Be Careful What You Search For

Since the rapid shift from a world of flip phones and desktop computers to a world of touch screens and social media dependencies, one prominent aspect of our online experience has had everybody exceptionally suspicious: advertisements. It is no surprise that social media platforms and other websites will feature advertisements. We all know that advertising is a large contributor to the income and success of television stations, newspapers, and magazine columns, so it is expected that online platforms would profit from the promotion of other companies as well. But here's where something fishy seems to be going on. Many people online browse and shop on their computers and smartphones, each individual having their unique favorable websites and product preferences different from anybody else's. At some point in our technology-filled timeline, people began to notice that the advertisements popping up on their specific social media accounts was directly correlating with the products they were viewing online recently, buying with their credit cards, and sometimes even what they were talking about out loud. It may have seemed coincidental at first, but the more often and relevant the advertisements became, the more mysterious this circumstance became. With research came the knowledge that by creating an online footprint and plugging our personal information into search engines and social media platforms, these websites can and do remember what we search online and other information about ourselves. Companies and websites use the digital information we provide for them, search history and profile details, to sell to online advertisers. They are essentially profiting from the information that we provide them for free, and hide behind the excuse that they are doing this to better enhance our online experience. While some might agree that their online experience is better thanks to the relevance of the advertisements they're seeing, the majority of people, including myself, seem to agree that this is pretty creepy. Wouldn't it make sense that if I am using my personal computer, the information gained from what I search and what I type should remain personal? Yes, the advertisements we all see are appealing because they are specific to our personal interests, but it simply feels like the privacy that we are all entitled to is being invaded.  

Mass Media Taking Advantage of Confirmation Bias

Throughout the leadership of the current President of the United States, Donald Trump, there is no doubt that attention has been called to whether or not the information we are seeing within media is coming from biased sources, composed of fake news, or worthy of people's trust at all. This skepticism coming from consumers of the media has raised uncertainty regarding what should be displayed to the public eye. What should really be censored, and how should the decision whether to censor information or not be made? As humans, through our life experiences and personal interpretations, we all have individually formed existing beliefs and fundamental principles that we hold true to ourselves. These beliefs and principles play a role in our decision making and our outlook on the new information we take in. Our brains work in a way where our past interpretations affect the way we interpret new occurrences. Whether we acknowledge it or not, all humans have their own individual biases when it comes to the process of new information, and these biases influence how our brains perceive incoming data. For example, let's say an individual has the preexisting belief that the brand Advil is the most superior form of Ibuprofen medication, and their doctor recommends the drugstore brand of Ibuprofen since it is less costly and consists of the same ingredients that Advil does, making it just as beneficial. This individual, with their consistent notion that Advil is the greatest Ibuprofen company, is in all likelihood going to doubt their doctor's judgment on the matter, which may result in resistance to trust that specific doctor's judgments on matters in the future as well. The process of our preconceived ideas affecting the way we interpret life experiences is called bias. However, bias does not always affect us resulting in skepticism and uncertainty. Often times, the information we take in will confirm to us that our preexisting notions are correct, and those notions become more concrete in our brains. The tendency to believe what reassures us of our existing beliefs is called confirmation bias. While this is sometimes a good thing, we occasionally do receive false information from the people around us and even throughout mass media, and it is easy to be deceived by this false information if it matches up with the beliefs we hold true to ourselves. Humans have a tendency to believe what matches up with their own convictions, whether what they are believing rings true or not. The recent occurrences of mass media releasing questionable information have the ability to manipulate the public by telling them information that they will likely believe due to confirmation bias.

Media Diversity: Essential to the Welfare of the Public

Of the countless company names that broadcast news and entertainment, you may suppose that the companies are separately owned and kept running by a wide variety of managers and supervisors unconnected to one another. However, while most companies were founded individually and by people unconnected to other brand names, larger brands often jump at the chance to buy out newly successful programs, and this repeatedly happening leads to media consolidation. Media consolidation is the process by which the number of organizations that control the increasing shares of mass media decreases, leaving the same few corporations owning, running, and profiting from all of the individual programs of which they would now own. From the 1930s to the 1970s, the Federal Communications Commission was created and set forth in efforts of the government to attempt at preserving media diversity and preventing media consolidation. The government included regulations in this act that encouraged media corporations to avoid owning too many television stations or newspapers. If the same people are directing and running many of the stations and articles that a diverse world of people are consuming, the media which, would normally consist of variation, begins to consist of the same types of programs. Not only would the consumers watching programs for entertainment be upset by this, but also the consumers watching news stations. Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black argued that dissemination of news and information should be coming from a diverse selection of sources. This ensures that the people watching can be enlightened by contrasting opinions and viewpoints, and media consolidation would interrupt this process. Hugo Black believes the diversity of news broadcasters is essential to the welfare of the public. This being said, the public has recognized that the media does not accurately represent their views, and media consolidation is responsible.

Technologically Trained

Being born in the year 2000, my peers and I were introduced to technology at a very young age and were able to quickly adapt to the world of smartphones, laptops, and social media. Something the people my age and I have always related to each other with is that all of our parents and elders, despite having more life experiences than us, are much less technologically advanced than our age group. As a baby, you are exposed to the language that you will be speaking in for the rest of your life. It is easy to pick up on and naturally begin to speak in a language at that age because you are constantly learning how to actually be a human being. Once somebody is at an age where they speak their language fluently, it is much harder for them to learn a different language. This is just like the concept of learning how to use technology. Introduce to smartphones in just elementary school, the members of my generation have not truly experienced life without touch screens and a variety of social media platforms. We wonder why our parents cannot grasp how to use technology, since to us, it seems so simple. In reality, they were not trained to live in a world centered around technology, and it is essentially a foreign language to them. I started my social media journey by creating my Facebook profile upon the age of ten. Ever since then, my online footprint continued to grow throughout the years as I created profiles on Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, Vine, and more. I use these applications to follow and stay connected with friends and mutual friends of mine, send updates and pictures to the people close to me, and look at posts and videos that make me laugh. If somebody happened to stumble across my social media platforms, they would be able to see the general area I live in, go to school in, the people I surround myself with, and the many activities I like to do and take pictures of. As much as I like to post about my life, I am aware that there are people in the world who find people's social media pages and use the information that they see for the wrong reasons, even if they do not personally know the person they are looking at. For this reason, I take precautions and keep my profiles private, ensuring that I can regulate who can and cannot look at my posts. I have given these social media platforms my email and my phone number in case any of my accounts are hacked into or I am logged out for any reason and cannot log back in. These platforms do not have permission to share my phone number or email with anybody. At the end of the day, as much as I do put effort into my online profiles and spend a good amount of time on my smartphone and laptop, the time I enjoy most is the time spent face to face with the people I love. Staring at a screen can cause people to compare themselves to the other people they find online, make them feel lonely and isolated, and take away from the life pleasures we were placed on Earth to enjoy.

Diffusion of Twitter

Of the multiple social media networks that have flourished and are still flourishing, Twitter is a free, universally used program that allows members to upload posts known as "tweets", follow other registered Twitter members, and access the site on multiple platforms and devices. Users are able to send private messages to one or multiple other users at a time, to include photos and videos within their tweets, and to view and discover trending posts and worldwide news stories. Created and launched in the United States during 2006 by Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams, Twitter rapidly gained popularity. Currently, nearly fourteen years later, Twitter holds over 330 million users all over the world. One might wonder, how do four ordinary people create an idea that can be communicated to and adopted by so many? What did each of the 330 million individuals see in Twitter that caused them to incorporate it into their lives? Everett Rogers, a professor in communication studies, developed a theory expressed in his book, Diffusion of Innovations, that questions why, how, and at what rate new innovations are adopted and spread. Rogers proposes that four principal elements sway the widespread of a new idea. These elements are the innovation itself, communication channels, time, and a social system. In 2006, nothing else quite like Twitter existed. There were other social media platforms, but what made Twitter different was the ability for users to post short, quick statuses within a 140-character limit. This made people's statuses short and sweet, making it easy to keep tabs on what the people you follow are up to. Since this idea had never existed before, Twitter was considered an innovation people had never seen before. Adopters are what makes an innovation really take off. Anybody can adopt an innovation, whether it be individuals, businesses as a whole, or groups of people. The creators of Twitter connected with people to introduce their new platform to, who evidently found benefits to bringing it into their everyday lives, spreading Twitter to others who all did the same thing. The diffusion of Twitter continued through communication channels and the passage of time, in which more people adopted and spread knowledge of the innovation.

Self-Fulfillment

Often times, in the world we live in, one can find themselves having a sense of uniformity within the individuals living amongst them. Each person on this planet is their own being, however, those beings are constantly conforming to universal standards that depict how humans should live their lives. From the moment an individual is born, they are expected to become educated, establish a career, and provide for and support themselves and their families. Amongst the wide variety of countries, cultures, and ways of life, humans around the world are all constantly doing those same things in order to remain good enough. This then ignites the question, where is the individuality? How does one differentiate themselves from the rest of the eight-billion beings on the planet that are essentially doing the same thing? Of the conformist principles that take place, one must seek and portray the qualities they comprise that make them different than others. These are the qualities that will, rather than making them part of a group, make them an individual. It is through the expression of these characteristics that one can make a difference in this similar world, influence others, and become influenced themselves. Expression requires an outlet. Whether this outlet is art, fashion, math, literature, athletics, or the billions of other ideas that exist or will exist, these outlets are the reason human beings are driven to learn, to work, and to live. Taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture, our world was created with many different forms of life including countless animals and plants, none of which are considered intelligent life. Simply being a human being, having the ability to learn and create is the most incredible opportunity that exists. Being a part of the only intelligent life on our planet comes along with constantly experiencing this world, constantly thinking, and constantly producing our own, individual and unique ideas. Every person has different experiences, different thoughts, and different outlets that they find their passions in. The ability to express what truly drives us about living on this one common planet is what makes us who we are. That ability is what makes us different, and what gives meaning to each of the billions of human beings that have been and are to be. Of the eight values of free expression, I feel that the most meaningful and inspiring is the value of individual self-fulfillment. Self-fulfillment comes from the freedom we have to express what we are individually driven by, influencing others while being influenced in turn by the drives and passions of the human lives surrounding us.