all my Blogs

 Introduction

Hi! My name is Giselle and I’m excited to be taking this class! I’m a Communications and Technology major and can’t wait until we dig into the world of social media!

Defining Social Media

Social media is an internet platform where people all over the world can interact, follow their favorite celebrities, and have a good time sharing memes and pictures. Pinterest is an app that although many people don’t consider it social media, I do. It's not your traditional platform, but people share pictures, ideas and most importantly, DIY’s. Some platforms don’t “make it” as a social media labeling because not everyone uses them. Pinterest has a tendency to be for more creative people, especially women, from what I’ve seen, so the social media title tends not to include some applications.  

Measuring Social Media

Measuring social media saves time and resources and can show us the best of the platforms. But a challenge could be that we have limited data. Every social media platform provides different information which can lead to misinformation. Also not everyone chooses to share data, which could mean the results may not be accurate. 

History of Social Media

DVD Player .vs. Netflix- When I was little the way I would watch movies was with a DVD Player, my mom would get a bunch of pirated movies, even some from Mexico, and that is what I had to watch. Now we have so many different Platforms, but the most known one would have to be Netflix. I was young when I first heard of it. And we never actually got it until I was a freshman in college, I believe. It was a whole other world when Netflix was released. With a DVD Player you could only watch what you already had or you had to buy/ rent movies. Now don’t get me wrong, with Netflix you can’t just watch anything, but they for sure have many more movies and shows that could fit in my TV stand.

Social Media and Participatory Culture

I don’t believe I actually participate in an online site. I’ve never actually allowed myself to be a die hard fan of anything, sure I’m a fan of various artists, but I don’t recall being super into anything. I guess I had what you could call “stages” for example I had a one direction stage where I loved the boys and the band, but even then I never joined a one direction community or even went to a concert(unfortunately still haven't). I think the closest I am to a community is on the app Wattpad. Is a reading app where people write books for anyone to read. I do now believe we could be called a community because we all read the same books before they are even discovered, which is kind of special. 

Social Media and Identity

Politician: Mike Pence

Celebrity: Chris Evans

I’ve recently noticed that Chris Evans is not afraid to speak his mind when it comes to politics. This week's news is Trump's Supreme Court Nominee. Mike Pence’s twitter just seems to be a personal commercial site. He re-tweets Trump’s tweets, and doesn't seem personal at all. Chris Evans tries to include his followers, and gives his opinion. He encourages people to vote and use their voice and re-tweets articles and videos from news channels. Pence on the other hand just tweets things made by the white house. 

Social Media and Identity

This SpongeBob meme was very popular, it's called Mocking SpongeBob or Spongemock was used as a way to indicate a mocking tone towards an opinion or POV. Memes have become a great part of social media. Sometimes the creators act fast and make money off of the memes by selling merch.  

Extra Credit Blog

Another way to violate social media etiquette would be for s person to repost someone's content to “admire” it to the point where it might be creepy, uncomfortable or even harassment. I don't mean repost as in catfishing or reposting a celebrity, but if for example a guy reposts a girls images over and over again, and she doesn’t know him and he leaves uncomfortable captions or comments or even gifs, it could quickly turn to a bad netiquette situation. 

The Economics of Social Media

Social Media Site: Instagram

Instagram is owned by Facebook, and in recent years, Facebook has been under the spotlight for how it handles censoring and its users. Many Instagram users that I’ve seen are censored when there was really nothing wrong or a case to be worried about. Yet there are some profiles that get away with so much hate, inappropriate content and just bad offensive posts, and nothing happens to them, they’re still there. They pick and choose what to “censor”. I believe they should censor this type of stuff, like the saying goes, ‘if you have nothing nice to say, then say nothing at all’. 

Case Study: Google and Ideology

I like to work with what I know best, and what I know best is Instagram. I follow a woman on tiktok who uploads content on how it is to work for different social media companies, and one of them is Instagram. Overall she explains it to be great, they give you free food, and have a great workspace. Although I know this is only one side of the company, if this is the company at its best, then I figured the worst can’t be all too bad. 

Case Study: Facebook

As careful as I try to be on social media, I started noticing that whenever I looked something up on my internet browser, I later got ads for it on Facebook and even instagram and even sometimes on Pinterest! We like to say that we all have an FBI Agent looking at us through the screen, but as we see more and more of these patterns I start to wonder if maybe it's true. When I think of us being surveilled all the time it reminds me of dystopian movies such as The Hunger Games and Divergent, where the government is always watching and controlling the people. This is very sad to me and honestly frightening, to think that freedom is nothing but an illusion. 

Case Studies: Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat

TikTok. TikTok quickly became such a powerful site after GenZ organized a movement where people started to reserve tickets to Trump’s Oklahoma rally. It started with one person and it quickly escalated to thousands reserving a seat, and obviously not attending. The Trump administration thought thousands were going to attend, when only a couple hundreds were able to. Trump was seen shocked and disappointed, and even tried to ban TikTok.

Social Media and Power

The reason some governments react negatively towards Wikileaks is because they obviously have things to hide and they don’t want to get out. Although people say that some things are better hidden, people will just have to grow up and make peace with the fact that not everything is what it seems. And we obviously have a reason not to trust the government. 

Social Media and Democratization of Information

I remember when I first discovered Wikipedia I was so excited. All the information I could need in one site? Great! But soon my teachers would warn us not to use the sire, and if we did we would get a 0 for the grade, this confused me and annoyed me. Later I found out it was because anyone can edit the site, and there could be a lot of misinformation. Even then though, I used it ever so often. Scholarpedia is a good alternative because it is written and edited by scholars. They have to be invited or elected, and although the site is still editable by anyone like a wiki, updates must first be approved before they are made final. This is a great way to get information that is accurate and as accessible as Wikipedia. 

Final Analysis

 This semester was very interesting as I learned a more in-depth understanding of what social media is. Before the class started I only knew the common apps such as instagram, twitter, and snapchat. However as this class progressed I began to be familiarized with more apps that I didn't even consider social media. I also was not aware of how much power social media holds. It is one of our main ways of living not just in the United States, but in many parts of the world. The whole world is now connected through the internet which means that anything and everything can travel in a matter of seconds. We saw this a lot this year with so many crazy events that took place. I will for sure use the skills I learned in this class and use them for my career. I am majoring in communications and technology so it will involve a lot of social media use and understanding.

Self- Analysis

 The first day of class I thought I knew everything about social media and how it works. However, this class was more then that. Throughout the semester I realized how powerful social media is. I realized that so many people rely on social media for their lively hood and it is not just a social platform. This course gave me a better understanding how social media is worldwide and how beneficial that is. It was my only class where I went on zoom and heard others opinions.  I enjoyed learning about other peoples opinions on the articles and the different ways they use social media. I had a goal of hearing more opinions so that I can have different views of topics. I would say that I did accomplish that goal because I am more open to discussing topics. In this course, I also have improved on researching facts for writing. Before I would not think to elaborate more on facts into my writing. Overall, this course has encouraged me to be more open minded and I learned there is so much more to social media.

New Social Media Technology

 A site that we have not examined in the class, just as one that many would not commonly consider while talking about social media, is GoFundMe. GoFundMe is a site that gives networks an online organization to help one another, by advancing other users' causes or giving to their mission. Users make a profile and set up a mission a short time later to advance their motivation and have the option to get gifts through PayPal, and digital currency. This site permits underfunded associations, and developments the opportunity to get monetary, and social help they would not typically get or have. This accommodating apparatus can furnish numerous legislators and dissident with a stage for their voices to be heard, and a venturing stone so their desire can become activities.

Surveillance

Facebook is a gigantic offender when it comes social media surveillance, yet different sites like Instagram and Twitter are also spying on your history. Your information is gathered by these social media stages and offered to promoting organization. Normally when you look for something or view something you will get predictable ads on your social media. It crazy because I can be talking about a certain brand or product and next thing I know I see ads about it on my social media. Not only are these platforms are using your history, they are also using your microphones.

Wikileaks

Wikileaks are known to distribute and release arranged government data. The spilling of government data on Wikileaks made the association be under criminal investigation and indict people for releasing arranged reports. WikiLeaks is a type of freedom of speech and democratization of information however remembering that the sources data could be made up or not valid somewhat. That is a con to the opportunity of this data getting out to society is that a few people may peruse something about the public authority that isn't accurate and gone for it. This could mislead the trust that individuals place in the government.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a free website where people can create and edit information about pretty much any topic. The idea of the website is good and can be useful sometimes. However, Wikipedia’s information is not reliable and accurate because anyone can edit the information at any time because of this people do not go to Wikipedia. Wikipedia could fix this challenge if they did not let everyone have access to edit.

Self Analysis

Overall, this semester has been extremely different with everything being virtually because of this pandemic. Normally, I just take one online class but having all 6 classes online was extremely difficult. I honestly expected this semester to be very easy but it was not. At the beginning of this semester, I expected learning the basics of social media. I did not anticipate jumping further in to attempting to comprehend the mechanics of technology as well as how they affect our everyday lives. The weekly blogs gave us the opportunity to research and get deeper information about different aspects of social media. The group project allowed me to interact with other students and work together. I am a very different person than I was at the beginning. I now am more careful on social media. I plan to continue improving.

Final: Self Analysis

Through out this semester I realized that here is plenty of ways that humans can communicate and ways that we can talk about new technologies. The article that my team and I had was the one about power and China. The amount of discourse going on with not millions but billions is something that is astonishing. With how many people there are in China it is amazing to see that so many people still haven't revolted against the government and started a new peoples government, and getting rid of the old and antiquated communist regime. This type of environment makes me reflect on my own environment and the power that we the people have with our own society and country. The protests that happened earlier this year made me think about how we have successfully used social media and outreach to organize and more importantly inform on what is important and things that the media is not covering. To reference the conversation we had during the semester about the matrix; It was a bit ironic because the tools that were meant to enslave us, have in some ways been used to help us revolt against the tyrannical and untouchable ruling class. We have to ask ourselves what technological tools will the people of the future struggle with? Will the idea of the thought police become a reality? Will we have to resort to classical modes of communication to bind us together? It's really fascinating and terrifying how this tool has been used for both good and harm. But we inevitably, have to adapt and keep up with the creations we make.

Self-Analysis

 When I first heard of the news that this semester was going to be online, I was excited, now that its over my opinion definitely changed. This was very different, and it came with a learning process. I thought it was going to be easy and smooth, boy was I wrong! I turned out to be harder than going to class in person! I do regret how I handled things, I wish I would have paid more attention and managed my time better, and although I got my work done, it was usually last minuet and sometimes not my best work. I believe that after this semester I can better understand how to go though the following Spring 2021, after all we learn from our mistakes, so I guess you could say I did improve as a person. Social Media has become such an important part of our lives, and after taking this class I do believe I can better understand and manage many of the things found online. When it comes to these type of classes I always do very good, so I didn't struggle much compared to for example my Geology class. I would like to continue to grow my knowledge of social media and eventually maybe even be a social media manager for big companies or sports teams. 

Self Analysis

This has been a very good class experience. I feel like we had a very diverse group of individuals with different online experiences, and this class gave us the opportunity to share and discuss those different experiences. 

I didn't really know what to expect from the course being that it is an intro to social media and I've been using social media for more than a decade. What I found was that the class provided an opportunity to bridge the gap between someone like myself that experienced social media in its infancy, and my classmates that were fairly new to social media and now have so many different social media options. It didn't take long for me to realize that Facebook is now for old people, lol.

I do feel that this class has helped me take several steps forward in my approach to social media and just interacting online in general. I've learned to embrace likes and I've been giving out more likes. One goal that I set was to start my IG page before the end of the semester, so I'll be setting up my IG page today. I've spent several weeks thinking of a good username so hopefully its not already taken.

Self Analysis

Taking a class about social media during a pandemic has been an unexpectedly eye opening experience. At a time when many have been forced to virtual means in order to interact with family and friends, social media has become more critical to interpersonal relationships than ever before. At the start of the semester, I anticipated learning the basics of social media, the concepts that inform how the various platforms operate. I did not expect to dive deeper in to trying to understand not just the mechanics of the technology but how they influence our daily lives in ways that many don't recognize. I learned an enormous amount more from the discussions with my peers during the class that I would have ever absorbed from the readings alone. The weekly blog posts provided an opportunity to independently research different aspects of social media that I had never considered before. The short report was useful practice in conducting qualitative research which through I discovered new insights about those I interact with on social media in my personal and professional life. The class facilitation and group final project also provided me with a chance to flex my group leadership skills and help guide an effort that relies on many different parties to be successful. Through each exercise, I learned more about myself and the world the world I interact with online and practiced vital skills that will aid me in future professional success. I look forward to carrying these lessons with me as I take on the next semester, specifically in the course on social media campaigns. 

Final Reflection

 This semester has been unique in the sense of not being in a classroom setting due to the pandemic. It was my first semester ever taking online classes via Zoom and Microsoft Teams. I didn't know what to expect in this Introduction to Social Media class, but I just hoped for the best. The main goal I had from the beginning which stayed the same throughout was to pass, but I also don't have many social media accounts that I actively use so I was hoping this class could convince me to make one. This class did help me realize that technology is only innovating and social media is growing, so eventually I'll make one. This class do help make you think critically about social media by making you aware of algorithms and privacy and the lack there of. Everyday is an opportunity to grow. I think I've learned a few things I can take with me to the rest of my life. Learning in itself is a process which doesn't happen over night. What I mean is you can't fully understand or grasp the full meaning of things in a short amount of time, so what I've learned in this 13 week course is more than I knew before. Learning a little is more than nothing. I won't say I've mastered any concepts from this course, but we've dealt with many ideas from economy, politics, controversies, AI algorithms, data security, etc. and I haven't necessarily mastered any. But I have more knowledge on each then I did before. A concept I kind of struggled with would be the ideologies behind AI algorithms. This class has helped with my ability to think critically about media and technology from different aspects. I plan to continue my journey to think more critically about the world around me. I will make a social media account, and using the information from this class I can spot out concepts we've discussed. 

Wikipedia

 The challenges of sites like Wikipedia is that the information on there can be provided by almost anyone who chooses to add to a topic. It can be subjective thoughts and pinions, which makes it a source that isn't as credible as other sites. It does contain factual information, but since anyone can edit on Wikipedia, it may not be reliable. I'm going to assume Quora could be an open sourced site similar to Wikipedia in some aspects. It allows its users to give their answers on topics and questions. There's another site called Infogalactic that's similar to Wikipedia. These sites allow for the public to edit it's forums. They also tend to be large online libraries of information. 

Self Analysis

 Since starting this class my knowledge and thoughts on social media have changed and evolved dramatically. The concept of social media was an almost abstract idea before I started this semester. I was aware of its power but I didn't really know how that power was used to shift people's perceptions and expectations. Being aware of how powerful a platform a single individual can make with social media is extremely important if I am to responsibly engage with content. I feel that now I am better equipped to analyze social media trends and dissect why certain trends start. I've become better at research data that gives me insight into social media usage and how many aspects of life today incorporate it into daily life. At this point I believe this class has shaped me to be a better social media user and an advocate for responsible social usage.

Wikipedia

 Wikipedia is free website where people can create or edit information. The idea of the website is good and can be useful sometimes. However, the websites biggest challenge is that Wikipedia’s information is not reliable and accurate. Anyone can edit the information at any time because of this people do not go to Wikipedia for knowledgeable information. Wikipedia could fix this challenge if they did not let everyone have access to edit information. However, this is what makes this website successful. People like having a platform where they can be informed about many topics. 

Wikipedia

 Wikipedia in concept is a great idea and can be utilized as a powerful tool for spreading knowledge. Unforunately the reality is that anything on Wikipedia may not always be accurate. Due to the nature of the interent and this website inparticular, Wikipedia is open for editing to the public. Anyone around the world has access to create an account and edit a Wikipedia page. Now this doesn't mean you can't trust Wikipedia entirely. This merely means that everyone should be weary and diligent about information from from the website. Even with that slight exploitation being a possiblity the value that Wikipedia provides cannot be understated. Having valuable general information just a few clicks away is what makes Wikipedia so popular and useful. There are pages about world events, people, activities, concepts and many more that should be avliable to everybody. 

Self Analysis

I see a growth in my knowledge relating to social media and how it effects our society. My first day of class I didn't have any expectations for the class. My only goal was to get good grades all semester and stay up on my work. When I signed up for the class I recently transferred from a Community College and changes my major at the same time. So my only knowledge around social media consists of my own experiences. When I started the class I didn't know enough about the issues around social media to have an effective discussions. Now because of the different concepts and projects I have a lot more information to apply. I feel like I am a better version of myself, I have found that I excel with online learning. I have always been good at online classes but I have never done this many classes in a single semester. I learned to motivate myself, build my time management skills, and learned how to use technology to organize my class work and notes. My plan for the next semester is to build off of these skills and get better about comprehending the readings for class, that was one of the most challenging part of learning and preparing for class.

Self Analysis

 At the beginning of this semester, I had many things I wanted to accomplish. This was my first semester back after taking a year off and I wanted to strong and finish strong. I took this class because I felt like I would really enjoy the material. And I did. I loved the discussions and frankly, this class was the only one that actually had a zoom class. The rest of the classes were just work.  I feel like I am a much better person than I was at the beginning of the semester, in regards to kind of discovering who I am in a person and what I want in life. I've kind of learned to enjoy the little things and not let work, or school, or any little problem really to ruin my day. But I know there's a long way to go. I felt like in the course, I mastered the idea of social media as communication platform. That there is a lot of moving parts in social media. It's not just a site. For me, discussing racism and stereotypes over social media was difficult to discuss because I think it's a very sensitive topic. 

Wikipedia

The main challenge with Wikipedia is anyone with an internet connection can change information on a page. I did have a hard time finding sites similar to it, the on that comes to mind is Answer.com. this is where people can go to ask questions and get answers form anyone. This is not reliable because anyone can answer, but you can tell 8f a professional answer a question. Wikipedia is the most well know open-sourse site, it is know that you shouldn't use the site for any research that needs to be credible.  The site is know for it's mistakes 

Self Analysis

    It is safe to say that practically everyone who uses social media platforms is pretty much 'self-taught.' Before taking this course, I knew the basics of social media.  I frequently used platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, and TikTok, and when I first downloaded them, I learned how to navigate through them on my own. 

    On the first day of school, I was not completely sure what to expect. I knew that we would be learning about social media, but I didn't really have any other guesses on what exactly we would learn. I would say that I am a better version of myself, and this is because I feel more comfortable talking about issues that present themselves on social media. An example would be the problem with constant surveillance. I also feel more comfortable interacting with others on the platforms I use. Before this course, I didn't really comment on people's posts or threads, but now I feel more at ease. 

    After taking the course, I realize that there was so much more to social media than just what I knew. I learned the different ways in which communities communicate with each other. This course has allowed me to get a better understanding of what goes on in the world of social media.

Self Analysis

     On the first day of class, I had different expectations for the course material. I was nervous on the first day after learning about the presentations and course format. Instead, I learned things I did not expect to learn and got to experience observing others’ learning. Today, I am much more comfortable expressing my ideas and presenting my research. 

        I enrolled in this class with the goal of understanding social media popularity and influence. I learned a lot about how social media is intertwined with many socioeconomic and cultural issues. This information is useful for my other research. Some concepts from this course that I have mastered are the psychological effects on social media and the relationship between government and social media. Studying Government surveillance, social media regulation and moderation, abusive content and harassment, and social media activism are some good examples of specific takeaways relating to this concept. It is important to understand these concepts as a Political Science major.

  In this course, I have improved a lot when it comes to incorporating my research into my writing and including relevant sources. I can improve more in the future by becoming a better writer overall. Throughout this semester the structure and organization of my papers has improved greatly but there is always room for improvement. This course has encouraged me to diversify my reading list, and my future research will reflect that. 

Self-Analysis

 

My expectation for this class was that we would be analyzing different social media platforms and perhaps some ideas around those social media. How every, not only did we analyzed socials media but we covered a different range and variety of topics. For this class, I wanted to accomplish and learning something new and unexpected that I did not know of; which I did throughout the course. I believe that I am a better version of myself now because I learned quite a new few things prior to this class. For example, some of the things I learned were about pages like WikiLeaks and its significance, among other websites like Glassdoor.com,  the different types of research when it comes to collecting data, among other things. I feel like the components that I master were differentiating the two types of data analysis, qualitative and quantitative, as I can distinguish from both. The concepts that were challenging for me to consider and address where probably the readings about the public sphere and the politics of the internet; basically, the thanksgiving readings, as they took me a bit to understand those readings. Lastly, I plan on using what I learn in this class to keep a lookout on my social media “surroundings” and its evolution as I relate it back and connected it to the concepts we discussed in this class. 

Self -Analysis

    This being my first all online semester, I can say that I definitely surprised myself with how good all my classes have gone up to this point. Entering this semester I was kind of scared due to the fact that I thought I would procrastinate extra hard since I would be taking all my classes from home. For my first day of class, I honestly did not know what to expect since the whole online classes were very new to me. All I remember is being pretty nervous about the introduction exercises since they are very popular at the beginning of new semesters. Coming into this course my main accomplishment was just to know more about social media in general. Now that we are at the end of the semester I can tell you I accomplished my goal. Not only that but I cannot recall a certain topic we talked about that I really struggle with, which makes me very proud of myself. Although my classes went good in general I wouldn't say I became a better version of myself, I just think I had no improvement nor did I take any steps back. Something I can say I do need to work on with myself is my time management. I know for a fact that starting the new semester working on my time management will improve myself at a student in general.

Wikipedia

Sites that work like Wikipedia I believe present many challenges for us the audience because these are open source sites. This means that anyone that comes across these sites are able to change, and add information to these websites. Although websites like these can come in handy for people because of the format and guidelines Wikipedia sites have in place, it can also give people false information. Due to the fact that not all information out on the web is true means some of this false information can end up on Wikipedia. This is a big challenge for websites like these cause they are pretty popular on the web and are pretty easy to access to as well.

What are the challenges of sites such as Wikipedia?

When Wikipedia began I didn't understand the purpose it was designed to serve. I later found out it was an open source for content, and essentially was somewhat of a more modern online version of the encyclopedia. The one concern I had was that I would at times find incorrect information, and I didn't understand how you can promote the site as a source for information and the information be incorrect. I would then come to understand that anyone could update and edit the information on the site, and the creators were also asking for donations to keep the site going.

Other sites boasting to be better than Wikipedia have arisen over the years. Citizendium is one of those sites. The creators of Citizendium took a different approach and instead of anonymous content providers, Citizendium required their editors to provide their identity. Then there are heads of departments so to speak, that oversee the content posted and make sure the information is from "credible" sources. This format never really took off and was considered a flop by the online community. The Citizendium website is still alive, but until now I had never heard of it and I'm sure most of my peers have never heard of it either.

Self Analysis

Although this course was not the first one I have had fully online, it is the first time where all my courses were fully online, due to the nature of Coronavirus and its effects. On the first day of class, I was expecting to cover many topics relating to social media since this is a social media class. I initially chose to take this course because I basically grew up on social media and have watched it evolve as I have gotten older. As with all my classes go, I try my best to receive an A and I hope I will be able to complete this goal. I would say that this course definitely helped me with my communication skills, as I was constantly reaching out to my group members to have successful projects. This class really opened my eyes to the world of social media and that it is much more than opening Twitter every hour and liking and retweeting posts.

Social Media Final Blog

 

I really enjoyed this course. Before the course I didn’t know how important social media can be. I realize now that social media is very essential for us and in the near feature I know it will completely dominate our lives. I learned about what social media is, the platforms, the devices, and how it can help us connect within the society and around the world.  This course has allowed me to grow such as how to use the Microsoft team and which is a skill I build up on. I can utilize Microsoft team within my future in my profession.  The blog was something new to me as well. I learned what a blog is used for and I really enjoyed reading the classmates blog or stories.  I also realize with social media that one must be careful with what you put on and make sure you don't violate any netiquettes on social media. Social media is also becoming a reliable source for advertising people’s businesses, for big corporations and small individuals as well. I realize that social media has become an important tool for movements to get justice and helps spread the message with many around the world. Social media has become such a powerful tool and is reliable among many around the world. I will take with me the knowledge of social media and learning new applications such as Microsoft teams and blogs. 

 

Wikipedia

 

One of the challenges for Wikipedia is, is it reliable? I remember when I was in high school and in my early college years, I would rely on it a lot. Now the website has become one of the sites that are not recommended for research. I believe since Wikipedia can be edited by anyone this is one of the main issues with it. Anyone can just simply write anything and not have any knowledge of the subject or have a credible background such as a scholar.

wikipedia

     Wikipedia faces credibility and accuracy problems, due to the website model. Wikipedia allows users to create and edit the pages o the site, and it is impossible for moderators to ensure all information is up to date, accurate, and detailed. Wikipedia pages are often taken at face-value instead of with a grain of salt, which can spread misinformation.  Wikipedia page authors and editors are sometimes purposefully spreading untrue information for the sake of jokes or other reasons, while lazy high school students sometimes like to use Wikipedia as a credible source for research. Not all Wikipedia editors are malicious or practical jokesters, and some users are really committed to writing and editing Wikipedia pages. 

    Wikipedia remains one of the largest websites in the world, and its influence cannot be denied. Quora is a similar website that is focused on questions and answers, asked and answered by the users of the site. It allows the site users to create and edit posts, and the information circulated is created by the users. Quora has a lot of misinformation as well, and a lot of the answers are more of an opinion than a fact. The democratization of information can be a good thing, but for sites like Wikipedia and Quora, it could be damaging. It should be more clear that the information presented on these sites should not be taken as fact without further research. 

Self analysis

 I feel like, overall, this course has made me grow mentally. In the beginning, I wanted to learn more about social media, way beyond what one sees on the surface like the nettique rules for example. At the beginning of this class I was clueless about the survalence that happened behind the scenes but now know all about how we are monitored by not only big companies but also other ordinary people. Overall id says I'm a better version of myself because I now know more about social media, which is a very important aspect of our lives these days. A concept I have mastered is crowdfunding, as it's as simple as the name implies, people coming together and funding a project or goal. One aspect I've yet to master is streaming, as the concept of donating to creators still isn't something I completely understand. Something I want to keep working on is ways to stop being constantly watched or surved by the government, as it can put one in jeopardy .

Wikipedia

Although Wikipedia is arguably the most popular and widely known open source website on the web, it certainly wasn't the first. The concept of open source generally refers to software where the original source code is made publicly available for distribution and modification. Wikis are a specific kind of website that take this concept to the next level and allow the public to modify data on a site with some autonomy. The origins of these sites can be traced back to WikiWikiWeb which launched in 1994 as the first known user/visitor editable website on the internet. Generally, wikis act as repositories of data and knowledge that can be modified by anyone who has the expertise to contribute. When Wikipedia launched in 2001, the idea was to create an infinite encyclopedia in which experts from around the world could contribute to a definitie database of human knowledge, even down to incredibly specific topics. In order to prevent sabotage and vandalism, Wikipedia established a set of community guidelines that cover both how articles should be written, formatted, and sourced and encouraged the contributing community to self-police those policies. The experiment has been incredibly successful and has spawned a new generation of wiki and similar open source sites that emulate Wikipedia's operation. The success or failure of these sites is left in the hands of the contributors as an example of how collective collaboration can function on a great scale.

Self Analysis

I always thought I didn’t use social media that much, but after the first couple of weeks into the class I realized how much social media I actually use. I always thought social media was just the major platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and other similar platforms, but now I understand that there are loads of other mediums that would be considered social media. From group chats and small forums to large multi-platform campaigns and protest there are a many mediums in which people can express and spread ideas online. My expectations when class first started was that I would be learning how people use and interact within social media, but now finishing up the semester I can safely say I learned a lot more than just that. My team’s class discussion and facilitation was over digital inequality and how people in different situations use social media (platforms, media, and content). My facilitation made me realize that I want to keep my parents as up to date as possible with different technologies so I can stay in touch with them and so they could be self reliant rather than have my sister or myself as a crutch. I’ve also realized just how important social media plays into the news cycle especially during 2020 and the pandemic. I started using social media a lot more this year so I feel a lot more up to date with the world news because of how bored I am just being at home. I want to continue to use social media to learn about  important topics and campaigns around the world.

Wikipedia

 The main problem presented on Wikipedia is the moderation and mitigation of information being upload and shared. Even though Wikipedia contributors do cite sources where the information was found, it is not the most reliable method in doing so. When using Wikipedia it is best to look at the sources that were provided rather than the actual Wikipedia article, here the user can determine wether the source itself is reliable or not. Voice assistants like Siri and Alexa do use Wikipedia as an information source, so it is trusted by larger tech companies, but users should still be caution. Sites similar to like Scholarpedia and Citizendium have tried to mitigate false or biased information by have the contributors be verified (for Scholarpedia you must be a Scholar). On Citizandium all articles are verified by an editorial staff, and if an article isn't verified Citizendium makes sure the reader knows it is not verified.

Self Analysis

      There are many words that I could use to describe this year such as unexpected, different, maybe even disastrous to some. But in my opinion we all have a choice to dwell in the ugly, and sadness or to make the most of being alive and be grateful for every second we are still breathing. While the world seems to be moving at 100mph on on end of the spectrum and to be at a stand still on the other end there are still constants in life. Constants such as school, that still have to be achieve no matter the worldly circumstances. 

       I started this semester late in this particular class. Peculiarly, I took Social Media Campaigns last semester. Fun fact is that you are suppose to take Intro to social media before you take social media campaigns. Fortunately I was able to get in campaihns because I run the social media for a company, and am familiar with the way it works. I knew in order to complete my degree plan I needed to take this class. Unfortunately when I enrolled for class last May, it was was not available. I dropped Spanish and picked up this class in the second week of school. I was not sure what to expect, but my main focus is get my degree December 2020. Therefor, I had to make the adjustment to accomplish my goals. 

       In this day and age it is very important to create a goal, and have laser focus when it comes to attaining that goal. It is easy to become frustrated, depressed and to lose your drive. These are the moments to dig deep, find your why and work harder than ever to accomplish it.

Self Analysis

Throughout this course, I have learned a lot about social media. I was looking forward to being in this class because social media is already such a fascinating subject, and being able to study it more in-depth was fun. A topic that sparked my interest and that I enjoyed discussing was how the internet and social media like Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter rely on cookies and algorithms to collect data from us. Sometimes these sites are collecting our information without us knowing, and it could even get to the point where they watch our every move. I realized that social media has become essential in our everyday lives. It is revolutionizing everything, the way we communicate, engage with others, and makes our lives a bit easier by facilitating tasks. I do think I am a better version of myself because I leave this course with more knowledge about this powerful tool we call social media. Along with the benefits, negatives, different uses, and a greater understanding of how it impacts us as a society today.

Challenges of Wikipedia

Many challenges are present in sites like Wikipedia. For example, one of them is that it is not a secure or reliable source to get information. I remember when I was in middle school, and teachers would assign us projects that required research, they always said, “Don’t use Wikipedia. It doesn’t count as a source.” Looking back, I think we relied on Wikipedia because it would be the first website that came up on the search results, and we did not want to take the time to research. I eventually learned why teachers were annoyed when we utilized it. Anyone can go in and make edits to the content that is on there. So, we face the risk of consuming and spreading misleading information. Similar sites that encounter the same problems as Wikipedia are Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia.com, and Answers.com. These three sites compare with Wikipedia because they are all open to the public to access, edit, and are free. These sites do not have many controls because they grant anyone the ability to modify their pages.  

Blog Post 15 : WikiLeaks

 

The government has responded to WikiLeaks in 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 find and track down information leakers. Other actions by the government have been requested social medial like a Twitter platform for WikiLeaks supporter's information, but their request was denied. I do not believe the actions the government reaction 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, nor by the internet, every anyone contributes from it, therefore information about a person shouldn't be kept among social media platforms. With this said, there shouldn't be limits to the internet for free speech because no one owns it. 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.