My Online Presence

I have had an online presence for a while now since the age of twelve. Around this time, Facebook was very popular and Instagram had just gained traction. I honestly did not truly know how to use these platforms, with me not using it to its full capacity. All my posts when I was younger and on Instagram were usually shouting out my other friends, or a half blurred picture of something I found funny. I never took the time to really get into social media, as I didn't find enough time for it with sports growing up and it just never really caught on with me from there. A lot of society and especially people my age are obsessed with social media and the internet and it takes a chunk of their mental health away from them if they don't use the internet the right way. 

 Nowadays, I'm still not on social media as much. I still have all the apps on my phone except Facebook, but I haven't posted in over a year and try to not go on it too much. Social media seems to drain a lot of people, and I'm trying to avoid that at all costs for my own wellbeing. Being an adult now I have to be aware of things I post and have to monitor the things that could damage my reputation. I see the wildest things on Twitter and try to steer clear of that as much as possible to not get caught up in anything bad. Even though my generation is the one driving the internet advancement I try to be observant with what the social media companies are doing and what data they are able to store while still making my presence online known. Watching what your friends are posting of you becomes a problem you have to address when having social media so there isn't anything bad that someone posts of you. As long as you are keeping up with this and representing yourself in the best way possible you can use social media as a good device to connect with others across the globe. 

https://www.compukol.com/what-is-an-online-presence/

https://www.ecotonedigital.com/content-marketing/what-it-means-to-have-an-online-presence/

Alternative Media

Alternative media can be media sources that vary from mainstream sorts of media as far as their substance, creation, or appropriation. Understanding this media is to think about their part during the process of democratic communication. Participation is available to everybody, all members are viewed as equivalent, and any topic can be brought forward for interpretation. This communication and participation are very important to the advancement of social developments. These new social developments experience critical challenges when trying to go through the established press platforms in light of the fact that the established press regularly contorts, criticize, or completely overlook social development perspectives.

Alternative media in general speak to the smaller groups of people in society that are just trying to get their message out there. In any case, there is also a bad side, as alternative media takes into account a bunch of content including conspiracy theories, the presence of extraterrestrial life, and so on. On the positive side, significant work has been done examining monetary and social issues like lack of healthy living and the climate.

While alternative media outlets are vastly known, the major outlets are almost all owned by these six companies, which is a scary fact when this is where we get almost all of our information.

National Amusements (BET, CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon)

Disney (ABC, ESPN, Marvel, VICE)

Time Warner (CNN, Cartoon Network, HBO)

Comcast (NBC, USA, Universal)

News Corp (Fox News, National Geographic, 20 Century Fox)

Sony (Tristar, Sony Pictures, Destination Films)

 Check out some of these alternative media websites:

Parler.com

Alternet.org

Alternativenews.com

wearechange.org

https://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-alternative-media.htm

Privacy

 As the internet advances, concerns over data and personal privacy come into play in a big way as companies fight to get this data about you to help their own pockets. This data will act as a permanent tattoo that will live on far after our own lifetime. These tattoos do not have to say much, as their message is usually very strong and clear and really can mean a lot while saying nothing at all. It’s very hard to hide from these big companies, with face recognition coming into play with the big data that they already own. Matching your face to your data is a big idea to take into account when you think about what you put online and all the information people can find out about you with a click of a button. Face.com holds over 18 billion face pictures used for facial recognition, and guess who bought them out? Facebook. Nothing on the internet is private and everything is accessible if you’re able to get your hands on the right resources. Watching yourself and what you do is very important to make sure you are not getting taken advantage of by these big companies that have serious power to do a lot that you don’t know about. 

https://www.ted.com/talks/juan_enriquez_your_online_life_permanent_as_a_tattoo

Diffusion of Innovations

 

Since getting my first smartphone when I was 12, I was able to become one of the early majority individuals with this groundbreaking technology at the time. With every technological innovation that comes in history, also comes a theory called the "Diffusion of Innovations". This theory explains how technological advancements spread throughout society. Some elements that influence the pace of advancement are demographics, the degree of industrialization and improvement, and the general public's degree of education. Various social groups are likely to have diverse adoption rates when talking about different topics in society. These rates for various kinds of advancement fluctuate, for instance, the general public may have embraced the web quicker than it received the introduction of the car because of cost, availability, and knowledge of the innovative change. There are certain categories many of us fall under when a new technologically innovative change is introduced:

1. Innovators - These are people who want to be the first to try the innovation. These people are very willing to take risks and are often the first to develop new ideas. 
2. Early Adopters - These are people who represent opinion leaders and embrace change opportunities. These people usually do not need information to convince them to change.
3. Early Majority - They have above average social status, contact with early adopters, and sometimes hold positions of opinion leadership in society.
4. Late Majority - These people are skeptical of change, and will only adopt an innovation after it has been tried by the majority. 
5. Laggards - These people are very conservative and skeptical of change. The Laggards are the hardest group to bring on board to a new idea or innovation.  Statistics and facts are strategies that appeal to this population.

https://sphweb.bumc.bu.edu/otlt/MPH-Modules/SB/BehavioralChangeTheories/BehavioralChangeTheories4.html

The First Camera

    Nowadays, cameras have evolved into a thousand-dollar industry and the internet has made them even more popular with certain social media apps that highlight videos (Snapchat, TikTok, YouTube). Many filmmakers, like me, love to dive straight into the history of the camera and figure out how a little hole in a piece of paper blossomed into an expensive and high demanding field. 

    The first camera ever made wasn't even a camera, as it was called Camera Obscura. This is fancy talk for just a dark room projection, as it was a hole in a piece of paper with a light shining through it. The first "real" camera was the Kodak camera made in 1885 by George Eastman. This was revolutionary, making it finally possible to capture a moment forever. George included a film roll in his camera, allowing many pictures to be stored in the camera before getting another film roll. This got the wheels spinning and in the next decades, the camera really starts innovating fast. In 30 quick years, polaroid, autofocus, underwater, and disposable cameras were created.

    

    Today, there are so many different types of cameras, ranging from ones that specialize in video to the one that professionals use for photography. The price range for these cameras can run you $500, or a top of the line professional camera can cost up to $50,000. They come with various lens sizes, so you are able to get the perfect shot for any type of picture or video you're trying to create. I love film for this reason, as something so simple can capture the best memories of your life and allow you to remember them for the rest of your life. 

    

https://historythings.com/the-history-of-the-camera/

Future Transit

    Traffic. I'm pretty sure everyone has dealt with it in their lives, and I don't know one person that likes it. The future of public and personal transit aims to solve this problem while trying to be as green and ecological supportive as possible. A lot of the cars run will be electric and automated. This will allow a lot of electric vehicles to be more efficient and convenient than human-driven vehicles. Automated driving allows for the reduction of human error, and everything can be configured in a way that makes for the most efficient transit possible. The coronavirus really changed the game by making private accommodations a real reality. Many consider the plan for a PRT, or personal rapid transit, which is basically a big subway system that operates with small personal vehicles. Morgantown, West Virginia has utilized this idea with its small pods that take you around West Virginia's campus. This can prove to be a good, efficient way to get around that takes many individuals at once. 

    Easy public transit will become another innovation as privately owned cars are becoming more of a negative asset. Cost-efficient travel through automated and electric buses can become a norm if cities come together and assist in the navigation of major vehicles. This can allow for a large gathering of people to be safely taken to their destination faster with not having to interact with anyone. Contactless ticketing has already become a thing because of coronavirus. The planet gets a good boost from this change to electric buses as well. Buses and other major vehicles makeup over 25% of US fuel use and CO2 emissions and play a big part in the climate problems we face today. Electric buses can cut down our use of resources and overall improve the public's health. Many climate problems that are arising today call for innovation that better protect the environment. The decrease in battery prices will also allow for a better affordable ride where the cost will not be a problem. Two problems arise along with the use of electric buses and transportation. There must be in-route charging stations that allow for transportation to make a quick stop to charge and the batteries can not be too heavy where it will damage the roads it rides on. Many transportation companies will try to found a balance between efficiency and weight that allows for the faster and safest transportation possible.     

https://gantdaily.com/2020/08/29/how-public-transportation-will-change-in-the-future/

https://www.disruptordaily.com/future-of-transportation/

https://gogocharters.com/blog/electric-buses-future-transportation/

https://www.spur.org/sites/default/files/publications_pdfs/spur_the_future_of_transportation.pdf

8 Values of Expression

 

    American free expression has many values that separate our nation from others. Our emphasis on freedom and free speech without punishment is a right that many other nations aren't allowed to have. Allowing free expression gives way to a path for new ideas and innovative projects to be made. This is one of the greatest advantages to our country in general, and is said to be the "marketplace of ideas". Self-government and the ability to speak freely on the government is what drives our nation to pick a very informed candidate to hold official positions. As our nation has had a wave of violence come across it the last few months, another value is allowing citizens to speak freely and not be restricted and they will be happier and comfortable with their opinions. Many individuals feel a sense of identity when expressing these opinions and taking this away would diminish the human dignity of them.  

    

    Freedom of the press is one of the most fundamental rights we as citizens can have and allow us to check the power of the government. Any abuse of power that is spotted will surely blow up and can affect an election if there is something that needs to be done. As we grow to protect free speech, it allows us to be more tolerant in life and receive other's points of view to show us something we may have never thought about before. Acceptable behavior is said to created when we look at the hate speech and realize that it's not the right way of thinking. Creativity flourishes in free speech, allowing our nation to become more innovative and find our purpose in life in so many different ways. Even the least liked opinions about the government are allowed to be said and talked about by the public. This gives some power back to the citizens to be able to make suggestions and criticize the government as it is a duty to do so. 

https://www.aclu.org/other/freedom-expression

https://www.history.com/topics/united-states-constitution/freedom-of-speech