Blog Reveal - Semester Wrap Up

Since the blogging phenomenon began in 1999, people worldwide have been able to share their stories and opinions online for anyone to see.  Although this idea started out as just a personal way of sharing opinions with family and friends, websites such as Facebook and Twitter have taken over the internet based off this idea.  Any person is now able to share their ideas, whether it is to a small amount of people or a large accumulated audience composed of millions of viewers.  

In the beginning of the semester, I found it hard to figure out what to write about for my blog.  What would people want to see? Is this interesting enough? Do I have enough to say on this topic?

But after a while, I realized that all those questions didn’t really matter - this blogging experience was for me.  I needed to find what interested me, and shape my own opinion through my own research and reactions. 

After working on this blog for a whole semester, and finally finding my own voice through it, I believe that blogging can act as a source of empowerment. I was able to share my own experiences and opinions, without having to feel judgement from anyone. I was able to find what I liked to research and write about. After midterms, when the blog posts were more guided, I believe I was able to touch on topics I would not have thought about before the class.  Throughout the class, I was able to learn  and explore parts of the First Amendment and parts of U.S. history that I have never touched on before in a class. 

Overall, I was hesitant at first about trying to keep up with a blog, as I have struggled with it in other classes because I wasn’t able to find a purpose for it.  After taking this class, I have a newfound respect for blogging.  If I were to give advice to the next class, I would say be patient. You’ll find your purpose for blogging, whether that be to educated yourself on new topics or finding a safe place to talk about your opinions.  This blog experience may seem hard and annoying at first, but forcing yourself through the beginning will help you enjoy it by the end. 

Group Presentation Reaction

This week, our Media Law and Literacy class had the responsibility of conducting group presentations surrounded around 4 different topics: Awareness, Mediasphere, Theories, and Policy.  As previously stated in one of my last posts, my group had the topic of policy.

After watching all of the great presentations, the one that stayed with me the most was the group that presented on theories.  Not only did this group have a cohesive and interesting presentation, but I also learned a lot that I had never known before from their presentation.  

One topic that stood out to me the most was the theory of the spiral of silence, which basically says that people tend to not voice their opinion if it does not agree with the majority.  I had never known before this class that there was an actual name for this phenomenon, but I definitely had experienced it myself before.  I believe that this theory affects almost every single person at one point in their life.  No one wants to be the odd person out, so voicing an opinion that is opposite of the majority goes against our natural instinct to do what everyone else does.  It is hard to speak your truth, but sometimes it is necessary because other people may actually agree, but are in the same position of being too afraid to speak out.  It only ever takes one person to be comfortable enough to speak out for others to follow.  

My Immortal Tattoo

I do not have any tattoos.  I truly never plan on getting one, as I am a baby when it comes to needles. 

However, when Juan Enriquez began his TedTalk by talking about online tattoos, I began to think differently about my own life.  Had I really had a tattoo this whole time without knowing it?

However, his TedTalk did not make me really reflect on my own online decisions, but of the actions of a girl who had online bullied me for a whole summer.  As long as that will live with me emotionally, that is a part of her online immortal tattoo, and I wonder if she will regret it later in life, as some people do when they reflect on tattoos they got when they were younger. 

 

The TedTalk on revenge porn, or what Darieth Chisolm now calls “digital domestic violence”, almost did not shock me at all.  I have heard many stories of this happening to friends, or friends of friends, and it makes me sick to think someone would be willing to ruin someone else’s life just because they were rejected.  “When they can’t physically put their hands on you, they use different weapons,” Chisolm goes on to explain. After watching this, I really reevaluated the type of information I share with new people in my life, because you really never know how they might turn out.  

HPU Panthers: Sport Culture, or the Lack Thereof

   The High Point University Panthers have 16 teams that compete in the Big South Conference.

   The men's lacrosse program is the only one that does not, as they compete in the Southern Conference.  Just this past weekend, they won that conference.

   How many students paid attention to this big feat? The sport culture inside of High Point University slowly grows as the years pass. Trying to get more involvement of fans in the school sports is a hard tasks.  At the end of the 2017-2018 school year, a survey was sent school wide on the students' opinions on the school sports and how they can get more involvement. Many more sports fans come from outside of the gated walls. 

   "The team is ranked so it definitely brings more involvement. But the sports culture here is still not as good as it could be.  Tailgates before games have brought a lot more attention to some of the sports games which helps," comments Mason Kearns, a color broadcaster for the men's lacrosse program.

   The men's lacrosse teams success this past year has increasingly brought more fans to light, as many of the students have posted more about the results of the games than ever before.  Ever since the Panthers beat the Blue Devils, fans have kept their eye out for more opportunities to see how one of their best ranked teams of all time is doing.

   Success ultimately brings increased interest and viewers.  If all goes well, the men's lacrosse games can begin to set a precedent for student involvement in supporting their peers in sports. 

"Cancelled" Culture - When Will it Stop?

Over the past 10 years or so, social media has taken over people's lives.  It is routine now to wake up and immediately go to your socials to find out what is going on in the world, whether that be politically or the recent scandal of your favorite celebrity or online influencer.  On the internet, everything you post or connect with is documented.  As we have talked about extensively in my Media Law class, our online footprint can define what type of person we are to others, such as a potential significant other, an employer, or even if a person maintains a fan base.  

In the last couple of years, people have dug up old posts from celebrities or influencers that may contain homophobic language, racial slurs, or otHer types of hateful language. This has ultimately brought about the action of many people "cancelling" these celebrities or influencers over these old posts. This means that the person who made the mistake could be seen as one of many things: a bad role model, a hateful person, a racist, homophobic, etc. An apology in the form of a video or post usually follows these outcries; however, many do not accept their apologies to be genuine.

I personally dislike this "cancel culture" our society has adopted.  I see this as prohibiting people from making mistakes, and also does not allow them to grow and learn from mistakes that are made.  I despise the way people now think that they are perfect beings compared to others just because they never posted something stupid online.  Every single person makes mistakes, and everyone should be given the same opportunity to learn and move on from those mistakes.  If not, we will all eventually get stuck living in the past and become even more sensitive than we are now.  With the growing acceptance and rejection of many things in our culture, these platforms have allowed for our society to become overly sensitive.  This, in my opinion, is why cancel culture is so popular right now. As more people talk about it and the problems surrounding cancel culture, I believe it will start to decline.  People will be able to live, learn, grow, and move on from their mistakes without losing their whole career and reputation. 

My Group Topic: Sherman Anti-Trust Act

In my Media Law and Literacy class, this week we were assigned groups for a group presentation on a certain subject.  Our group’s theme was policy.  After breaking off into groups, we all decided what we would research for the presentation.  I chose the Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890.  

The Sherman Anti-Trust Act of 1890 was the first Federal act passed by Congress that prohibited trusts, outlawed monopolistic business practices, and outlawed any group that restricted trade between states and/or foreign nations. Furthermore, a trust is a group of stockholders come together and share their individual shares to a set of trustees.  These stockholders then receive an agreed upon amount of earnings from the trust.  Congress viewed these trusts as ruining competition in the economy and wanted to regulate trade.

This affects my generation with the internet and also phone companies. Cases have been brought up against AT&T and Microsoft in the last 20 years.  Big companies like Disney and Google, who own almost all of what we see and use on the internet, have most recently been examples of huge monopolies in our society today.  Disney alone has a market capitalization of $171.70 billion, making it absolutely impossible for other companies to compete with them.

How much do we need competition for our economy to grow?

Should the government step in when they think these companies are hurting our economy? Do they say nothing when it is helping?

My Social Media Presence

My online presence spans across many different websites that include: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and VSCO.  These are all social media cites in which you can connect with other people in a multitude of ways, including posting and direct messaging.  Although I have accounts with all of these social media platforms, I do not believe my online footprint is that large.  I do not believe this because I rarely ever post content of my own, only ever interacting with other accounts from mine. 

On most of my social media accounts, such as Facebook and Instagram, I post only a couple times a year.  Most people can find more updates about me through my friends and their accounts, as they post more than I do.  I never found that I liked posting, as it always gave me a sort of anxiety about the amount of engagement I had compared to my friends.  

There are many cons to social media.

Social media does put a lot of pressure on an individual to look and act perfectly.  Any simple mistake will be called out, and people will hate on you, or you in general, for no reason. A person that makes their job around social media has to have the toughest skin.  

Social media can definitely make a person feel the loneliest or depressed.  On one hand, you can feel lonely because a person can have a lot of online friends, and none in real life.  They count on the other people behind the screens, but have no one to rely on in person.  On another hand, many become depressed because they do not have the same lifestyle or look the same as another person online.  Girls often compare themselves, wanting the perfect features that are shown online, even though most of them are fake.  

I have personally learned that social media and the standards set on them should not determine how you view your life. Everyone has grown up in different circumstances, and comparing yourself to another person will only hurt your confidence in the end. 

The Rise of YouTube and Online Influencers

Every day, new technology is being created, introduced, and/or advanced.  People are finding new ways to connect around the world, whether it be through video or messaging.  In YouTube's case, both are happening and advancing every day.

YouTube was created in February of 2005 by three men: Chad Hurley, Steven Chen, and Jawed Karim. Fourteen years later and YouTube now holds the title for the 2nd largest search engine at 1.8 billion registered on the site to watch 5 billion videos uploaded daily. More than 1 billion hours of footage is watched daily, according to YouTube. 

Because of this, many video creators have gained a huge following, or subscribers, with PewDiePie holding the crown of the most at almost 83 million. These creators are set aside from celebrities, having their own genre of fame referred to as "Online Influencers.'"

These influencers gain sponsorships, get sent free clothes, makeup, and other items from brands that want to get their name noticed by the audience of the influencers.  YouTube has given anyone a platform to share their passions, opinions, music, etc.

The downside to all of this is the increase in bullying and hate this platform allows.  Comment sections become brutal, leading to many of the influencers to need to take a break from their channels, which has basically become some of their full time jobs, because their mental health has depleted tremendously despite having a large following.

This site has allowed for the idea of "celebrity" in our time to change.
To read more about YouTube, I am linking a Forbes article that touches more on YouTube's influence on today's youth. 

The Eight Values of Free Expression ... How do you rank them?

This week in my Media Law and Literacy class, the teacher provided the class with a list of eight values of free expression and analyzed them with the class. 

The eight values consisted of: discovery of truth, participation in self-government, stable change, individual self-fulfillment, check on governmental power, promote tolerance, promote innovation, and protect dissent. 

After, we were to to talk with a classmate as to which we thought was the most important out of the list.  Here are my thoughts.

I believe that to be able to choose one of these as the most valuable or important on the list is next to impossible.  To put one over the other makes no sense; each value goes hand-in-hand with another. My partner, Sarah, and I believe that both the values of individual self-fulfillment and check on governmental power are the most important that we can pick out of the list to identify with free expression in our country today. Individual self-fulfillment allows any person to find themselves and create their own identity; thus, free speech allows for a person to have a certain autonomy to create their own way of expressing themselves through his or her own speech.  While every person has this right to become one's true self, they also have a certain duty to their country to check on the government, and speak out on things that happen, whether good or bad.  It is a citizen's duty to check on and call out the government, as even given as a specific right in the sixth clause of the First Amendment.  It is important for every citizen to respect and recognize their responsibility to the checks and balances system of our country to check on the governmental power, and that is why I am very passionate that this is one of the most important value on this list.  

Overall, I believe that every American should value every aspect of this list. Although every citizen does not recognize the responsibility given to us in the First Amendment, I believe it is my duty as not only a citizen, but one working in the communication field in this country, to uphold these values and keep aware of my responsibility. 

"Politics ought to be the part-time profession of every citizen who would protect the rights and privileges of free people and who would preserve what is good and fruitful in our national heritage." - Dwight D. Eisenhower

What Does "Self Made" Really Mean?

As Forbes officially named Kylie Jenner as the "youngest self made billionaire" earlier this week, many have been questioning what the significance of this word means today. 

Many believe that she should not have gained this title over Mark Zuckerburg, due to her family background and the fame she had already gained from reality TV show "Keeping Up With the Kardashians".  Her roots come from money. However, once stepping into her own light in the makeup industry, coming out with her own brand named "Kylie Cosmetics" in 2016, she quickly began to gain momentum in the social media light.  

Now, three years later, her net worth has amount to a billion dollars, and people are mad about it. They do not believe her story should be the one with the spotlight, as she gained most of her popularity off of her family name and relation to the Kardashian family.  It is easy to recognize she came from fame, but I think most people do not respect the fact that she used this platform to make a name for herself and do what she loved: creating a business and making make up.  She has my respect for how she has not only influenced the make up world, but also taking her situation and using it for the best and making something out of her situation instead of just leaning off her family wealth to survive.  

Cheering for Equal Opportunity

Although Title IX has been in effect for almost 50 years, the cases in school athletics violating this still occur regularly. Specifically, a case has arisen in Minnesota after male students filed a complaint last summer saying the their Fourteenth Amendment and Title IX rights were being violated by the Minnesota State High School League, in which they had a bylaw that did not permit males to join competitive dance teams.  

They are said to have believed this bylaw should still be in use because females at the schools had been deprived of equal opportunity for so long.  However, this thought completely goes against Title IX in that the underrepresentation had not continued and has since been balanced out across the League. 

On Wednesday, the US Court of Appeals for the Eight District overturned a district court ruling that allowed this bylaw to stay in place.  Additionally, they issued a preliminary blocking of this bylaw in the League. 

Facebook and Privacy ... Can these two finally meet?

Mark Zuckerburg, the CEO of Facebook, announced a new plan to introduce a "truly private" messaging system through Facebook.  Famously known for leaking private information of their users, Zuckerburg wants to start to change this narrative.  He believes amping up the security in messaging would help the company more than hurt it, not only in the eye of the public but also in their stocks. 

This new way of communicating through the app would encrypt the messages between users, an encryption that even Facebook could not read.  They also seem to be taking notes from Snapchat, in which messages automatically disappear.

Even with all these promises, users are staying skeptical.  Facebook users are still skeptical of the app using their private messages to target ads on their page, as they have already found happens on Facebook Messenger.  Along with the skepticism surrounding the privacy promised, other critics are worried that these private messages may allow false news and rumors to spread.  According to CBS News,  Zuckerburg noted this as an "inherent trade-off" between security and safety, as these messages would be encrypted and unreadable.

Personally, I believe that this level of privacy is not possible, especially after all of the scandal Facebook has faced itself.  To trust that all of the messages would be private and encrypted so that they could not be read by Facebook itself would just seem naive. Although I hope this plan works, I will not be waiting around for it. 

Vaccinations... Liberty v. Security

Vaccinations have been a long time developed science. Today, they are now one of the heavily debated topics we hear about in the news regularly. I recently discovered an article on one of the children who's parents chose not to vaccinate him.

He was invited to speak in front of Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions where he spoke on the misinformation of the American people. He blamed sites, such as facebook for allowing the spread of so many claims that hold no evidence. 

The case has gone viral with Senator Rand Paul saying, “I’m not here to say ‘don’t vaccinate your kids.’ I believe the benefits of vaccines greatly outweigh the risks, but I still do not favor giving up on liberty for a false sense of security.”

This peaked my interest since we have been discussing in class what "liberty" means and how it has become a blanket term for many other things.