The internet provides a wide array of information that spans in scope topically, and origin geographically. What we believe to be true may be contested in one circle of the internet, and this brings about the dilemma which the Ted Talk by Eli Pariser addresses. Eli discusses how our own personal biases will shape our experiences on the internet, which includes the information that is more easily available to us, and what information will seem to not exist. Eli sees this as a negative outcome of the internet, as our lack of exposure to opposing and new ideas will be at odds with our vision of democracy.
Sue Halpern makes a similar observation in her article, Mind Control & the Internet, where she argues that it would be short-sighted to bring about a transhumanism revolution where humans would become one with computer technology, as even the most well equipped algorithms(Google's search engine) suffer from confirming our biases and giving us a skewed sense of reality.
These two sources differ from Clive Thompson's article, Clive Thompson on High-Bandwidth Buddies where he believes that sticking to people with similar worldviews will inevitably help us learn more than having a diverse network of friends and acquaintances. He states that on account of the fact that we talk more with people who share similar ideas with us, we are more likely to be introduced to new ideas to them, and often in ways that are easier for us to understand than if we were to hear the same concept form someone who doesn't know us as well. The difference in the sources lies in that although they all draw form the same fact that we will gravitate more towards ideas and people that are similar to us, the outcomes in the first two sources are seen as negative whereas the third source sees a more positive outcome of the situation.
Monday, March 6, 2017
The Election Will be Digitized
Social Media has shaped the lives of many people in America in the ways we communicate and spend our free time. But has it also influenced the way we make decisions? What about election decisions? Is social powerful enough a tool to get people to hear about what you believe in and why they should believe in what you believe in? The answer to that is a yes; social media is the easiest way for people to spread their thoughts whether it be through a Facebook post, a tweet, or this blog right here. Will people always agree with you? Probably not, but if you know what you're doing then you can create a huge following.
Barack Obama led a social media campaign that would that helped him win the presidential election of 2008. At the time Obama had launched his campaign, the power of social media had not been tapped into yet. His opponents resorted to the usual methods of that time, television, sponsored newspaper ads, political rallies, etc. These methods are effective and will probably still be used for years to come, but Obama was able to capture the online audience who had gone away from paper and televised news.
The internet is a pretty huge place, and Obama hit a goldmine by picking at it. How exactly did Obama tackle the ocean that is the internet? With his own social media website, made to be easily accessible with the feature to sign up through Facebook to easily catch the attention of a large demographic.
Seeing as this man is now our president, it is now standard to see a greater deal of campaign focus online, making it less of an easy pickings deal and now more of an actual competition. This is the evolution of campaigning.
Source Article
Barack Obama led a social media campaign that would that helped him win the presidential election of 2008. At the time Obama had launched his campaign, the power of social media had not been tapped into yet. His opponents resorted to the usual methods of that time, television, sponsored newspaper ads, political rallies, etc. These methods are effective and will probably still be used for years to come, but Obama was able to capture the online audience who had gone away from paper and televised news.
The internet is a pretty huge place, and Obama hit a goldmine by picking at it. How exactly did Obama tackle the ocean that is the internet? With his own social media website, made to be easily accessible with the feature to sign up through Facebook to easily catch the attention of a large demographic.
Seeing as this man is now our president, it is now standard to see a greater deal of campaign focus online, making it less of an easy pickings deal and now more of an actual competition. This is the evolution of campaigning.
Source Article
The Efficacy of Cyber Bully Prevention Advocates
Cyber bullying is a new phenomenon that has been catching the attention of the general public for quite some time now. Many people see cyber bullying as a massive problem for the new generation of children being born into the age of the internet. I would have to agree that in some cases, a child may find themselves in situations where they are in a constant state of being harassed by anonymous internet users who dedicate time to making the lives of others inconvenient or down right horrendous. I myself know of ways to inconvenience people greatly through the internet and many of the people I interact with on the internet know these methods just as well if not better.
What I do see wrong in this whole concept of cyber bullying is the people trying to stop it. I know it would be hard for an average PC user to understand what DDOSing someone is or having hundreds of empty cardboard boxes shipped to an unlucky person's front door is, but it would be great if the people campaigning against cyber bullying were more focused on teaching children and teens how to have a better sense on what is and what is not suspicious on the internet. In a PBS article about the vulnerability of children to online predators and hackers and other malicious basement dwellers, it is stated that the children born into this age of technology are likely to fall into the traps of these people. I suppose I might be speaking for myself here or the many others that I know, but as someone who has locked them self away from the outside world for easily two thirds of my life, navigating the internet isn't as daunting as it's made out to be, There are general ideas that are shared among many people that happen to act as some sort of analysis of how the internet works and how you should deal with it.
What I do see wrong in this whole concept of cyber bullying is the people trying to stop it. I know it would be hard for an average PC user to understand what DDOSing someone is or having hundreds of empty cardboard boxes shipped to an unlucky person's front door is, but it would be great if the people campaigning against cyber bullying were more focused on teaching children and teens how to have a better sense on what is and what is not suspicious on the internet. In a PBS article about the vulnerability of children to online predators and hackers and other malicious basement dwellers, it is stated that the children born into this age of technology are likely to fall into the traps of these people. I suppose I might be speaking for myself here or the many others that I know, but as someone who has locked them self away from the outside world for easily two thirds of my life, navigating the internet isn't as daunting as it's made out to be, There are general ideas that are shared among many people that happen to act as some sort of analysis of how the internet works and how you should deal with it.
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