My Relationship With Technology

Sometimes I like to convince myself that I'm not addicted to my phone, but as I sit here, writing this blog post, my phone is right next to me. Even if I put it in another room, I still wonder if anyone called me, posted anything, etc. Most of my generation is also like this. We grew up in a world of technology. I was only three years old when the first iPhone was released. I remember begging my parents to get me an iPhone in sixth grade because "it was cool". When I finally got an iPhone, my parents had a rule I could only use it for games and to text or call loved ones. I wasn't allowed to bring it to school or use it before finishing my homework. I respected these rules but I always saw my friends or older people on their phones all the time. Once I got a little older, things changed. My parents let me bring it to school. I would Facetime my friends and I downloaded my first social media app, Instagram. Fast forward to now, I have every social media app there is, and all my data is filled. 

Now VS Then

Obviously, there has been a drastic technological change in the last 50 years. While watching the videos in class, I found it interesting that most of the things mentioned are true. We have hotels underwater, people have gone to the moon, we have insane cities. The one thing they should have talked about though was how it would really affect us as humans. Although technology and iPhones have their positives, they still do have negatives. It can create a bubble for people making them forget about social cues. My biggest pet peeve is when I am driving someone and they are sitting on their phone the whole time. I understand if you are texting someone important but the whole drive is crazy! I believe our generation needs to improve in many aspects due to technology, iPhones, and even social media. When watching the second video in class, it had shown iPhone addiction and social media standards. One woman was in a dirty, dark room seeming depressed and sad but once she hoped on social to post something, she was happy, looking beautiful with a nice room. This explains social media exactly. Social media can be a place for catching up with friends, family, and entertainment, but it is also filled with fakeness and filters. Social media can be a great thing, but it is also very scary. Social media is a place to promote small businesses. It can give someone a career or give someone fame. I can think of so many people who use social media as something to give them business. 

How Does Technology Affect Me?

Technology affects my whole life and my future. It has made a whole new world and lifestyle we could have never imagined. It has given people careers, and education. One part of technology that sticks out to me the most is social media. Social media is something that allows people to connect to others. When listening to recent presentations about social media, I found it interesting how it can really change someone's life. Social media is also so important for a digital footprint of yourself. Supervisors, managers, or anyone hiring you can look you up quickly on social media. It can make or break you.

I believe that digital footprints are so important because they allow you to make a brand for yourself. When people look you up, whether that is on social media or Google, they can figure out everything about you. I think it is important to be graceful with what you post on social media or on the internet. Over the many years of being on social media, I have learned a lot. I have learned what to post, what not to post, who to follow, and who not to follow - there are so many rules! Social media can be an amazing place, but it is also scary. Digital footprints can really make you someone you don't want to be.

When I think of my relationship with technology, I believe it is good but I have seen others have some issues with it. While watching the videos in class, I noticed they had mentioned the "beauty standards" of social media. One thing I have seen all over social media is the beauty standard and how it affects women and young girls. I believe this is a huge negative to social media. Influencers can become famous just by the way they look - perfect hair, perfect body, perfect life. Social media has created a bubble for women to compare themselves to others. This can cause depression, eating disorders, or just as simple as insecurities. 

According to an article about People's magazine, around 80% of women tend to compare themselves to others on social media. When watching the video, you can see that not everyone's lives are perfect like the way they post. This can cause many issues as women see these people they want to become but can't get there. There are catfishes, fake identities, and untrustworthy on the internet. From what I have seen, it is hard to find an influencer who is real and doesn't use filters on their videos. 

My Take on Technology

Overall, I really do think technology is a great thing. I think it has expanded our brains and it has become such an important thing in everyone's daily life. iPhones, social media, and other recent technology have all become careers for people. They enable people to show themselves and give themselves a name. Although there are positives, there are so many negatives that we cannot control. On the internet, there will always be fake people. It is so hard to find real, genuine people because they want their money. They want to create a world and a bubble for people to watch. Essentially, they want people to think they can be like them, but in reality, they can't. Some people grow this fame and have platforms solely on how they look. Nothing we do is going to stop that from happening. I think it is so interesting how people complain about this happening when really, it is us letting it happen. Since people are attached to their phones, they continue to make people have these platforms and have these fake lives. If people wanted this to stop, they would have to stop using these apps. 

As I said in the beginning, I would like to convince myself I'm not addicted to my phone. If I am totally honest, I am. As is everyone else my age. I don't feel ashamed of it because it is something I love. As someone studying social media and digital communication, technology is something I have to know and I have to be good at. Do I have bad habits with my phone? Yes. Do I use it when I shouldn't? Yes. Do I compare myself to others yet still support and follow them? Yes, of course I do. That's just the world we are now. I believe that everyone does this, whether you want to admit it or not, everyone has bad habits with their phones. As much of a tool as your phone is, it is also a highly addictive device that some people cannot put down. 

Blog Response to Another Presentation

One presentation that made me very interested was the one about online influences. As a social media major, influencers are people that I will be working with in the future. Learning more about them and how they work is a must for me. 

Influencers are very influential! They can take a product and make it sell out in one day. When listening to the presentation, I found it very interesting how they are the new face of marketing. Some influencers can even make a brand out of themselves. Many influencers are involved with setting trends, what is popular, fashion, fitness, etc. They can even spread awareness about a topic about a specific cause. They can connect with so many people on a personal leave, with videos, posts, and even live content. 

Postives & Negatives

During the presentation, I learned about the positive aspects of online influencers. One of the positive aspects of this is that they have a very effective marketing reach. As I said before, influencers can sell out a product in a second. As someone who wants to work with social media and marketing, this is very valuable to learn and know about. I really enjoyed learning different ways they can connect with their followers and how much influence they have on them. Another positive is that they create a sense of trust with their followers. Since they are very personable, when they review or make an ad for a product, their followers will trust them with their reviews. They strive for content creation, so they aren't only doing ads, they are also making social media an entertaining place again. From this, they are even able to create a brand for themselves and make it their career. Online influencers are the new way of marketing. They use their creativity and involve their fans in everything they are doing. 

While I have stated some amazing positive aspects about online influencers, there are also many cons. Many people wish to become an influencers as the job seems easy and fun. Although it does seem fun, it is just the same as a regular job, they just don't show that side. Becoming an influencer used to be out of luck - you could gain a following overnight or you could work really hard for it, it was just the luck of the draw. Recently, it has become very popular. Everyone you know could be an influencer, meaning the job is becoming less luxurious. I believe this is a negative aspect because if people can become it, what makes them so special? As I said before, they do create a sense of trust with their followers but sometimes, they are being paid for saying something is good. They must say if they are being paid but sometimes, they don't, which makes it hard for their followers to trust them anymore. Normally when this happens, the influencer would be "cancelled". 

Overall, online influencers have changed the way we market products. They have changed social norms and have a heavy influence on changing trends, fashion, and becoming role models. I believe that online influencers are a great thing as we are a technology-heavy world. Social media will forever be changed. 

Blog 8 - Propaganda

Blog 8 - Propaganda

Julia Carey

Propaganda is when information is misleading or biased to promote a particular side of the government. When thinking of propaganda, images from World War 1 come to mind. Little did you know, there have been so many other examples, especially recently. This is an example from the US during WWI. This is a poster from the time to convince men to join the army. On the poster, it states “I want you” with Uncle Sam pointing. Uncle Sam was a fictional character made to embody a patriotic American. 

Recent Propaganda:

1. As I said before, there have been many types of propaganda recently. During Covid-19, there was an artist who was inspired by the war propaganda and created a poster. This poster states that people should “stay in” during this hard time of sickness. When the artist made the poster, she wanted people to stay in and stay safe. During this time in the US, many people were against that and did not want to stay in leading people to have issues with the posters.

 

2. Another recent example of propaganda in the US is from the debate for abortion rights. This poster is siding with the “pro-choice” side of the debate, stating to get their laws off women's bodies. As this is a heavily debated topic, lots of people see this and have issues with it but others agree. This poster wants to create a sense of anger in women that the people who make the laws about their bodies are not the same as them. Lots of women support this idea because women in history have worked so hard to create equal rights and recently, they feel that they are being taken away. 

 

3. My last example of recent propaganda recently is a poster made to, essentially, make fun of Trump. This poster is a picture of Trump with a clown nose and calls him a “joke”. People who do not agree with the way Trump goes about doing things or what he believes support posters like these. These can influence people to side with people who agree with this matter but it can also anger the people who agree with him. 

How Does This Affect Us?

Lots of things are heavily influenced by different beliefs and the government. It can be a news channel, a blog, or anything on the internet that could be influenced. This affects us in many ways. It can influence the way people think, making there very big debates and misinformation. Lots of people like to believe that they have the right answer to everything even when they don’t know everything about the topic. When looking at these examples of propaganda, I think it is interesting how these can easily influence the way people view different topics. They all have something similar - haters. If someone posted this and someone saw that they got hate for it, they could be scared to agree with the post because they don’t want to get hate back. It can greatly influence the way people think of a topic, maybe even changing it fully. Propaganda comes with a lot of name-calling, as seen in the poster of Trump. After learning more about this, I have learned that propaganda can be both positive and negative things. 

Blog 6 - Communication Technology Reaction

Blog Post #4 - Communication Tech Response

After listening to today’s presentations, the one that stuck out to me the most was the evolution of emojis. To be honest, I have never thought of the evolution because emojis are something I have always seen on phones. It was interesting how they were traced back to the 1800s and called emoticons. They would produce magazines and put four pictures of “faces” calling them typographical art. 

Technically, they were founded in 1982 with the smiley face emoji. A year later, they had 90 new emojis. For the next few years, they had these 90 emojis as phone communication could have been more popular. Then, in the 2000s, they noticed more and more communication rise. Now, there are almost 4,000 emojis on the iPhone.

I use emojis daily, whether to laugh at a text or send a heart to Mom! I couldn’t imagine texting without emojis. I really enjoyed learning about them as they are a part of my everyday life. I thought it was cool how they could track back to the 1800s with typewriters. To see the evolution of these things makes me interested in how they will eventually change.