Blog #9: Diffusion of Innovations

Diffusion of Innovation

Roger’s “Diffusion of Innovation is a theory that seeks to explain how, why, and what rate new ideas and technology spread.” The idea that I will be discussing in this blog will be how much social media has changed from the late 90s and early 2000s till now and how these apps have changed society.

Now, to explain this a little better. Roger’s theory uses a bell curve that uses time which is broken into different elements which are Pioneers, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Adopters, and Laggards. These elements are measured by dates and the time periods in which they were developed. These elements are how I will break down and explain the evolution of social media.

The photo above is known as the first recognizable social media site. It was called six degrees and it was created in 1997. With this site users were able to upload a profile and become friends with other users. This was very interesting to me because I had never heard of this site until I did my research, but also because it sounds very similar to Myspace and Facebook. Six degrees would be in the Pioneers stage of the bell curve because it was the first 

However, now we apps like Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram. With these apps, you can stay up to date with where your friends are or what they’re doing by posting pictures or just by making a quick little post. There is also TikTok which is used to post videos or watch what someone else is posting, your usually able to find whatever types of videos that you need whether it's cooking, dancing, comedy, makeup, etc.

In fact, in 2020 during the beginning of covid 19, the amount of time spent on social media increased by a significant amount. 20.5% used social media 30 minutes to 1 hour, 29.7% used it for 1-2 hours, 20% for 2-3 hours, and 17.9% for 3 or more hours.

 

TikTok is one of the fastest-growing social media platforms. The picture above is a diagram of the percentages of U.S. TikTok users by age at the beginning of the had the highest annual user growth rate at 85.3%. While Facebook remained low at 8.7%. With the pandemic, people were forced to stay inside and quarantine to keep from contracting the virus and TikTok became an outlet for many young individuals especially, middle, high school, and college students making us the early adopters. 

The older generations would be considered the Laggards of social media because they are the ones who use Facebook. Although they are still hip to using social media Facebook has become one that has been watered down over time. I don’t really get on Facebook much myself

only to see what my family is doing or to update my family on how my life is going. And I think it is even crazier because my mom who is still young doesn’t really get on Facebook as much as she uses to, and my stepdad deleted his completely. However, my grandparents are up there a significant amount and are very active at posting or with what has been posted. I think it’s a little funny to see the shift in users on this one app but it’s also good so that they have something for themselves.

I think that for the most part that social media has been beneficial especially during the pandemic because it gave us peace of mind while we were basically fearing for our health and safety, and it has continued to give us that peace of mind.

Blog #8: FVEY (EOTO)

 Five Eyes Alliance

“At the end of World War II, the United States and the United Kingdom continued their intelligence sharing-sharing efforts by signing the British-U.S. Communication agreement, which was later renamed to the UKUSA”. 

This agreement was created as a way that the United States and the United Kingdom could split their intelligence sharing streamline in order to better handle global threats. At the time of the agreement, their number one priority to focus on was the Soviet Union.

In 1948 Canada joined the alliance and in 1956, Australia and New Zealand also joined, which led to a globalized intelligence sharing entity that could gather intelligence outside of the United States reach, and also led to the name The Five Eyes (FVEY) Alliance. The UKUSA agreement between the countries has only strengthened over time and has extended its surveillance to online activity. However, there was a downside to this extension. Extending their surveillance online meant that they would be able to find out any information about any person, including those who weren’t terrorists or criminals which was an invasion of privacy. No one knew about this agreement or this invasion of privacy until the Edward Snowden leak in 2013. 

Edward Snowden is an American computer professional, who worked for the CIA as well as the National Security Agency (NSA). While working for the NSA Snowden copied and leaked classified information that exposed the government surveillance of citizens' online activity, which also contained evidence that the FVEY intelligence-sharing network was broader than they thought.

This leak created distrust between the citizens and the government, which it totally should have because what they were doing was not right. The intention that the FVEY Alliance had in the beginning before extending online was understandable especially if our lives could be in danger. But invading hundreds of thousands of citizens' privacy was crossing a line. But we see the government trying to cross lines all the time because they try to take advantage of the power that they have. 

After learning about this matter in class, I most definitely want to become more private with my life and my information. And I think that we all should do this because if you have nothing to hide and then there should be no reason, they have access to our lives like that. One way that we could protect ourselves is by using a VPN and being “aware of the online laws and regulations of the country you reside in.” If you want to learn how to protect yourself online here is a video and a blog that I found called Cybersecurity 101 that can help you protect your privacy.

Sources:

  https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/01495933.2019.1633186

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Five_Eyeshttps://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/06/is-the-five-eyes-alliance-conspiring-to-spy-on-you/277190/

Blog #7: Privacy, Online & Off

Privacy, Online & Off 

After watching the TED Talk by Catherine Crump about being tracked by street cameras, or by the automatic license plate readers that police officers have on their cars was honestly very shocking to me. But I have always wondered how anyone could be driving and following the law, but still get pulled over because they may have a warrant out for their arrest, or their license have been suspended. I find it very uncomfortable that street cameras can just scan anyone’s license plates and be able to keep the information and watch our every move. 

But, at the same time, I’m not surprised. I can understand that sometimes they may need this data for AMBER Alerts, or to find someone after committing a crime, but it should be used just for those purposes. Any use other than just stated is a serious invasion of privacy. Why should they be worried about what an average person does every day, like going to pick up their kids, going out with friends, or even going to get some food. I would think that keeping all this unnecessary information would cause an overload and shut it down.

I don’t think it’s fair to try and create an image of someone based on information that was received by the breach of someone’s privacy. I mean how can you really create an image from someone based on that. This could be a huge factor in why so many innocent individuals are found guilty, but it is unfair to try and make someone look like a criminal when you only have one tiny piece of a puzzle that is incomplete. It’s scary to know that there could be photos of yourself somewhere in the police database of you just doing your normal everyday things, and it’s even scarier that these images could be turned and used against you

Blog #6: The Evolution of the Little Blue Bird (Twitter)

The Evolution of The Little Blue Bird

Over the last few years twitters, users have grown exponentially! For years I knew so many people that had a Twitter and I never knew exactly what it was, so I thought hey! If I don’t know what it is and what it is used for then I don’t need it. But weirdly after all my friends were using it and I started to use more social media I decided to finally make a Twitter and ever since I guess you could call me a Twitter addict!! Twitter was founded in 2006 by 4 individuals named, Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone, Evan Williams, and Noah Glass. Being able to learn about the history of Twitter in class was just so fascinating to me. For starters, I had no idea that it was called Twtter before it was called Twitter and I thought that was the most interesting fact. I think it’s cool that one little bird could be so popular and could attract so many people to one little app. Additionally, the first tweet ever made on Twitter was by the co-founder Jack Dorsey stating, “Just Setting up my Twitter”. Since that one little post, Twitter has evolved into one of the most popular social media apps. There have been 1.3 billion Twitter accounts created and there are 145 million daily users, and I am most definitely one of them.

 Whether it’s to just scroll down my feed and see funny videos, find posts that can relate to how feeling at that moment, or even to get the latest news on the hottest topics. But one of the things that I love the most about Twitter is that you find people who can relate to you every day. There could be something that you are going through and you might think it’s the worst thing in the world and that no one else is going through, but then you go on Twitter and you see that someone has been through the same thing and gives advice on the situation or someone is going through the same thing in that exact moment and it can just make you feel 10x better and for that reason, Twitter has been my #1 go-to app since I was a sophomore in high school. I know that Twitter has helped me in some ways so I’m interested in knowing how it may have helped others as well.

Blog #5: OKAYYY... BUT WHY WAR??

            WHY WAR AND NOT PEACE?? 🤔

When thinking about the war I don’t think that anyone is a fan of it because it doesn’t really solve anything in my opinion. I personally believe that it creates this ongoing cycle of violence towards countries. I have also never been one that has looked into the different wars that have occurred over time, it can be very overwhelming because at the end of the day thousands of innocent people including kids are killed because of it. However, ANTIWAR and The American Conservative have kind of made a way to portray the war and make it a little less overwhelming to read about. Both websites have so much information about what is going on behind the scenes so that we can stay in the loop. We need more individuals whose views are so strong about the war to make more websites like this because as citizens of this country we deserve to know the truth, and the government never wants us to know the truth about what’s going on behind the scenes. I still find it very weird that I have never seen these posts or heard about these websites until now, but as we have discussed in class before, the government tries to keep us from seeing certain things when they know that they have not been truthful, and I most definitely think that this is one of those situations. I am glad that we have those individuals who stand up to the government, but if something were to happen because they put something out that wasn’t supposed to be seen, we as U.S. citizens have to make sure that stand behind them because they put themselves at risk for us.

Blog #4: The First Laptop (EOTO)

The First Laptop  👩🏽‍💻

As we all know the laptops that we have today haven’t always looked as thin and sleek as they do. The invention of the laptop all began with a device called the Osborne 1. The Osborne 1 is known as the first portable laptop and was created by Adam Osborne, who was also the founder of Osborne computer company and an author who published computer books and software. This invention weighed 24 pounds with a 5-inch screen and was priced at $1,795 which today would be priced at $5,110. Osborne created this device to use the best software during this time which was a CP/M running on a Z80 Microprocessor.   Not only was it running with the best software, but it was also running off of batteries which meant that it didn’t need to be plugged into anything and all you had to do was change the batteries.

It is also able to close and has a handle to carry it. Now that is what you call portable! Here is a video that I found that demonstrates how the Osborne 1 works. This was the first device that made it possible for businessmen to be able to carry their work with them while they travel. Although this was the first time people were able to carry their computers, it didn’t really get the popularity that Osborne hoped for. The failure of the Osborne 1 led to the creation of the Grid Compass 1101, which may look like the laptops we all know and love today. This laptop was released in 1983 and was featured with a design known as the “clamshell”, with a screen that could be folded against the keyboard when closing it (sounds familiar right!).

This new design of the laptop was 10 times easier to carry around, but it wasn’t very successful because of the price, which ran at about $10,000 for one laptop. Although it didn’t become very successful, it became the inspiration for other companies to create their own laptop. This has sparked competition from all different companies trying to create the best “clamshell” laptop but finding a way to improve the appearance and the quality of it every year. 

This has led to the creation of laptops that are super thin and light, have touch screens, and even laptops that can transform into a tablet. We now have the MacBook Pro by Apple, which is very thin and very high quality, Microsoft’s Windows computer which is super thin but also has a touchscreen, and also Microsoft’s Windows Surface Book 3 which is also thin, touch screen and can turn into a tablet by disconnecting the screen from the keyboard. It is so shocking to see how much the laptop has evolved over time, and who would have ever thought we would have touch screen laptops looking back at the Osborne 1 in 1981. Here is a video on the Evolution of Laptops from 1975-2020 and after watching it I am excited to see how much more the laptop will change in the next 20 years considering we have gotten this far already.

   

Blog #3: 8 Values of Free Expression

❤️EIGHT VALUES OF FREE EXPRESSION💙

#3: Stable Change (aka Safety Valve)

            

The first value that I thought felt most important was the stable change. Stable change also known as safety states that individuals who are allowed to vent or speak their minds, will more likely be more stable, and less likely to resort to violence. I thought that this was important because, although I don’t condone any type of violence being a young African American woman, I can understand why some people are pissed off or might turn to violence. We see so many of our kind being beaten down or shot and killed, and we have a right to be upset. I have brothers, I have a father, I have uncles, and I have cousins.

 Being a part of the Black Community these are the ones we think about when thinking about the killings of George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, Tamir Rice, and more. Being a member of the Black Community the first thing we think about when we hear those names is that could have been my brother, my father, my uncle, or cousin. But most importantly they are my kind and we will do what we have to do to fight for our community and get justice. Thankfully, we have the leaders of the 

Black Lives Matter Movement, who can bring us together and have peaceful protest so that our voices are heard rather than just turning to violence. 

#4: Individual Self-Fulfillment(aka Self-Actualization)

The second value that I found important because of how it resonates with me was individual self-fulfillment also known as self-actualization. Individual Self-Fulfillment is known as free speech that can help an individual generate their own identity and express their beliefs or their opinion. I thought that this was most important to me because growing up my mother has always told me to speak my mind and not to care what others may think. I have also been taught that I have my own mind and that I shouldn’t agree or go along with something just because others agree with something. Having your own thoughts, beliefs, opinions, etc. is what truly makes you, YOU. Although I think that this was a positive thing for me, there are still individuals who may think that their beliefs or opinions don’t matter. There are also others who don’t realize that there are some things that you just shouldn’t say because it may be hateful or even others. Here is an article that I found that breaks down and explains the difference between free speech and hate speech, the purpose of each, and who it can affect.

 

#5: Check on Governmental Power

Lastly, but not least the one that I believe we see in action today is Check on Governmental Power. This is very important for society today because this is what allows us as citizens of the U.S. to speak on or criticize the government when we feel that they have taken advantage of their power. Here is a video that explains what separation of powers is, how it is broken up, and what checks and balances are. The Video states that “each of the branches has the power to limit or check the other two, which then creates a balance between the three separate powers.” One thing that has been in the media and deals with the check on governmental power is the COVID-19 vaccine mandates. The government trying to enforce these mandates is considered an abuse of power because as we have discussed in class, the government CAN NOT tell you what to do with your body. Here is an article I found which explains why the federal government does not have the power to put in place a vaccine mandate. However, state law for individuals in that specific state is more likely to happen because of the power of the state to pass a law for the “public good”.