What I Learned About Communication Technology

     Throughout the Each One Teach One communication technology presentations, I was able to learn so much more about the histories and impacts of various different technologies. Two of the technologies that I specifically found very interesting were Bluetooth and Netflix. Learning more about these two technologies helped me better understand these things I use daily.

     In regards to Bluetooth, I was always aware of Bluetooth being in our phones, laptops, cars, and other such devices. These seemed obvious to me and I never seemed to wonder if Bluetooth was used in any other electronics. After listening to this presentation, however, I learned how much more Bluetooth is used for. I was unaware of the impact that Bluetooth had on the healthcare system. I never knew that Bluetooth was used within hearing aids and pacemakers. I also didn't realize how significant Bluetooth has been in the advancement of communication. Bluetooth was designed as a way to connect devices without having to use a cable. Although cables seem like a small inconvenience, removing them has actually made a huge impact. By removing cables communication became significantly more mobile. Bluetooth has allowed for communication to take place at any location without having to worry about wether or not you are connected. Something that I also never realized about Bluetooth was its negative affects. I was unaware of the risk that Bluetooth puts users at for hackers. All of this information has helped me better understand Bluetooth. 

  Netflix is something I probably use daily. Although I remember hearing about the days when Netflix was a company that delivered DVDs by mail, it is a vague memory in my mind. Thinking back on the popularity of DVDs in the time that the founders decided to create this company, it seems wild to think about how successful that would be. One thing I found extremely interesting about this was how well Netflix adapted to the change in technology. As DVDs slowly lost popularity, Netflix jumped on the opportunity to launch a streaming service within their company as well. By doing this, Netflix has been able to dominate the streaming service market and was one of the earliest companies to do this. I also personally enjoyed learning more about the history of Netflix's original series. I did not know House of Cards was the first Netflix original and it is interesting to see the way that these original series have become so successful. Learning more about the history of Netflix has given me a much better perspective on how it came to be what it is today. 

The History and Impact of Facebook

 

  

  So many of us have heard the name Facebook before, but whenever we open up this social media network, do we really know how it came to be what it is today? Facebook was invented by Mark Zuckerberg and he is still the current owner today. Zuckerberg originally designed this platform while in college at Harvard University. The original site was called "facemash" and was created as a "hot or not" ranking system for students at the university to rank their peers. Although the site was quickly shut down, Zuckerberg saw potential for a site with a similar purpose which led him to create TheFacebook. TheFacebook was designed exclusively for Harvard students and could only be accessed by a Harvard.edu email address. Soon enough, Zuckerberg branched out his site and allowed for other colleges and universities to gain access, while still remaining off limits to corporations and businesses. Finally, the name was changed to Facebook.

    Since Facebook's rise to success, there have been many issues the company has had to face in regards to privacy. As a new software with access to billions of data points of people's private information, Facebook has had to be adaptive in its ways of learning how to protect its users privacy. However, Facebook has not always been successful in this. In 2018, Facebook had to announce to the public that it was struggling with a bug that  had resulted in about 14 million Facebook users having their default sharing setting for all new posts set to "public". Soon after this in 2019, Facebook faced two more issues of information being leaked. First, there was found to be half a billion records of Facebook users that were found exposed on Amazon cloud servers, containing information about users' friends, likes, groups, and checked-in locations, as well as names, passwords and email addresses. Secondly, it was also discovered that the phone numbers of at least 200 million Facebook users were found to be exposed on an open online database. Lastly, in 2021 the FTC sued Facebook for for deceiving consumers by telling them they could keep their information on Facebook private, and then repeatedly allowing it to be shared and made public. The FTC won the case and Facebook quickly adjusted their privacy policies. 

    Facebook has had a major impact on the social networks that we see today. Facebook was one of the first social networks to exist that allowed for its users to broadcast themselves publicly. Facebook gave the opportunity for its users to post their private information very publicly. By doing this, it became an extremely popular way of connecting with peers. At the height of Facebook's popularity, a large amount of users said that they joined solely due to the "network effect". This refers to people joining for the reason of how many people they already know that are users. Also, due to Facebooks inability to censor any of the information that is posted, Facebook has been known to be a large source for fake news. In 2016, an estimated 44% of the U.S. population stated that they got their news from facebook. This has allowed for so much fake news to be spread and Facebook is unable to do anything about it. With that all being said, we are able to comprehend the significant effects that Facebook has made on communication, as well as the social networks that we all know and love today. 

Participation in Self Government

 

    After reading about the Eight Values of Free Expression, I was very intrigued. As much as the first amendment seems simple, there are so many other components within it that I was not aware of. There are many loopholes, exceptions, and rules that are created that can affect the way that the first amendment is protected. After reading through the list of the Eight Values of Free Expression, Participation in Self Government truly stood out to me as one of the values with the most significance. 

    Participation in Self Government basically means that society needs to be well informed by the people in power so that they can make educated and well thought out decisions. This is extremely essential to our society because knowledge is one of the strongest weapons. Our government can use knowledge or the lack there of against us. By keeping the public uninformed, they are easily manipulated and can be quickly swayed by a simple argument due to the fact that they do not grasp the entire situation. Without an educated public, however, this can also negatively impact the government. An uninformed society is a stupid one, and although it may be beneficial for some governments to have a society that is easily manipulated, our society strives off of having an opinionated and strong willed public. 

    Something that has contributed so greatly to our society's ability to gain understanding and knowledge about our government, world, and political issues, is the internet and social media. With social media and the internet right at your finger tips almost every second of every day, news can be found out with just the push of a button. Even when you are not searching for it you are constantly bombarded with information about the current news in the world from social media and other websites. It is almost unavoidable now to stay in the dark about what it happening in the world since it is so constantly pushed into our faces. While this is great at keeping us educated, it also brings in the struggle of fake news. Many of the sources we may see throughout are day are not reliable. This now makes it hard for us to sift through all the news sources to find out exactly what is true and what it's not. Many people do not bother to look further into what they read on the internet and just believe that the first thing they saw must be true. This creates for a lot of falsehoods in the media because people are not fact checking their information. 

    The relationship between our government and the public is best when we can have communication between the two. A good government keeps its public informed on what is happening within our country and within the world around it. By keeping information a secret it creates a distrustful relationship with the public. Knowledge is essential in allowing the public to trust their government as well as be smart about the decisions they are making regarding it. Without a knowledgable society, mistakes are made and the entire country is hurt by it. This is why I feel that Participation in Self Government is one of the most important values of free expression.

The Supreme Court

 

    After reading this article, I was able to better educate myself about the history and functions of the United States Supreme Court. I personally did not know much about the Supreme Court before reading this article so this was very helpful for me. I knew that the Supreme Court was the highest level court system in our country and that it was originated due to the U.S. Constitution. I did not know that much more about it. 

 

   Something that took me by surprise while learning more about it was how we rely on so few people to uphold the laws of the entire country. We currently have nine Supreme Court justices, but originally there were only six. Both numbers are quite small and its somewhat shocking that we can allow for such a small group of people to have such much power over our country. I personally, however, see the process that was created in selecting these justices as very efficient. Having to be selected by multiple branches of government makes it seem that the justices chosen will be reliable and are capable of doing their job well.

I think that the most important take away about the Supreme Court is how much of an affect is has had on our country as a whole. As much as it is obvious that they create the majority of our laws, I rarely think about the ones that they have made in the past that have created the country that I live in today. The Supreme Court has created laws that protect my rights as an American citizen and as a woman. There are so many laws that we don't think twice about now, but back when they weren't actually laws the Supreme Court is what changed that for our country as a whole.

Top Five Sources of News and Information

 New York Times

The New York Times is a source I use quite often. One of the main reasons I use it however, is it's convenience. Usually I can find information about whatever topic I am interested in. Even if I am not directly searching their site, they tend to be one of the first websites to pop up after searching whatever it is that I am looking for. They appear to be credible with the news they report especially being the oldest news paper in the United States.

Instagram

I receive a lot of my news through instagram unintentionally. Most of the information I stumble upon on instagram is just something I happened to see someone post rather than searching for it myself. I enjoy this because it helps me find out about topics I never even knew were going on and I can find out so much so quickly and conveniently. The biggest downside to instagram as a news source, however, is its lack of credibility. Anything can be posted on instagram so there is a lot of false information on there. I make sure I fact check anything I see on instagram from a more credible news source before fully believing what I read.

Washington Post

I also use the Washington Post to receive my news. It has very similar content to the New York Times which includes a variety of topics. Much of their political information is very knowledgable as well as unbiased. I know I can find a lot of information on their site and that the information I'm receiving is coming from a credible source. 

ESPN

I receive most of my information regarding sports here. As someone from Massachusetts, I'm pretty passionate about my sports teams and I really enjoy being able to see how they are doing. It's interesting to see what's going on in the world of sports and it makes it easy to get information and keep tabs on what's happening.

YouTube

YouTube is my last source of news. I enjoy finding my information on YouTube because you can get a variety of different opinions on a certain topic. It is easy to find videos from reliable news stations as well as random people with no credibility but a strong opinion. YouTube is also extremely convenient. Many videos about popular topics will come up without me having to look. This allows me to easily find out about important topics in the world without even having to search for it.