Final Post: Relationship With Technology

     Technology has always been prevalent in my lifetime, though it has greatly evolved over the span of the 18 years I have been in this world. At the time of my birth in May of 2002, iPhones had not yet been invented, YouTube did not exist, Spotify was not founded, and the Wireless Headset was amongst TIME magazine's Best Inventions of the Year. In today's world, iPhones have a face recognition system, YouTube has over 2.3 billion active users, Spotify is the top music streaming service in the world, and companies such as Apple, Sony, and Bose have made hundreds of millions of dollars through wireless headset sales. Some of the inventions we see now would have been mind-blowing to people even as recent as 10 years ago.

    In terms of my relationship with technology, it takes up a lot of my time but this is common amongst people especially in my generation. Almost all school work is done online (even more so now with the pandemic), lots of communication is done via technology (phone calls, FaceTime, texting, etc.), and a majority of the entertainment nowadays is technology-related (movie/show streaming, music streaming, video games, etc.). Not to mention social media consists of platforms that have grown tremendously over the past decade such as Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Statistics from 2019 suggest that there were over 3.5 billion Social Media users, which equated to about 45% of the world's population. 2 years later, this number has grown without a doubt as being on social media further cements itself as a norm in society, especially in America. With that being said, I do not necessarily believe that this relationship with technology is completely healthy. The following article by the Suicide Prevention Resource Center states that suicide risk has increased with the development of technology, especially amongst the youth. Additionally, the following article from Medical Daily suggests that Obesity In America Comes From Inactivity, Not Too Many Calories. Too many Americans are not getting the proper levels of activity, instead spending their time being consumed by technology. Despite these facts that show the negative effects technology has on society, many people (myself included) are 

so used to high usage of technology that these downsides often go unnoticed.

    Technology has benefited my relationships that I have with others, especially in the past year. During times of quarantine at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, technology allowed me to still be able to communicate with friends and classmates. Along similar lines, it has also given me the opportunity to stay in contact with my hometown friends and family throughout my time here at High Point University. During winter and spring break, I was also able to talk to my friends from HPU thanks to technology. Whereas in previous generations saying a simple "hello" would have required potential hours of travel or sending a letter in the post, nowadays communication is available at the click of a mouse or the touch of a screen. 

    Ultimately, the technological advancements over the past 10-20 years have influenced our world more than anything else. These advancements have brought plenty of pros and cons along with them but one thing is for certain: I could not imagine what society or my life would look like without this technology.

Blog #9: Diffusion Theory on iPhones

     Over the past 14 years, the iPhone has reached millions of customers around the world and is seen as arguably the most innovative technological advancement of the 21st century. It completely changed the game in terms of how people communicate and use phones. The reason why so many people have bought the iPhone over the year is because of its abundance of benefits compared to other smartphones. Some of these benefits include iMessage, FaceTime, touchscreen, iTunes, camera, speakers, and accessibility to the internet/social media. These features of the iPhone are the reason why both early and late adopters have been attracted to the iPhone. Another reason why people have adopted the iPhone over the years is its popularity. Since 2011, Apple's iPhone has been the best-selling mobile phone in 8 years. 

       Despite the positives of the iPhone and the vast majority of people that use it, there are those who are not adopters. One reason why someone would be against getting an iPhone could be due to their loyalties to another smartphone company such as Samsung or Google. A consumer of one of these other companies could see no reason to switch to an iPhone as they have had no issues with the brand they currently use. Another reason why someone would be opposed to getting an iPhone is they are simply unwilling to learn how to use one. This mostly applies to the elderly, as navigating through an iPhone could seem like rocket science. Finally, people could refuse to get an iPhone because of their Cons. These downsides include the cost, expensive accessories, no headphone jack, no external apps, and no external storage. However, the majority of smartphone users believe that the positives outweigh the negatives as they continue to purchase the newest iPhones.

Key Post: Propaganda

     Propaganda is especially biased and/or misleading information that is used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. Used often and mostly controversial, propaganda has both pros and cons. Some positive aspects of propaganda are that its effective, persuasive and comes in many forms such as music, movies, posters, social media posts, blogs, etc. Famous propaganda movies include Animal Farm, The Memphis Belle, The North Star, and The Nazis Strike. Famous propaganda songs include Rage Against The Machine - Killing In The Name, Green Day - American Idiot, Lil Baby - The Bigger Picture, and N.W.A - F**k The Police. These examples of propaganda in the entertainment industry are arguably the most effective as they are likely to reach both the audiences of the musicians/filmmakers as well as those attracted to the topics they portray. Negative aspects of propaganda are that it can contain skewed data or misinformation, the effectiveness of propaganda is directly linked to the topic, its effectiveness lessens over time which can lead to backlash, and its manipulative. In terms of effectiveness being linked directly to the topic, we've seen over the course of history that propaganda has been much more popular with big topics such as World War I and II, the Civil Rights Movement, the LGBTQ movement, and COVID-19. The reason behind this is simple; more people view the propaganda because many are interested in the issue at hand. Propaganda lessens in effect over time since more reliable information becomes available and the flaws/misinformation of the propaganda get exposed. 

    The effects of propaganda on all groups of society and society as a whole are undeniable. All social changes/movements use propaganda as a keystone for change and have over the course of history. Every one of the movements/groups seeking change mentioned earlier (U.S. Government with WWI and WWII, the Civil Rights Movement, the LBGTQ movements, and health workers with the coronavirus) have all used propaganda in order to achieve their goals. In terms of the effect propaganda has had on all different groups in society, specific pieces of propaganda may affect some groups more than others, but ultimately every single group has benefited and suffered from the use of propaganda. A prime example of this is women's suffrage. As women were trying to earn their right to vote, both those in favor of and opposed to the movement used propaganda in an attempt to sway Americans either one way or the other. This has been the case with all issues in which multiple sides with different opinions clash. In today's world, online propaganda has risen to the forefront as a new and crucial way for a movement to gain followers and spread its ideas. However, despite this innovation in technology, it is much easier for people to believe the misinformation that is embedded in propaganda as it can easily appear to be factual. This has effected our generation more than any other, as many people believe false information, radical ideas, and conspiracy theories.

    Links:

• The Pros And Cons Of Propaganda (rferl.org)

• War Propaganda | AHA (historians.org)

• Misinformation, Disinformation, and Online Propaganda (Chapter 2) - Social Media and Democracy (cambridge.org)

• The 50 Greatest Protest Songs (radiox.co.uk)

Blog #8: EOTO Radio Presentation

    The EOTO presentation on the invention of the radio was interesting to me and taught me lots of information that I did not know previously. One of these facts that was unknown to me is that the first radio broadcast was transmitted in 1885 by Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi. 

    Radio broadcasting began commercially around 1900, and were heavily used initially by the U.S. Navy. The Navy equipped their ships with radio transmitters in order to communicate to each other. Around World War II in the late 1930s / early 1940s, the use of the radio expanded by allowing music to play on different stations. Another use of the radio around this time was the invention of The Fireside Chats by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. During the Great Depression, FDR used the radio and his "fireside chats" to communicate with Americans and make them feel a special with him.

    A lasting positive impact of the radio is the spread of information and ideas throughout the nation and the world. Another pro that can still be seen today is the enhancement of the music industry as many radio stations play music on the air. The large audience that radio broadcasts reach and have reached over the years has allowed the radio to become on of the most important inventions in the history of human communication and information sharing. A negative impact that the radio has had on the world is radicalized political views on broadcasts that have caused a greater divide, especially in America.

Blog #7: Antiwar Censorship

     The United States of America is commonly stereotyped as a nation whos people are patriotic democrats who are willing to fight in wars and even die for their proud country. However, while this stereotype is true for some Americans, over the course of U.S. history we have seen numerous antiwar movements. Despite the presence of these movements, we so rarely ever hear about them especially through mainstream news sources. Websites such as Antiwar.com and The American Conservative are hardly ever promoted on social media as they go against the patriotic narrative that fits America. 

    With every war that America has fought in its history, there have been those who oppose it. Even during the Revolutionary War, there were those who had the desire to stay under England's control as forming a new country seemed a daunting task to some. During the Civil War, the deadliest war fought on American soil, there were those who were against the war effort as families and friends became divided. Perhaps one of the first well-documented antiwar movements was the World War I antiwar movement. As this war was fought all the way in Europe and initially posed no threat to the U.S., the majority of Americans were strongly opposed to joining the war. President Woodrow Wilson even promised that he would not enter the war. Despite the interception of the Zimmerman Message which alluded to Mexico attacking the U.S., there were still antiwar protesters. One of most famous antiwar movements was against the war in Vietnam, as many Americans viewed the effort as not concerning the U.S. After news of terrible tragedies such as the My Lai Massacre reached the American people and as the war continued for years, the antiwar voices became louder. As the documentary Sir! No Sir! says, there were plenty of soldiers of the U.S. military that opposed and even refused to fight in the Vietnam War. All of these movements are often lost in history or suppressed in the current day as America would much rather stick to the ultra-patriotic narrative in order to show its strength.

Key Post: The Launch of the World Wide Web

     The World Wide Web was launched on April 30, 1993 by its creator, CERN computer scientist Tim Berners-Lee. Its creation stemmed from his proposal four years earlier in 1989 for "an idea of linked information systems." However, it was in 1993 when Berners-Lee released the source code for the first ever web browser and editor. He developed the code on a NeXT computer. The World Wide Web was originally created to connect CERN's information system (which was based in system) to other systems such as MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) and Stanford University's systems. Initially, the World Wide Web was closed off to the public and only used by institutions. However, the WWW soon became opened to the general public to use. 

                                                                Tim Berners-Lee

    The invention of the World Wide Web has its pros and cons. Some positives that can be associated with the WWW include that it was the first royalty-free, easy-to-use browser. Similarly to nowadays, there was not any cost for the consumer to conduct searches and it was easily accessible. Another pro was that it revolutionized information sharing and human connection. Prior to the invention of the World Wide Web, people shared information and connected with each other by talking on the phone, writing letters to each other, or conversing in-person. Following the introduction of the World Wide Web, there are countless ways to information share and communicate with others. Just a few examples are email, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat. Leading into the next pro, most of these are also examples of the World Wide Web being a global source of information. People from all around the world have contributed to the Web's expansion, which was a goal from the start in connecting CERN's Swiss-based system with those in the United States of America. Finally, another big pro of the World Wide Web was its low cost of the initial connection. Due to not many people using the WWW, not many systems were connected to the server which meant a low cost to have a connection with these systems. 

    Despite the many pros, the World Wide Web had and still has plenty of cons. One of these negative aspects was the difficulty to filter and prioritize information. A great contributor to this flaw was the lack of control over the quality of available information. In the early days of the WWW, there was no fact-checking websites like nowadays. Another con was the slow search time, which makes sense as the technology was brand new. Additionally, early systems were overloaded due to the large number of users. Finally, the WWW required an effective information search strategy in order to get the best results. The invention of the World Wide Web was revolutionary and had many advantages, but it also came with its downsides.

Links:

World Wide Web (WWW) launches in the public domain - HISTORY

A short history of the Web | CERN (home.cern)

World Wide Web: Invention, History and Uses (jagranjosh.com)

Blog Post #4: First Amendment Protections

 Link to article: Recent Court Rulings Affirm First Amendment Protections (prnewswire.com)

    In the First Amendment, two of the six clauses are freedom of religion and freedom of assembly. So, when California Governor Gavin Newsom banned all indoor worship in churches across the state in an attempt to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, many objected as they viewed the decision as "blatantly discriminatory against the religious". Two cases, South Bay United Pentecostal Church v. Newsom and Harvest Rock Church v. Newsom, reached the Supreme Court. The SCOTUS ruled in a 5-4 decision that California's restrictions were unconstitutional as it restricted people's rights of religion and assembly. The state was forced to allow indoor worship sessions to resume, albeit at a 25% capacity. Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote, "If Hollywood may host a studio audience or film a singing competition while not a single soul may enter California's churches, synagogues and mosques, something has gone seriously awry."

    Aside from freedom of religion and assembly, the First Amendment condones freedom from religion, speech, press, and petition. The First Amendment does not condone action, though it does allow expressive action. However, if a private company disobeys the First Amendment, it is not seen as a violation. As the state of California is not a private company, it does not have the right to restrict people from attending indoor worship. If someone is censored online by the government, then they can sue as a violation of their free expression. However, under the State Action Doctrine, private sectors such as Instagram can censor someone as they do not have government involvement.

Blog Post #2: Supreme Court History

 Question 1: What did you learn about the Supreme Court that you didn't already know?

I learned that the Supreme Court was established in 1789 by Article 3 of the Constitution. I also did not know that the original SCOTUS had only 6 judges as opposed to 9 and the number of judges was changed 6 times by Congress. Additionally, I learned that the first Supreme Court case was West v. Barnes and that the first Chief Justice was John Jay. Finally, I didn't know that 115 Justices have served on the Supreme Court.

Question 2: What is the most important take-away point about the Supreme Court?

The most important take-away point about the Supreme Court is that it holds just as much power as the legislative and executive branches. It has the ability to check the actions of the other two branches of government. Personally, I think of the President and Congress before I think of the Supreme Court when discussing the power of the government, but the SCOTUS is just as powerful as the other two.

Question 3: What was the most surprising thing you learned?

The most surprising fact I learned was that William Howard Taft served as both the Supreme Court Justice and the President of the United States, the only person to serve in both of these positions.

Question 4: How did the video/reading change the way you thought of the Supreme Court?

Following my reading of the History Channel's article on the Supreme Court, I see the true power that the Supreme Court has. Their rulings on cases set the precedent for all future cases relating to similar issues and lots of the social changes in the U.S. stem from Supreme Court rulings (i.e. Brown v. Board of Education, Miranda v. Arizona, Texas v. Johnson, Roe v. Wade, etc.).