action acted as a catalyst for many other states to go smoke free. The early 2000's because of this saw a lot of changes in regards to opinions about smoking and cigarette use.

Next in the model are what consists of late adopters. The moment I thought best correlated with the anti-smoking sentiment movement was the articles released by the Institute of medicine in 2015. This new report was titled "Health Implications of Raising the Minimum Age for Purchasing Tobacco Products." This article concluded that raising the minimum age to 21 in order to legally purchase tobacco products would significantly reduce the rates of young people smoking and initiating smoking. In response to this report in 2015, Hawaii raised the legal age for purchasing tobacco products to 21 do do what the article stated. Later, eighteen states followed suit doing the same thing. 

Lastly, are the laggards of the diffusion model. I chose to highlight 2018, the year that devices like electronic cigarettes took off. And, although rates of smoking and consumption of tobacco products is not nearly as high as it once was, the use of these e-cig devices has increased, especially among the younger generations. Designed to help people stop smoking, these devices contain candy-like flavors that are indirectly marketed to the younger population, not just smokers looking to quit. Recently, there has been a lot of studies and research released related to their hazardous health effects. In this future, this will likely result in anti-vaping sentiment diffusion model of its own. 



https://www.nytimes.com/1964/01/01/archives/tobacco-industrys-peak-year-523-billion-cigarettes-smoked.html

https://www.lung.org/our-initiatives/tobacco/reports-resources/sotc/tobacco-timeline.html

The Watchdog Rule: Watergate

The Watchdog Rule: Watergate

The Watergate scandal involved Richard Nixon and other crucial government employees is known to be on the of the biggest political scandals in American history. This event started in 1971, and continued for nearly 3 and a half years until Nixon resigned from office in August of 1974. This scandal was one of the first events to be heavily followed by the media and created a new interest in journalism as a whole. This expresses one of the 8 speech theories: a check on governmental power. 

The Watergate scandal started in mid 1971 when pentagon papers were released revealing the US intentionally expanded Vietnam war efforts. This contrasted drastically to what the public supported or was being told by the government. Nixon and his associates, in response to this, panicked and formed a group to take action and help prevent more leaks. This was just the start of it all.

Nixon took a step further and started recording his political rivals in fear of them leaking more sensitive information to the people. Then, a plan was created to bug and steal information from the democratic committee at the Watergate hotel. In June of 1972, 5 intruders were arrested. Nixon tried to block the FBI from investigating these break ins and denied all involvement in the issue. Then more clues started to arise. 

Once the media got involved, Nixon started to shake in his boots. A team of Washington Post journalists investigated the numerous leaks, and were instrumental in unraveling the truth behind the case. They were able to find information about the break in. The burglars and some others involved were indicted, yet Nixon was reelected still. 

The scandal exploded when many political figures were exploited by investigators and the media. The people closest to Nixon were exposed for being involved and official investigations began in 1973. After further connections were made linking Nixon to the scandal, the recording devices were revealed and then subpoenaed. In his famous speech he told the people, who already had begun to doubt his honesty, that he "was not a crook."

Finally, in July 1974, the Watergate tapes were released and it was exposed that people involved had received hush money to keep quiet. The media was able to prove and expose Nixon for having known about all of this information since its start. With nothing left to do, Nixon resigned from office. He was pardoned a month later for his actions by Gerald Ford. 

The theory "check on governmental power, also referred to as the watchdog rule, says that freedom of the press enables citizens to learn about abuses of power and then do something about the abuse at the ballot box if they feel so moved. According to this theory, we, along with the press, are part of the check-and-balance system to restrain governmental power and abuse of power. The Watergate scandal expresses the importance of this theory and further proves the medias role in exposing the truth to the people and keeping those on top in check. 

https://www.theweek.co.uk/73702/watergate-45-years-on-why-was-it-so-important

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

An Evolution of Music from Vinyl Records to Cell Phones

An Evolution of Music from Vinyl Records to Cell Phones 

As a music lover, it is very interesting to know how devices used to listen to our favorites tunes have evolved from vinyl records, to cellphones that allow you to access any song at the touch of a button. These technology devices are evolving even today, making music more accessible to us by the day. 

Vinyl records hit the market and became a popular commodity in 1887. These were devices that contained "recordings etched onto a disc." You would put this on a record player and music would fill a room. Vinyls went through a multitude of advances during their time of popularity, including 2-sided vinyls that allowed for more song storage. A two sided vinyl could contain up to 20 minutes of sound on each side, and became extremely popular among artists who wanted to sell their songs and livelihood to the public. Vinyls have recently seen a comeback, especially among younger generations. I myself have a record player and love to collect vinyls and vinyl covers. Although, my record device is slightly more advanced and allows me to also bluetooth stream music through its loud speaker. This bit of technology allowed the evolution of music to really take off.

Cassette tapes were invented in 1962 and hit the market in 1963 to be mass produced and sold after being officially introduced at the Berlin Radio Show in Europe. These devices, also referred to as the "compact cassette" and "the tape," was a "little bit larger than a credit card but much thicker and stored sound on a magnetic tape wound around two wheels inside." Cassette tapes were much smaller than vinyls and were much more accessible and easier to transport. They also made it so that people could record their own sounds and create their own tapes. Prior to their release, there were reel-to-reel recorders which were extremely expensive and "required training and knowledge on how to use."  Due to this, the emergence of cassette tapes took off and were very popular because they didn't require this prior training. Just like the vinyls, many advancements were made to these tapes in their time improving performance and sound quality. 

Cassette tapes saw a drastic decline in sales when the compact CD was introduced. People were able to easily burn music onto discs and they were even easier to use and transport. Songs and content could be held on the smallest compact device. With the emergence of CDs came CD players which were used by inserting the disc allowing music to be read from the device and then played. Headphones could be attached letting consumers to plug away and listen to songs personally with their own ears. "By the late 80's CDs had exploded in popularity, with the cost of the players coming down and an increasingly large number of artists converting their back catalogs to the new digital format." The music industry really took off and artists were able to mass produce their albums and sell them to the public to listen to.

The game really changed when CD players evolved and MP3s were introduced. MP3 players hit the market in 1998 and allowed for hundreds of songs to be at the fingertips of consumers. Music lovers no longer had to listen to whole albums on CD's and replace a disc when they were through with all the songs. They could stream songs from various artists and play them when they wanted. "The history of MP3 is a fascinating one. It began in 1982, when Karlheinz Brandenburg was an electrical engineer PhD student. His thesis advisor issued him a challenge: find a way to transmit music over digital phone lines." This idea is what led us to these devices and the technology that has become some commonplace in our society today. Apples I-Pod was the device that really put them on the map. It allowed users to possess and shuffle between thousands of songs. 

I remember being so excited one Christmas when I was younger and opened an electric blue I-Pod nano. Now, I couldn't even tell you where it was. Every song I need is accessible to me right on my cellphone. Its hard to think about a time when music was not that easy to access and have at my fingertips whenever I want. With my cellphone, I am able to look up any song, by any artist, at any time with ease. This evolution of music has led to this point. New technological advances from the vinyl to cellphones have allowed us to listen to music whenever we please, and technology is only advancing from here. We can't really imagine a time when we had to have vinyls and a record player to listen to music. I wonder what my great great grandkids will say about iPhone 11 device I used to listen to my favorite toons. 

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/the-evolution-of-music-consumption-how-we-got-here/

https://southtree.com/blogs/artifact/the-convenience-of-the-cassette