Wikipedia

    Sites like Wikipedia are not reliable simply because anyone can edit them. People have made it a habit of intentionally giving people the wrong names, or using wrong facts to describe someone. Sometimes even going as far as to swap out their picture for someone else's  There are many other open source sights like yahoo, quora, fandom and others. The difference between these sites and wikipedia are that on these sites people submit questions and others answers them. I feel that it is common knowledge that you need to take the information with a grain of salt. Instead of taking it as the fact. Users control them all, it is kind of like a free platform to submit what you know.

WikiLeaks

 The government did investigations on the WikiLeaks because of the alleged damage they did to the U.S national security. There was information distributed that the government wanted to keep hidden and the WikiLeaks leaked the documents on their sites. Most governments try to put an end to WikiLeaks or block the source but have failed. WikiLeaks is a form of freedom of speech and democratization of knowledge but keeping that in mind the sources information could be made up or not credible to some degree. That's a con to the freedom of this information getting out to the public is that some people may read something about the government that isn't true and run with it. This could misguide the trust that people place in the government. I think it's reasonable for the government to try to protect certain information and keep it classified, but to go and try to destroy an organization who poses a threat to their security is something else. In the public, we have our data and information collected, so I don't mind having a source that takes data from the government to make it public. 

Wikileaks

Wikileaks has been known to publish and leak classified government information. The leaking of government information on Wikileaks caused the organization to be under criminal investigation and prosecute individuals for leaking classified documents. However, because of freedom of speech individuals were not punished for leaking information. The government looks guilty for  trying to punish these individuals. I think that there should be some limits on freedom of speech. However, because of Wikileaks we know about what the government is capable of. 

Wikileaks

Freedom of speech is an entitlement that we have in this country. It is not an entitlement that everyone in this country has been able to enjoy. Wikileaks violated their right to the freedom of speech by releasing information that wasn't their personal information, nor was it information available to the general public.

The right to the freedom of speech is what drives social media. YouTube is full of videos with people practicing their freedom of speech. Those people are usually discussing and sharing their opinions related to mass general information that's available to the general public. We have a very vast media system in this country, so there's a lot of personal information that becomes public information.

What Wikileaks did was very brave, but I don't know if it was helpful. Did the American public benefit from the leaks? Did the people of any country benefit from the leaks? If there's a situation in which the leaks would provide proof that a certain demographic or group is being purposely oppressed or disenfranchised by a government, and those people were able to be relived from the oppression, then the leaks were warranted and have served a great purpose. 

Wikileaks

 Wikileaks has been a thorn in every governments side, but I think it is a very necessary thorn. Wikileaks has revealed classified and personal information on government and government officials that I think has swayed some people's opinion. Governments have tried to ban Wikileaks and imprison its creator, due to the information that was leaked. I think Wikileaks has done more public good than public bad since it has shown the public what corruption goes on behind the scene.

Wikileaks the E-news

Wikileaks has been a game changer not only to the way the public receives news, but also to the relationship between countries and their people. Over the course of Wikileaks' existence, many secret government subject matters have been exposed and shared electronically. The site is definitely a great threat to the reliability people have on the government. With this being said, various governments have attempted to block or end Wikileaks in efforts to not jeopardize their assurance and trustworthiness. The U.S. for example, has limited the access to the site from its people. Many other nations have done the same or at least tried to. The site is very electronically educated and keeps performing one way or another. In my opinion, we as the people need to be able to know what is happening behind the scenes. The government can be doing shady moves that we might not be aware of and have no other way of knowing but to use Wikileaks as our source. The only big problem with that would be if Wikileaks infiltrate our personal bank accounts, or other private files we own. There should be certain points where one can go to when it comes to internet free speech. Receiving news and updates is something we must have, but infiltrating other personal information is crossing the line.

Problems with Open Source

 There are several problems with open source sites but the first one that comes to mind is that they are taking on a huge project and may not always have the manpower or funding to efficiently sustain their project. Often times when I would be browsing wikipedia, before I even had assess to my article, I was promoted with a donation box specifically written by the founders and creators urging users to donate to their site and they need the funds to keep this immense project going for future generations to see. The second problem one tends to encounter on these open source sites is doubting how credible a source may be. Since these massive project are always run by a small team or even a micro team, users often doubt where this information is actually coming from and whether it is true or not. This is why even in elementary school, students are taught that wikipedia is not a credible source and cannot be used to write scholarly work. And the last problem I see with open source  sites, is that they are often cited as unsophisticated and untrustworthy. How good can a product be if  it is still this small and is not publicly open to trade with. Open source sites are wonderful and provide a utopian product that almost seems undeserved these days, but their downfall eventually comes when a larger competitor decides that they want them to go down. We must continue to support open source creations, if we do not want to see a future of monopolized internet sites and sources.

Wikileaks and government response.

 The government response has been expected as the people know that the government doesn't always have the best intentions for the public. Whenever snowblowers leak extremely sensitive government information about privacy security, and war this obviously sparks an outrage with citizens. I believe that this the act of governments seeking harsh torture and punishment of these snowblowers says everything we need to know about their own attitudes towards the breaches they have committed. Governments choosing to prosecute these individuals is almost an admission of guilt. But since they are the ones in power, and that we have to depend on them for safety, liberty, and security. The most people do is protest and hope to be heard, but in the end most of these cycles always repeat themselves because people refuse to acknowledge the sins of the past and refuse to care or pay attention as to what is really going on behind the scenes of these iron curtains.

New social media techonologies.

 One of the most new and exciting technologies that has become available to the masses is the tool of deepfakes. This technology allows any user to replace a video or an image of someone, and paste another face on top, and be able to display the extremely detailed movement of the facial muscles to make it seem that a the person being programmed on, is the one being used as a puppet. This technology can be a bit freaky at times because of how accurate and how realistic it can make other people appear. When the tool first came out, it had it flaws and people could tell that this was something very uncanny. But as time has progressed the details are now much sharper and can seem even more life like than photo realism. This tool is very powerful and it has been mostly used for memes, and by other online fools, but whose to say this tool can be used for malicious intent. Someone can potentially capture a video of you and replace it with things you never did or said. That is where this tool become dangerous. If we are currently witnessing something as powerful as this, whose to say we will be able to distinguish real people from fake people in the future, since to our minds these movements and actions are indistinguishable.

WikiLeaks

 For those who are not familiar, WikiLeaks is an organization that anonymously publishes classified media and news leaks. According to the government, WikiLeaks has published very classified information and even tried to shut it down. Personally by doing this, what is the government afraid of? I think their response to WikiLeaks was poor because that shows that the government is hiding so much from citizens. The government has also tried to collaborate with other sources in order to track down whistleblowers from WikiLeaks and punish them, but they failed to do so because of freedom of speech. I think that soon enough with the internet and technology advancements that other anonymous sources like WikiLeaks will develop and possibly expose more government information. 

Wikileaks

 Wikileaks' track record of releasing leaked government documents has made them a target of the United States government and many other major nations around the world.  The US and its allies have actively worked to shut down the organization and arrest anyone involved. Proponents of punishing and censoring Julian Assange, his organization and sources say that doing so is a not just a matter of national security but about the preservation of fragile diplomatic relations between nations. There are claims that some of the information leaked may be poorly sourced or unverified for authenticity and represents a danger to the public. Defenders of Wikileaks say that the organization is providing a public service by exposing government cover ups and threats to our rights to privacy. While Wikileaks' methods may be suspect and deserving of some criticism and condemnation, there is also enough to defend their status as a whistleblower that may provide a defense of the public from government overreach. 

Blog Post 13: WikiLeaks

 The government has responded to WikiLeaks in a few different matters to prevent the leak of classified information. Some of the ways the government has reacted has been by collaborating with website sources like Wired magazine to track down wiki leakers. Other actions by the government have been information requested like for Twiter for WikiLeaks supporter's information. Their request was denied due to freedom of speech and privacy policies. I do not believe the actions of the government in response to Wikileaks is the best thing to do. I believe that there shouldn't be secrets kept from the government to the common people, rather there should be communication. Wikileaks and Twitter are independent companies not owned by any nation. The internet is not owned by anyone, therefore information about a person should be kept among social media platforms. If the government keeps any secrets they must keep in mind that no matter what they hide the truth always comes out to the light, therefore there shouldn't be secrets kept among the government and the comment people among internet of speech restrictions.

WikiLeaks

Wikileaks has caused controversy between many governments, especially in the United States. Wikileaks is known as the giant library where the world's most persecuted documents are exposed. I would assume the governments were alarmed at the type of content that was published since they tend to retain certain information from the public and the world in general. Another article that I read mentioned that Wikileaks brings to light documents that focus on alleged US government misbehavior. For example, issues like hidden war crimes or prisoner abuse. That is where the Hacktivist response comes to play. So, this is when people use digital technology to disrupt organizations, such as Wikileaks, that the social movement opposes. Also, another aspect of this response is that it distributes denial of service that floods a specific server with requests, eventually weakening that website. I do not think there should be limits on internet free speech because either way, people would figure out a wiser manner of voicing their thoughts and beliefs. 

Wikileaks

 I thinking the government responded rather poorly in regards to the Wikileaks. By trying to shut them down, it only really shows how weak the government is and how much they are actually hiding. I think it is a known fact regardless that the government hides a lot but if people, even if they are anonymous, find documents and leak them to the public, they have freedom of speech. It's just like a reporter chasing a story and giving it to the public. There should be no limits to internet free speech. Sure everything on there isn't nice but it's a free place where anyone can post anything. Some websites try to block some content and they the right to do that, but the government shouldn't be getting involved in that, I think. 

Social Media Technology

 Something that we have not discussed really much in class is the ability to donate or send money online with a click of a button. It fascinates me really how easy transactions have become online. A website just saves your card information and whether you're watching your favorite streamer, or looking to back up a product on Kickstarter, you can donate money with ease. It's something that seems a little sketchy at first, i admit, but also super convenient if you have the money for it. You can also donate very quickly to your favorite politicians and anyone really. I don't really see it being an issue unless of course, people start seeing who you are donating to and I could see some controversy arising but other than that, I just think it's convenient. 

Facebook Surveillance

 I see how Facebook isn't really the only social media to be surveilling us. Really any website we're on is able to record our searches, activities, watch time, etc. It's something that a lot of people don't think about whenever they enter into a site. And at the same time, other people surveil each other too. People read old tweets, look at old posts, find old photos and it is all because data is stored on these sites that we use. It can be a little scary to know that something you said 10 years ago can be dug up. Really makes you want to be careful with what you say. And really anyone with little to no reason can find these things. It's free and quite easy. Just a couple clicks. But I really wouldn't freak out about it personally. If my information is there, everyone is and I don't be posting or saying anything I wouldn't want to bite me in the ass later, so I don't worry. 

WikiLeaks

Many governments are worried about the risks of national security that comes with the release of classified documents. Many who were involved in the leaks were imprisoned for many years. It depends on who you ask on how reasonable that response was. "The civilians in war zones who had told U.S. soldiers about movements of the Taliban and al-Qaida had to go into hiding and some of those people were harmed when their identities were compromised", said P.J. Crowley, the State Department spokesman when the WikiLeaks story erupted in 2010. There were a lot of people 0uy at risk because of these are leaks but I don't think there should be limits on speech but we have to accept the consequences it can bring.

Not the Leaks

 I believe that getting information from as many different sources should never have a negative outlook. Wikileaks is just another source of information that I believe that we should have access to. Would you rather get information for one place that does not tell you the truth, or would you rather have multiple options and see which one makes sense for your self. We live in America where a pandemic was hid from the American people, and allowed millions to get infected with life threatening illnesses. There is no problem with Wikileaks I believe, and they should never get muted like many of other sources, as long as they are trying there best to put out credible information to the people then they should be allowed. At least our freedom of speech holds up in some sort of way or fashion, but it is good that they are anonymous because then they would probably be targeted by the Government. Information should not be handed out when deemed necessary, but rather when it happen no matter the situation. Cites like this are a necessity because in todays would they break the news faster than any other media outlets, and things happen every second with information that the people want to know. So let Wikileaks and whatever cite update and put out the information that is necessary that tries it absolute best to have creditable information, then they should live. Because I said so lol

Wikileaks

   Sometimes the government participates in illegal activities, that we will never find out about. So this WikiLeak’s platform was set up to inform us of things that we do not have knowledge of. I think it is a great idea, but how can we guarantee that what they release is accurate and not just conspiracy theories. There is no way for the average citizen to know. The government has combated this by prosecuting whistle blowers, and making it harder for people to leak information. They have had to wage war against hackers and many different people trying to shut their organization down. 

New social media

 A social media platform we haven’t discussed yet is Quora. Quora is a website where questions are asked, answered, and followed. The answers can also be edited by internet users. Users on the app can also put their opinions on the subject. Because Quora answers can be edited they are not reliable. However, the website provides a wide range of responses and opinions from users. Answers can only be valid if people post a reliable source. This website impacts social and political issues because Quora provides politicians information on other people’s opinions. Quora also gives them a platform to voice their actions.

Government responses to Wikileaks

Wikileaks accused the UK Government of partnering with the CIA in 2013, to hack Samsung smart TVs, turning them into covert microphones. This is done by hacking an individual's tv with a program called the Weeping Angel. Once the program is activated, the user's tv never truly goes into off -mode. The TV's inner mic is always recording, to pick up conversations and phrases unknowingly. The owner of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, claimed the CIA is in possession of a digital library, full or Russian techniques, and documents. In addition, he specified and assured the public that they were legit, and proper from a legal, political, and forensic perspective. The CIA, as well as Home Land Security, did not wish to comment or respond to these allegations. More importantly, the CIA noted that they do not respond to construing, or the authenticity of intelligence documents. I feel as if these responses are reasonable. They did not outright deny anything, due to the fact that the allegations are probably true. Although, freedom of speech is a constitutional right, as well as the option to refrain from speaking. However, people who are typically innocent will do all they can to shed light on the truth. There should not be a limit on internet free speech, as freedom of speech is a constitutional right. If someone is not pleased with libel or allegations against them, they are not forced to respond, nor acknowledge they are true.

New Social Media Technology

 A website that we have not discussed in the class, as well as one that many would not typically think about when discussing social media technology, is Go Fund.  Go Fund Me is a website that provides communities with an online network to support each other, by promoting other users' causes or donating to their campaign. Users create a profile and set up a campaign afterwards to promote their cause and be able to receive donations via PayPal, and cryptocurrency. This website allows underfunded organizations, and movements the chance to receive financial, and social support they would not normally get or have. This helpful tool can provide many politicians and activist with a platform for their voices to be heard, and a stepping stone so that their ambitions can become actions.

Surveillliance

 Based on the discussion of the surveillant nature of Facebook, I conclude that other social media sites, such as Instagram, and Snapchat, uphold the same behavior. Instagram has analytics that go as far as telling you, how many people clicked on your picture, and who exactly those people were. Oddly, these are things we try to figure out ourselves,, and ways we surveil each other, so it is honestly a very useful tool. However, it is definitely an invasion of privacy. In addition, Instagram shows you what people have visited your profile within the last 24 hours. Similarly, Snapchat discloses your location within the last 24 hours to everyone you have friended on the app. Personally, I have turned my location off on the app. Although, I often check it when waiting on a friend to pick me up, so that I can see how far they are. These specs pose somewhat of a significant threat to the argument against heavy government surveillance on the public. Me checking who specifically clicked on my profile is no different than a government agent checking what websites I have been visiting through accessing my wifi. Both of these things gain insight into a person's daily or impulsive interests without consent.

Analyzing Social Media Technology

Reddit is a lot like Twitter, it is a place where people go to to have discussions, post their views, opinions, or stories. It is pretty well know, like a lot of the other social media technologies we've been discussing. Reddit effects social and political issues that many don't realize. Many political events are discussed on the platform. It is also a place where conspiracy theories can be explained/discussed. There are now online sluths throughout the site. There are so many different topics and uses it can be hectic and entertaining for many types of people. Making it very versatile 

Virtual Reality Social Media

Facebook recently started advertising a virtual reality headset that they are selling. It's kind of ironic because someone came to me about a year ago about a VR headset, and said Facebook was considering a certain VR headset and that I should look into it as a possible investment. Well I'm sure you could imagine my surprise when I saw the commercial for the VR headset Facebook is promoting. What I am not sure of is if it's the same company that this person shared with me a while back.

None the less Facebook is moving into making social media more futuristic. How they are going to do this I don't know. I do remember the videos I watched made it seem as though you would be able to have a better gaming experience with this VR headset, but there was no mention of using it for social media. But one would have to believe that if a social media giant is now selling a VR headset, it must be for the purpose of that headset being compatible with said social media giants platform. I guess it will be a matter of time before we are sitting on our couch in Texas, but we are feeling the experience of sitting in a faily member or good friends living room thousands of miles away.

Are we really ready for this type of virtual personalization? Are we ready for virtual time travel? Are we ready to go where no ones gone before and allow these companies to infiltrate our homes? How far will we go to be entertained? 

New social media

A social media we haven't discussed in class yet is Vimeo. Vimeo is similar to YouTube in the sense that millions of videos are uploaded and users all over the world have access to them. However there are some differences between them such as the group of people that tend to access the website. In Vimeo there is a less problematic crowd who focuses more on constructive criticism rather than judgmental people that access YouTube. Vimeo poses a great change to all of social media as it encourages more uplifting content and avoids harsh and negative comments. Today, one of social media's biggest issue is the excessive use of vulgar language and degrading words. If it was more like Vimeo, then that problem would diminish and social media would be a more positive environment.

Social Media Technology

 A social media technology that we have not discussed in class is artificial intelligence. Just thinking that one day our social platforms will be controlled by smart machines like bots is concerning. However, we are probably not far from this because technology is quickly evolving. For instance, ai impacts social media by applying image recognition. That makes it easier for people to connect with and find friends and family members. Another interesting aspect that ai has introduced are chatbots. People can have conversations, get questions answered in real-time as if messaging with a real human. AI may impact political issues because it can increase the hacking of accounts and surveillance of our data.  

AR and VR in Social Media

Virtual reality has been a buzzword for many years that meant different things to different people. Recently, big companies are investing heavily in new applications that make these high concept technologies more mainstream. VR, which is a completely immersive environment has become more accessible through Facebook's Oculus headsets and gaming platform. Augmented reality, which is the concept of enhancing a real world experience with digital elements, has gotten a big boost from smartphone manufacturers and app developers to deliver unique interactive experiences utilizing devices that many people are already carrying and using everyday. Apple for instance, has added a LiDAR sensor to it's latest iPhones and iPads to aid in allowing the devices to better detect the environment around you to enhance AR experiences in apps. Naturally, as these technologies are becoming increasingly accessible, social media companies are taking notice and looking for ways they can integrate their own VR/AR experiences to help increase platform adoption and loyalty. Instagram and Snapchat are already using AR for photo and video filters. Trend analysts expect that many platforms will continue to experiment with offering users and brands the ability explore this kind of deeply immersive content. 

Blog Post 12: New Social Media Technology

A while back I remember going through a website called Cleverbot.com. This is a website where you can chat with a robot. The responses are very realistic as at times you question whether you are texting with an actual robot or a human. Neither the less this brings up one of the technologies which I don’t remember talking too much in class about artificial intelligence chatbots. I have visited a couple websites where a chat box appears and says “Chat Live” and it would connect you either another human or a chatbot. These chats are usually to help you find a solution to a problem, but the problem is that some times the problem might be a “Picky/Detail” problem or something out of the ordinary that requires furthermore assistance. So this leads me to believe: Can bots like this be furthermore program to give users better detail assistance? What if the bots themselves start to collect data from users? Well, this might be true in the far future when the technology for ai bots gets up to a level of such fine detail, but what does this mean for social media and its potential for the future? I think if ai bots were to take on social media, not only would they help users with settings and navigation in their accounts but poteilly could do a bit more. Some examples would be asking the bots to keep a conversation with a user when you are bussy.The bots could potentilly bring up responses gather by data in other users among your own to give intellectual feedback to the receiver. Perhaps it can nottifie the other uses that you have turned on the bot to chat and the chatbot can have its own avatar in your account as if it was another version of you, but virtual. In other words, this would mean that the bots would have data from many users behind our screens to help people texting other people when they are away from their key boards.

New Social Media Technology

 During the pandemic, I have found myself looking for new ways of entertainment and new ways to connect with my friends. To provide further entertainment to our FaceTime calls, my friends and I have been using apps like Houseparty, Squad, Rare, and even Walkie-Talkie, where you join random people in a radio channel, kind of like Omegle but just for your voice. Now these are new forms of social media that I have discovered, but new forms of social media technology I may see happening is social media apps made specifically for shopping. With Instagram's update, it makes it seem like the once photo-sharing app is now a shopping app and this is driving many people away from using it, apart from the terrible algorithm. I think it would have been better for the company if they made an app specifially for shopping, where users can post their outfits or whatever they have purchased and can post a photo of it, but have clickable links attached to the picture of the item for people to browse. Now I would only maybe see influencers benefit from this the most but this is only an idea. 

Social Media Technology

I think the next social media technology is going to be able to find people’s social media accounts through facial recognition. Google already has reverse image searching so the technology is close to being there. Rather than asking for someone’s @ or username we are just going to be able to scan someone’s face and it will bring up their account. The biggest concern I see with this technology would be fake accounts, but if platforms use a similar method that iPhones and android devices use for face recognition, I could see this working. This could also help in eliminating fake accounts or imposter accounts by requiring them to use their face to verify who they are.

Un talked about Media

  A media outlet that we have not discussed in class is a way of your phone sending text messages based off of your thoughts. Just by looking at your phone and thinking what you want to type and send. That would be a revolutionary technology that would have an un foreseen impact on the way that media is used on a daily basis. The way that technology is progressing things like this may become norms in the near future, and is something that we have to prepare for. I think that we should look into more programs and ideas like this so that we can actually become as advanced in technology as I imagined that we would be in 2020. We are suppose to be in spaceships and flying objects besides planes. So more ideas like this could help to be a kickstart for a more imaginary thoughts to become actuality. This technology would not be hard to make because I am sure that companies like Apple, and Microsoft, and others would love to work on this technology because they would be the leader of the new technology age, and that comes with monetary gain, and a following like no other.  

surveillance nature of social media

 We constantly surveil each other on various social media platforms. We decide who we want to continue being friends with based on what they post and their attitudes about certain things. If someone is being abusive online users are encouraged to report it to the moderating staff so the account can be temporarily post blocked or suspended. All online users are watchdogs for behavior. That is why you should abstain from posting hurtful or negative things on your personal Facebook, and many people have throwaway accounts or other accounts on different sites where they post controversial opinions or a private Twitter for venting. Venting intense emotions on your main page can cause people you barely know to get into your business or even call the local authorities for a wellness visit. many people are very careful about expressing certain emotions on their main page because of who might see it. Every post is constantly surveilled by friends, family, and even strangers. 

google working conditions

 I was always fascinated by working at Google. They provide free food (3 gourmet meals daily) and snacks to their workers and have some of the best employee benefits like paid parental leave and competitive health insurance and death benefits. Employee Glassdoor reviews are mostly positive stating the more than 15 cafes on the main campus are a plus, but all of the benefits do not offset heavy workloads and a lot of employees report feeling work-week burnout. Other employees say that fast-moving projects prevent work from becoming boring. The culture at Google is fast-paced but free-spirited. 

Social media technology

      A new social media technology, is an app called Parler. This app was created because many trump specific posts have been taken down and banned on certain social media sites. Therefore the creators developed an app where it would be unbiased. They would not ban or block any users for what they say. Unfortunately, this site is being used for trump supporters to plan, and do things/ say things that might not be appropriate. 

Who’s watching

Surveillance is something that happens on accident in the day and age that we live in. Cameras are everywhere you turn even if you are unaware of your surroundings there is a high possibility that you are being recorded in some way shape or form. Weather it is as door bell or a camera phone you always have to be aware or your next move could be viral. We as civilians have master the are of recording anything that may seem interesting I know that I can be guilty of that, but again it is the day and age that we are living in. We monitor ourselves better than the government at times technology is a fool, and this is how America finds who we need to find quickly.  

Facebook and Social Media Surveillance

The social media phenomenon took the world by storm. We all jumped in head first and were having a blast. It wasn't until later that we realized these awesome and fun new ways to communicate were monitoring every move we made online. Surveillance in this country and all other countries is a necessity for national security. What we weren't ready for was that same level of surveillance on our favorite websites.

The one issue I had with social media was the lack of regulatory requirements from the federal or state governments. This lack of regulations on information being stored and shared with third parties, made me stop sharing so much information on these websites. I informed my wife to stop sharing our children's photos online when Facebook issued a statement that any pictures shared on their platform was their property. Like how do you tell me my family portraits are yours because I shared them on your site that you encouraged me to share them on? So to go from taking ownership of our pictures to monitoring our daily online presence is a serious privacy concern.

These tech companies and social media conglomerates were given too much power. When there are no checks and balances there's bound to be egregious misuse of power. Following people around and using unapproved surveillance methods to control how they shop and spend their money isn't what the average social media participant expected to deal with. Unfortunately they got away with it for so long, I don't know if there's a way to prevent it from continuing.

Surveillance with Social Media

Starting off with this simple question, in this era who doesn't know the government is watching them? Contrary to what I just asked, I used to be a person that didn't believe in that whole "the government is watching us" type of thing. I didn't believe in this statement, but yet I would constantly have adds of things I was going to looks for or just things I was talking to myself aloud on. Now if that didn't tell me the government was on some weird stuff, then I don't even know. Now that I have realized this is true, this is a major invasion on privacy and a huge problem with basically anyone that uses technology. Although we now know we are being surveilled by connection the dots, the government has never told their people that we are being watched which like I said comes back to the privacy issues. 

 

social media surveillance

 I believe social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and snapchat have become a way of surveillance. On Instagram and Facebook people post their current location regularly and I feel that it has become a habit for people to post things that should be private. I also noticed that on my snapchat, I would get advertisement from things I had just googled. I didn’t think too much of it until now after realizing that these social media apps spy on our history and cookies. Like myself many people do not pay attention or ignore the ads. However, people should be more aware because it is a way of surveillance. 

Social media

 Social Media monitoring has gotten to the point where people are hesitant to even post as not only the companies but the government and even an everyday citizen can surveil us. At some point people will realize that this has gone too far and some safe gates should be placed to avoid this .

Social Media is Watching Us

    I use Twitter and Instagram on a daily basis and have been very familiar with the surveillance nature of social media. I do come across the occasional tweet about how someone refuses to take the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available because they believe the government is going to attempt to put a microchip inside us, but all I have to say is are you not sending this tweet from a device that... can track you and all your data? Since Instagram is owned by Facebook, I am sure that all the same surveillance may be occurring there. Twitter shows what a person may like or retweet, which can be used to see how people may agree or disagree on certain topics, and by using this, we surveil each other. 

    Like many people can relate, when doing some online shopping and searching for headlights for my car on safari, I seem to receive ads for headlights of the exact make and model of my car on Twitter, which shows how Twitter is not excluded from the conversation of surveillance on social media. I do not believe that we will never be surveilled on social media, companies need to make money somehow (by collecting and selling data, that is).

Talk About Invasion of Privacy

 Because social media platforms, like Facebook, frequently monitor users,  many users feel unsafe and paranoid when partaking in their everyday social media usage. 

As users, we are constantly watching other social media users activity. Sometimes we do not even realize that some of the things could be classified as private. For example, on Twitter, when people retweet and like tweets, we are getting a slight insight into their views, which can help figure out their beliefs on similar topics.

I definitely think that it is an invasion of privacy, whether you are apart of the government or just an everyday social media user. 

Blog Post #11 Surveillance & Data Collection

 

Other parallels about social media in regards to surveillance can potentially lead and influence other companies to do what social media are prone to do, collecting data. As we all know %99 of social media are free to sign up as in return for their free services, they typically collect some sort of data. With this in mind, I have recently found out that Microsoft Office is free for anybody. However, the catch is that it's only free via an internet browser, which means you would have to be signed in online with a Microsoft account to access Windows Office. Users with, pro membership can still download the desktop version to use it offline for 69.99 dollars per year. So this leads me to believe that  Microsoft could collect data from those free users. With this in mind, could other companies release free versions of their products to collect data? I believe in the near future such things as offering a free version of production in exchange for data could be a thing.  

 

Furthermore, I believe we surveil each other upon or personal interest as the government does to us. Some examples can range from looking through the profile of a person we like, or looking at someone's collection, or places where people hang out; however just as it's easy to spy on our friends or secret crush, the government can do the same. Some of the problems that this might create are determining whether the content been shared is real or not. Government surveillance would cost a lot of money and time, to surveillance millions of online users. Deciding whether things been shared is worth their surveillance time and money could be the deal-breaker. Those the government should have its limits when it comes to surveillance unless real awareness is raised about a particle subject matter. Just like the government should have limits, we should consider having our own limits when it comes to surveilling others, as it's worth our time or not. 

 

Everyone is watching you

Blog Assignment: Based on our discussion of the surveillant nature of Facebook, what other parallels can you see with other social media sources? How do we surveil each other (nevermind what the government does to us)? What problems does this pose to the argument to limit [government] surveillance of the public? In similarities to how Facebook watches our activities, instagram also shows some patterns of surveillance among our accounts. For example, when I first made my instagram account I started liking certain pictures about a certain topic. As weeks passed I started noticing that I got a lot of suggestions of the same topics I was following. Today, my instagram feed is full of suggested posts over what I have recently watched and liked. The more I change what I watch then the more those suggestions change. This is somewhat similar to the way Facebook observes what we watch and then suggests similar content. You can see this as an invasion to our privacy in some ways but also as a way to help us stay engaged and discover content we might be interested in. At the end of the day we do use social media to observe what others do. We watch where they are, with who they are, and what they are doing. However, we have to ask ourselves to what extent is this considered okay? The government could potentially infiltrate our banking accounts, personal information, and etc. Social media is a friend of ours but what happens when it crosses the line?

Privacy and Social Media

Our right to privacy has been confirmed by the Supreme Court as part of our Constitutional rights. As it pertains to privacy and the use of technology, it's ultimately up to us as citizens and users to make sure that we hold those in government, law enforcement, and technology accountable for how our data is used or in some cases abused. We should be sure to ask our elected leaders about their stances on these issues when electing them as they influence the various agencies that provide oversight and create laws that dictate the level of privacy we enjoy. There may be some extreme circumstances where surveillance might be warranted to prevent terrorism or violent crime, but there must be strict guidelines around acceptable use and punishment for those who abuse it. 

In the same respect, as consumers and users of various technologies that have the ability to covertly share our data, we should be careful about the devices and services we choose to use. It's important to review privacy policies and what level of control a company gives you over your data before agreeing to use their services. In cases where you may not have opted in to the sharing of your data, like facial recognition, these companies and technologies need to be reviewed by our elected leaders to provide more oversight in to how they are used and regulated. 

Surveillance on Social Media

 Facebook is a huge culprit when it comes social media surveillance, but other websites like Instagram (which is owned by Facebook) and Twitter are also spy on your cookies and history. Your data is collected by these social media platforms and sold to advertising agency. Typically when you search for something or view something you will get consistent adds on your social media. A creepy thing happened to me and my sister where I was verbally telling her about a brand and she ends up getting adds for it on her Instagram. Not only are these platforms are using your internet history they are also using your microphones. TikTok has had a lot of controversy when it comes to surveillance, with the president almost banning TikTok a couple of times.

Personal and Social Surveliance

To start off, we must always question why we are seeing certain results in our search log, why we are being recommended a specific type of video, why we are being shown things that we have searched months ago. What is the agenda that these social media sites and by extension these monopolized tech companies have, and what role do you play in their predictive machine? As individuals we judge and police other individuals that come out on our feed because of the systems these platforms have integrated into our personal accounts. The executives realize that there is too much content to control and protect on the internet therefore they have created these features and algorithms to help them manage and keep a balance in social discourse. I however do not think that this is enough, there is so much junk information that is irrelevant to users of social media, and so much false information that we are now seeing rising levels of ignorance and the growth of communities who exacerbate this false information. We are at the point of that not, executives, not algorithms, and not the users themselves can control the information so there are automatic disclaimers on tweets, and other social media posts warning viewers that information about this specific post "may" be false, and they even provide a link to that resource the platform has created. This is not really anyone fault as even adult human minds can change perspectives on beliefs they had indoctrinated themselves into believing. This is a consequence that is fundamentally the fault of humans having a subjective view on what truth means to them.

Surveillance on Social Media

 I have had discussions with friends about how people tend to over tell on social media, which gives anyone access to the information. Sometimes people do not realize how much information they put online. When you tag a friend or family member on a photo, you are informing the public of your connection to one another. Facebook also gives people the option to label their relationship with other people. You can go into a profile and find out their birthday, high school/college, relationships, and interests.  You also see people put a lot of personal information in their bio. When we have so much information public, we can surveil each other without little effort. All you need to know is the first and last name of someone. 

    A lot of younger people use social media to surveil their crush. In grade school, when a friend had a crush, we would spend time going through their social media. We would be careful to not like or comment on posts that were too far back, so they wouldn't know we were looking through their posts.

    A way to prevent this is by keeping your profile private and limit the information you post publicly. You also have to worry about posts that you are tagged in that are on a friend's timeline. You don’t have a lot of control over what information goes public. This is similar to security cameras or other public surveillance. This is one of the reasons that limiting the government is so hard. If your information is public, you don’t have a say on who sees it.

Surveillance on Social Media

Besides Facebook, I believe the concept of being under surveillance by the government and users is present in other social media sites, like Instagram and Twitter. From our discussion, I think it is alarming how being watched online has become a norm in the digital world. It is also interesting to learn how users are slowly accepting this act. We are monitored through the collection of our data, algorithms, and cookies. Sometimes we are being watched without acknowledging it, and I think that is one negative aspect of social media. I think the most common way that other people surveil each other on social media is by lurking on a person’s profile. For example, someone who is using Instagram clicks on an individual’s profile to discover more about that person. Next thing you know, they find themselves looking at posts from three years ago. The creepiest thing is they start liking that person’s old pictures, and it puts them in the spotlight for lurking on that individual’s page. Also, even the action of constantly “checking” to see if there are any updates on a person’s feed is a form of surveillance because you are watching out for new posts. With that said, I do not think it is possible to limit government surveillance of the public, especially noting that technology continues to advance. Even if sites implemented stricter regulations, the government has a lot of control and power, so I would be sure they would find a smart way to continue shadowing us.  

Reviews on Working at Spotify

On glassdoor, Spotify has a rating of 4.3/5. This is a great rating compared to millions of other companies. According to the reviews, Spotify is a great company to work for, if you are in a department with good management. The company is very flexible in scheduling, unique in its training and team bonding, as well as generous with its benefits, and opportunities for promotion. The only con I notice that one may face when working for this company is its low pay rates. Most of the people who work for this company are passionate about what they do, so they are ok with having somewhat of a low salary.

All About Facebook

 Facebook, the popular social media site, is said to be founded by Mark Zuckerberg, and two of his college roommates. Since then, it has gained a few other shareholders and owners. It is its own parent company, as it has other companies and sites that it owns. For example, Facebook owns Instagram, that is why they are very similar in design and use. I believe this impacts Instagram users, by not allowing them to get brand new features. On the other hand, anyone who uses Facebook will be someone familiar with the app upon the first usage, and will probably like the design and function. Facebook has the right to censor content and posts, but it does not. Facebook generally gives users control to say and post what they please. I feel as if they should block users from posting some things, such as videos of mass killings, terrorist attacks, and extreme libel.

Extra Credit Blog Assgn.

 A netiquette violation that will be popular in the near future, but is not now is: misgendering someone. People who claim to be "nonbinary", do not wish to identify as male or female. In addition, they like to be addressed with pronouns, such as they, or them. Some people troll those who wish to be called such pronouns and call them she/he on purpose. This will become much more prevalent in the future, as more people are beginning to adhere to the nonbinary trend. 

Meme Analysis

 The meme that I selected was of a character off of the show Star Trek, looking at the camera in rage, yelling," Bro you just posted cringe, you are going to lose subscriber !". The meme is targeted at curators who post their content on social media. It gives insight into the power that the public has when determining curators' popularity and salary.  According to this meme, social capital is very relevant in the world of YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, etc. There is shared reciprocity between the curator and the subscribers.

Politician's Twitter Account

 I chose to analyze Kamla Harris's speech in her tweets. Kamala Harris is very empowering in her tweets. She often speaks in the second person, as she lets "us" the people know we are in control. From her account, I can confirm she is running for democratic vice president and is a strong liberal. The musical artist I chose to analyze was Lil Uzi Vert. Uzi can be perceived as arrogant on Twitter. Most of his retweets are about how great his fans think his music is, and pictures of him in expensive designer clothes. He doesn't really talk about social issues on Twitter the same way politicians do, but he is surprisingly just as active with his followers as they are.

Social Media Etiquette

 Social media etiquette is still evolving like how social media is evolving. People are growing up with their whole lives online. There are still new apps coming out which means there will be new etiquette rules. Even with the apps we have today, people are still establishing new rules. In the future, I feel like social media etiquette will most likely be less strict. A new way to violate social media is by posting and saying things that go against social media violations on live. When someone is live, it can be seen by anybody and usually is not monitored. 

Instagram

Instagram is a social media website committed essentially to sharing pictures and short 1 minute max videos. Be that as it may, it has advanced to remember longer recordings for IGTV and TikTok style, known as Reels, recordings on Instagram. Instagram was established on October 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger, and it was dispatched on iOS. Instagram is presently claimed by Facebook. Instagram is one of the more vigorously directed social media stages. It consequently recognizes certain words and harsh language, and an admonition features the screen before you choose to post or remark utilizing that sort of language. Pictures containing bareness are directed vigorously, particularly on open records. It is anything but difficult to get your Instagram brought down for rehash offenses.

Twitter Company Review

I decided to analyze Twitter since I am very active on there. On Glassdoor, Twitter has a 4.1 star rating out of 5. This is pretty good compared to other companies. Most of the reviews were positive and a few were negative. One good thing that I read was that they allow employees to work from home permanently ever since COVID started. A con was that the company is not well-organized. Overall, employees seem to like working for Twitter and have a good work friendly environment.    

Snapchat Review

     The company I chose to review is Snapchat. The reason for this that I am an active snapchat user and when I received this assignment I thought it could be kind on interesting to go and dig a little more deep on this social media company. Starting off with their rating, on glass door they have 3.9 starts which I think is a pretty decent rating. From reading all the reviews that people have left on this company, I can see why the rating is not a 5 star. Starting off with something positive, most people on glass door agree that it is a pretty chill place to work at which is why many people enjoyed their job here. They as well comment on how the have a great team, and a fast pace kind of vibe. Now moving on to some not so positive comments, these reviews talked about how although working at this company was great, the balance between work and just life itself something difficult to maintain. For this reason I can see why the rating on this company is a 3.9.

Tik Tok Company Review

 I have decided to complete some research on the work environment of ByteDance, the company that currently owns Tik Tok. After searching the company on Glassdoor, it currently has a 3.9 star rating out of 5 stars with reviews like "very promising company", "good benefits", and "not a good company for a new grad". Since ByteDance is a Chinese company, some of the reviews do mention that and there is literally a review that reads for the cons of working there "Made in China. Seriously, that's a sin during a trade war" which I thought was pretty funny. There are not many reviews available in English, as I assume most of them are in Mandarin or any of the other languages spoken in China and that most of the employees are Chinese. 

Instagram company review

 The site I chose was Instagram, but since it's under Facebook the employees are considered Facebook employees. Anyhow, the role I chose is a software engineer since it's the bread and butter of Instagram, and everyone depends on them to properly use the application. From what the present and past employees have said, the company treats them kindly and the work is fun to them. They appreciate the diversity and working culture that comes with the job. 

Tech Company Work Environment

eBay has a decent rating as it relates to work environment. The reviewers are able to provide what they feel are pros and cons working at eBay. Most employees stated the work environment was "pleasant". Others left reviews stating they "enjoyed the work environment and fellow coworkers". The most common "con" was that employees felt like there wasn't enough employee development. Others commented that the management didn't make decisions that were in favor of most employees. One reviewer made mention of the fact that Amazon's success was a major stressor for eBay management. Again overall the reviews were positive, so from the outside looking in I would say eBay has done a good job of providing a positive, worker friendly workplace environment.

Glassdoor review of Twitter

The social media site I decided to look into was Twitter. On Glassdoor Twitter has a rating of 4.1 stars out of 5. After reading through the reviews there are a lot of good ones. The first review gives twitter 5 stars saying the company is awesome. Reading through the pro reviews current employers say working there is nice and is a friendly work environment. The con reviews are mostly about the management. Current and former employers say the management is poor and disorganized. Overall, there are more positive reviews then negative. People seem to enjoy working for twitter. 

Twitter Work Culture

 I found that the majority of Twitter employees enjoy(ed) working at Twitter. It has a 4.1 star rating on Glassdoor.com and 88% approve of the CEO Jack Dorsey. The only thing I really found about the way Twitter frames their workplace is that they will allow their employees to work from home permanently, even after COVID-19 has passed. The position I chose was in HR and they mirrored the main rating. Some complained about work-life balance and others about miscommunication with and from management.

Working Conditions in Social Media

I chose to analyze the social media site Facebook for this assignment. The company rarely ever mentions its employees so therefore I have never heard them talk about them. In Glassdoor.com the company has an average rating of 4.5 stars which is pretty good if you ask me. Many of the pros include being surrounded by intellectual co-workers and occasionally receiving free food. The employees are allowed to have a voice of their own and work comfortably. Some of the cons however, included not being able to have a flexible schedule and not determining the success of your career on the amount of hours you put in. The job can be some what tricky when trying to balance a personal life with the life of working for Facebook. Overall, I think it is very entertaining to work for Facebook. Like other jobs, its not perfect but you have more abilities to do more than other social media companies allow you to perform.

Social working conditions

 When it comes to social media and companies on the internet and how they treat there employees is kind of a blank field for me. For example, not to many social media platforms have proper working for them. Usually it is a once or two man show unless maybe twitter, but even then they do not show us anything about there employees. All of that is behind closed doors, and I have never heard anything negative or positive about the situation at hand. I believe that maybe they are being treated well, and compensated the same because I personally have never heard anything negative, and you know what they say no news is good news

Glassdoor Review of Snap, Inc.

The company I decided to look into to was Snap Inc. parent company to Snapchat. On Glassdoor they have an overall rating of 3.9 stars out of five which seems Okay. Reading through the pros on most reviews is that it is a fun and chill workplace and allows you to be creative. The major con is that it is hard to advance in the company. Also some cons seem to suggest that the fun and chill work environment is “fake” or played up. Overall most people seem to recommend working at Snap, Inc. with interns and junior developers not recommending it if you would like to grow.