Diffusion of Innovations

 Diffusion of Innovations 

    One innovation I was unfortunately subject to being an early adopter is vaping. I grew up when cigarettes became a thing that only hardcore traditional smokers do. I saw my own father smoke excessive amounts of cigarettes and was in denial about the vaping mechanics and rejected it for a few years. Once more studies came out and people found that vaping was almost 90% less harmful than traditional nicotine delivery. The news didnt like the idea of cherry flavored cigarettes and attempted to scare off people that are interested with providing cases of vapes "exploding" and the dangers of vaping with no scientific evidence against the method. Many opposed a new form of smoking and werent able to see the actual success of the invention. The false stories blinded many people into believing propaganda and not much support was given to the effectiveness. Fear mongering was one of the only strategies the media had to use to battle. My age group during the booming of vaping was already of age to consume nicotine but the grades below us weren't legally able to buy vapes or use one. My friends that I knew smoked traditional cigarettes all switched when disposables and devices became a common product to sell in stores. Vape stores also begun opening once the demand rose for e-cigarettes. In today climate theres another surge in propaganda against vaping and mostly referencing the chance of inhaling metals and in the last few months stores are prohibiting the selling and purchasing of flavored vape juice and only allowing tobacco flavors to be used. Since that has been in effect vaping has seen less popularity and its not because of individuals being scared of it but the FDA has taken control of the industry and the strict rules and regulations turn off potential consumers. It was interesting to see all that played out during the controversy and especially the case with juul that ended up making all smoking products illegal to those under 21.

 

Digital Footprint

    Online Identity 

    Throughout my teenage years I spent most my days exploring the vast world of the internet. I would blindly sign up for websites and not use an alternative email address to do so. I received over 50 emails a day at the age of 15 and I quickly realized that this isnt going to work out. I decided to make a new email address for work and school to separate my emails from important to least important. At my age most kids would hop on the newest social media and type in all there information without thinking about the repercussions all that mattered was that you had an account and had followers. I had a short summer of being semi-famous when I was 14 on an app called gifboom. I gained around 10k followers and found myself on the "popular" page consistently. Through this attention I realized a lot about the internet and how permanent all my post were. The app got shutdown shortly after vine was introduced into the app store and still to this day I can find images of me on the app that I can never delete. The images arent harmful or offensive but I still feel uneasy about the permanence of my presence on the app that doesn't even exist anymore. Anyone can google themselves and find all there socials and pictures if they fit under the name you type in the query. Its important to not have that easy of identifiable information linked to your real name. If an employee were to google your name and find a inappropriate post than that could be the reason why you're fired or not an accepted applicant. 

    The online presence can be permanent if you do not take the right precautions in hiding your digital footprint. Recommendations include using alternative names when signing up for unknown websites and avoiding posting personal information that can easily be traced back to the poster. Making accounts private and being mindful of friend request can help limit who sees your content and most social medias let you choose how public you'd like to be with your post. Its important for parents to educate there children on creating accounts and be aware of the possible problems that can occur when oversharing. The digital footprint makes its first step once you create an account on a website. Almost anything can be searched in google and all it takes is 0.05 seconds for someone to know your name, email address, phone number, and full facial recognition. Its quiet the scary concept but it comes with the pros and cons of the internet. 

      Nowadays I find myself avoiding singing up for apps I dont need and making fake personas for accounts that I have. The only real information I use is when it comes to work or school. For entertainment its not necessary to use full names and emails that arent used for spam. Also using fake addresses helps with masking your identity. I feel that social media doesn't help with anything but instant gratification I hardly use it for any productive means. There was a time where social media made me feel more connected but now its just a false reality that people are trapped in and let it consume there daily life by staring into the void.

 

EOTO PT.2

Gatekeeping

    Gatekeeping when someone takes the role of deciding who and who should not be apart of a community or identity. Its a controlling person who tries to make the topic of interest seem special to them and exclude others who arent "good enough" to join in. They are the guards of the gate if the gate was a community online. The issue with gatekeeping is that when someone gatekeeps it disables communities to grow and include diversity in conversation. It does nothing but hurt communities and effects members inside and outside the group. An over controlling person is the last trait you want in a moderator. Refusal of entry just closes off a group by not allowing new ideas and concepts to be introduced in the conversation it can lead to simple minded thinking which acts like a glorified safe space. Its a poor use of regulation techniques. I agree that communities should have light rules before entry to avoid spammers and trolling but not to the extent that is seen on the internet. Almost any idea or concept can be subject to gatekeeping. Political ideologies are the most frequent topics that are guarded by a gatekeeper examples include phrases like "if you arent a republican you can't speak about this issue" or "name 5 songs of this band before wearing a band tee". Its the adult equivalent to not letting the band kids sit at your lunch table because you play on the football team. 

Sources: https://medium.com/tunapanda-institute/gate-keeping-in-the-era-of-new-media-3585251d0743#:~:text=Examples%20of%20gatekeepers%20in%20the,who%20was%20a%20social%20psychologist.

    

Cyber-bullying & Cyber-stalking (KEYPOST)

 

Cyberstalking & Cyberbullying

    Cyberstalking is a term that came to surface once the interwebs became a place for commoners to explore. The birth of social media enabled cyberstalking to become a scary threat to many. The defenition for cyberstalking is using the internet or any electronic means in order to stalk, harass, or exploit an individual. Acts of cyberstalking include but are not limited to false accusations, slander, intrusive monitoring, threats, and vandalism. 

    Cyberstalking is a criminal offence, a stalker can be faced with a restraining order, probation, or criminal penalties including financial refugee. Unfortunately women are most often the target victim of cyberstalking. Other examples of an attack include excessive following, spying, sending unwanted gifts, making anonymous calls, threatening, sending harassing messages on social medias, using geotags to track location, and catfishing. In response to the increase cases of cyberstalking taking place a federal regulation clause in the Violence Against Women act state that the stalker will be sentenced with possible probation or jail time depending on the case.

  There are some measures for prevention of cyberstalking like keeping firewalls and viruses up to date and to restrain sharing personal information online or through any electronic means. Also keeping your passwords protected and using a VPN service that throws off your ip to make it harder to be traced. Individuals should never share passwords online at any time and refrain from opening attachments from untrusted sources. If you are being attacked there are some recommended precautions to take like contacting the police, keeping detailed notes of the situation.  

    Cyberbullying is more common among internet users compared to cases of cyberstalking. Cyberullying is when the attacker uses an electronic medium to harassing the victim. Examples include sending hurtful words, posting and spreading harmful content like rumors or misinformation about the victim, creating fake accounts and stealing the identity of another individual. 

    There isnt much to do in defense of an attack. Ways to avoid cyberbullying is to block the person who is saying the hurtful words and to report that account. The attacker can still make new accounts and continue harassing and thats when an IP ban is the only way around that issue. Cyberbullying can be as threatening and traditional ways of bullying. It can leave the victim feeling helpless in some cases. Some side tips for avoiding a cyberbullying is to not be gullible, proofread messages before posting, avoid opening messages from strangers, if you chose to respond do it politely and try and not add fuel to a fire. Its not as simple as just closing the laptop or shutting off the pc, many victims especially younger are more likely to be offended and take the statements in a more personal way. 

    Safety is the key ingredient in finding a peaceful existence on the internet the less things you say the less likely you'll be attacked. Avoid controversial topics and heated discussions if you cannot take the criticism of the crowd. The internet is full of flaming trolls that are spawned on this earth to trigger the fragile. 

Sources: 

https://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/what-is-it

https://us.norton.com/internetsecurity-how-to-how-to-protect-yourself-from-cyberstalkers.html

Privacy & Online Identity

The Privacy Dilemma

    In our current year of 2020 individuals are active on the internet and the increased traffic is allowing for companies to use our own data to market towards us. If you don't pay for an app you're paying with yourself nothing is free, they turn you into the product and sell your information to other companies to repeat the endless consumer loophole that milks one persons wallet and time to obtaining nothing except instant gratification. Companies will try everything to increases profits and stalk consumer behavior with data mining and tracking and consistently develop ways of avoiding that conversation. Individuals have minimal resources to protect ourselves against surveillance and ways of minimizing our digital footprint but there are some small steps we can take to mitigate the damage these companies can allow us to feel. 

    Using alternative search engines such as duckduckgo and having a trusted VPN will greatly increase your protection against cyberattacks of any sort. Also frequently check websites for there cookie consumption rate and read carefully for terms of service phrases that are suspicious. Some other measures include not even using the United States dollar and use bitcoin for transactions because its less traceable compared to a bank or credit card. Its difficult to avoid having your data sold in most cases, most social media acts as an open book for others to lurk and find things about you that you didn't know was possible. I personally find it difficult to be 100% secure on the internet, especially with the corporate tricky language and vague statements that promise to store your data safely but end up in another companies hands in exchange for monetary gain. 

   The term privacy has lost its value once we signed our souls away to the terms of service agreements that we all collectively avoid reading. Its not only that most people dont want to read 30 pages of jumbled words but they make it that way for that reason. Its a complicated problem and yes people can find ways to using alternative sites that dont ask for intrusive monitoring but not everyone is tech savvy and older generations are almost oblivious to what they are singing up for. Is social media worth the trade off of your privacy? Most would say no but I find people oversharing daily on social medias and providing information that can be traced back to them. Not all internet users are literate enough to understand even what the term cookie means. Its a scary concept that we are on a 24/7 watch cycle with no room for privacy. The reasoning behind heavy surveillance is a "just in case" scenario, by 2025 we'll have 360 degree cameras in our bathroom stalls by this rate. 

In this Image you can see the query increase for the term cyber security, Its a conversation we all need to have and companies should be more clear with there use of our data. Data protection is becoming a daily routine, its easy to slip and provide too much detail about your personal information. 

Sources: 

https://www.pwc.com/us/en/library/risk-regulatory/strategic-policy/top-policy-trends/data-privacy.html

 

Technology Presentation

 Youtubes History

In today's presentations I found Youtube's story to be the most interesting. They started out as a small platform that enabled anyone to post random content that didnt have to fit a certain criteria. It birthed hundreds of talented content creators and let them use a platform that wasnt playing by the rules when it came to video streaming. The rise of Youtube didn't surprise people, videos would go viral in the matter of minutes. Youtube is not only a great platform for public media but a website that establishes its niches determined by the users. The users of the platform dictate if the video will succeed in the algorithm by providing comments, likes, donations, and subscriptions.

Youtube is a safe space for content creators to develop a community around there personality and possibly become a celebrity by uploading to a free website. The amount of potential is immeasurable on Youtube. Theirs no limitation when it comes to creativity. I personally grew up on YouTube and became found of the personas and people I watched daily. Its also a great educational platform if you let it be. Millions of guides and tutorials are uploaded daily. You can teach your self anything on YouTube if you give yourself the time to replicate what you see in a video. I have spent days on this platform and am amazed by the categories of content that is free to access. Out of all social medias Youtube is one of the only apps I engage with on a weekly basis. 

EOTO

 Wi-Fi Timeline

The rapid succession of evolution of wireless networks is incredible to look at. Wi-Fi has been a concept since the early 70's. Its shaped the way we communicate on a daily basis. Access to the internet is just as important as accessing food at water in today's society. Wi-Fi's rapid development lead to an increase of affluent members of society. We receive news and updates at quick speeds and almost all of the nations jobs are centered around technology, more than half of careers cannot be done without a network. As for the time line of Wi-Fi its incredibly extensive and more than 40 people helped develop what we know as Wi-Fi today. It is still advancing at rates we couldn't have ever imaged. 5-G is becoming an essential part of businesses as well.

 Calling it an important piece of technology is an understatement. It has become the essential connector to computer networking and cordless router connection. Wi-Fi is important to daily life, it enables us to communicate ideas and exchange conversations at vast speeds. It allows freedom from the typical office setting and allows employees to work at any location they can receive a signal from. In today situation of the pandemic we can see how essential it is to have wireless connection. It also allows us to stream files from one computer to another without limitations. Its highly reliable, high data transmission rates, and relatively cheap

LINK: https://getvoip.com/history-of-wifi/