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Blog Post #10 Week 13

Do you think the Patriot Act violates our privacy ?

I think the Patriot act does violate our privacy when not used to target people who are actually a threat to the nation. In the reading Fear as Institution by Parenti they pointed out that investigators can pick a judge to approve their warrant. This is concerning because it leads me to question the integrity of their investigation. I feel like they can use their power to target people based on biased ideas and get access to all of our digital information. I also found it concerning how universities are expected to provide free student information without a court order and how they can turn in their students for immigration purposes. I feel like an act that started to prevent terrorist is now used to often target innocent people. 

Has surveillance affected our mental health?

I feel like surveillance has affected some people's mental health for the wrong reasons. We often care about who's watching us due to looks rather than privacy, especially with younger generations. Or people are worried others will find out what they said about someone else online. But others also feel mentally affected by surveillance because the government uses it against them. People who belong to minority groups also get really paranoid thinking they are being watched or targeted in the streets simply because they belong to a minority group.In which oftentimes is true. They are aware that many government officials are simply able to tap into their phone or social media without their knowledge. This affects how they might feel during their day to day life as they might restrict themselves due to fear of being accused or accused he's a threat due to his physical features. 

Should you trust your social media or your digital devices?

I think today with such advanced technology like AI or programs similar to pegasus we shouldn't trust our devices or social media. As mentioned before everything said or posted on social media is never deleted and always resurfaces. For example there have been many influencers who are at the peak of their career and suddenly a video of them making a rude comment resurfaces and loses all their brand deals and supporters. With so many apps tracking your data it becomes easier for you to become a target. Everything online is often being monitored and can be used against you and land you in jail.

Why do you think although many people are aware of the risks of the digital world they continue to participate?

Personally, although I am aware of the risks of the digital world, it's very hard to opt out when it has become part of my daily life for the past 15 years of my life since I got an ipod. Especially since I grew up during the developing stages and it was always desired to have the latest device. Another factor is FOMO, to be completely honest I think I would feel left out not knowing the latest threads or what new memes are going on. I think this is a general problem. Most can rebut and say they can live without social media or devices, but realistically most people my age will not do it. Convenience is also a factor people would opt in without even reading the terms just to get the answers they need or see the film they did not want to pay for for free, even to get that 10% off in that store we like, most would risk their personal data.

References:

Power, M. (2010, March 11). How Your Twitter Account Could Land You in Jail. Mother Jones. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2010/03/police-twitter-riots-social-media-activists/ Parenti, C. (2007). The soft cage: surveillance in America: from slavery to the war on terror. Basic Books.

[dayjmz19]

Blog Post #9 4/17

1.Is privacy obtainable today?

I feel like today privacy is very hard to obtain. You can do the most to maintain a private life or try to opt out as much as you can but privacy is not guaranteed anymore. You may choose to not be on social media but you may still have family and friends post you on their social media or post your business for you. I also see this a lot with celebrities. For example celebrities often have the press following them everywhere, recording them, taking pictures of them, regardless if it was concentfull. Most people argue that celebrities signed up for this as they wanted to be big public figures but ignore that these people might want to have regular days like us or that on a surface level they are equal to us. There is definitely a big gap in understanding boundaries to privacy from both the government and daily people. 

2. Do you think the government actually uses systems like pegasus to actually fight criminals? 

Although we don't have pegasus in the United States I know we have similar programs. I feel like the government uses it as a form of control of what is online for their personal gain. For example in the film Survilled by O’Neill & Peltz P, foreign governments were purchasing such programs to look into journalists who were reporting on them and their doings. Most of these journalists also had sensitive information about the government and could easily share with the public. The film also discussed how some journalists were being hacked along with their families to know what they were up to. I personally think that the government mainly focuses on attackers towards them than the public themselves because with such powerful technology missing childrens are still unable to be tracked down nor found. I also think that these programs could be used to servailing online pedofiles but instead used to servail journalists and their families. 

3. Can your physical appearance define you?

I think there are still a handful of people today who are still uneducated or biased regarding other’s appearance. For example most people assume if you have tattoos, you are gang members and people who have a certain hair type are ghetto or a different gender, or even because you are a minority you are most likely to steal. Oftentimes these assumptions are not even true. In Mrs. Lee 's case study it was explained how often women of color were excluded or forgotten about when it came to their hair texture from not being allowed to wear their traditional hair styles to not making affordable products for their hair type. My entire family and I have had straight hair while my 5 year old cousin came out with 3b hair. I have noticed the difference in people's assumptions regarding the care of the hair my cousin has received, thinking that my aunt chooses to not brush it. Oftentimes people stop us and make comments about how crazy her hair looks, but it's unsure if they say this because they see her with women with relatively straight hair compared to hers. But the reality is it's really hard to find clean products for curly haired children and especially hard for children to maintain their hair. I have seen my cousin wanting those colored clip hair extensions but none made to fit her hair. As mentioned in the case there is definitely a community where people share DIY products and DIY techniques for hair styling that truly educate you or simply share with others who can't afford clean products. From personal experience communities like this helped  my family a lot to find tips and help on how to properly take off my cousin's hair. 

4.How might structural gender roles contribute to gamergate? 

I think that structural gender roles are a factor in Gamergate because most men and older women are under the assumption that only boys can play video games or are the ones good at playing, and raise their children with these ideas. The overall misogyny that has been created in the past. If these gender structures had not been made up in the past, none of this might have happened. I have noticed that today, most boys make misogynistic "jokes" when gender roles are challenged in online video games or at work. If video games were equally targeted to both genders since the beginning of their creation, they wouldn't have created and assumed a gamer's identity as a male.

References:

Lee, Latoya. Virtual Homeplace: (Re)Constructing the Body Through Social Media, 2015.

O'Neill, M., & Peltz, P. (Directors). (2020). Surveilled [Film]. HBO Documentary Films.

Hathaway, J. (2014, October 10). What is Gamergate, and why? An explainer for non-geeks. Gawker.

[dayjmz19]

WEEK 11- Blog

Is Interiority bad? 

In the Video It’s Not the Data, by Andre Brock the concept of Black Interiority is introduced. It’s explained that interiority could be how things may be said unclear that make you question if it was racist or not. In some ways Interiority can be used negatively to increase racism. For example in the digital world, spaces are created where people share “funny memes” but those memes can be making stereotypical jokes of other cultures hardships. White supremacy would also be an example where people make spaces to share their inner thoughts and beliefs as a community, but in reality it's a negative space trying to affect another community. Overall Interiority does not always have to be a bad thing as digital communities and digital spaces could also be created to share positive ideas. An example of a positive form of interiority would be digital spaces where people speak about fitness or aesthetics 

Can video games get political?

I think games can get political in the article Animal Crossing Isn't Escapist: Its Political by The Atlantic shared how the game Animal Crossing was mirroring real world economic examples aside of just being a escape from reality. It also shared that  the game was teaching players about debt and working to make money. I agree with the article that real world systems can be incorporated in games because Animal Crossing is not the first game that has added real work systems into it. The Sims would also be another game that projects real life examples like Capitalism where you have to work for money. And how materialistic things are associated with happiness. An example of that would be how the more money you have the more freedom you have and the more you’re allowed to get. 

How can the algorithm contribute to online racism? 

I think the algorithm contributes to online racism because it’s programmed to push content to the viewer. And if the viewer is interested in racist content the algorithm will deliver that type of content. Online racism is still new today and yet to be researched, monitored or filtered on most platforms. This exposes similar type of ideologies to younger children who might find these ideas funny or might’ve came across a racist video once but the algorithm continued to push this type of context into their feed later creating a cycle of racism onto newer generations.

How can the digital space impact advocacy?

I think social media can impact advocacy positively and negatively. Social media can work as a tool to plan and organize protest and event to help a cause. The #NoDAPL movement is an example of a movement that relied and was seccessful by using social media to share their movement. Algorithms can also be used to push the message of what’s happening and what’s being voiced. Communities can come together to support from all over the world. Although there are many positives advantages to social media advocacy, social media can be used against a cause as well. Platforms can be used to share misinformation regarding the protest and others can even troll the people affected or people participating

[dayjmz19]

Blog Post #7 Week 10

Do app owners turn a blind eye to online harassment?

In the Article "A Timeline of Leslie Jones Horrific Online Abuse" by Ana Silman they shared a case of Leslie Jones, who had been harrassed online repeatedly, desperate for help. She tweeted directly to the app CEO, asking for assistance. Leslie got a response from the CEO, who assured her that the actions taken were not permitted and that they would “work on it” to stop the hate online. But how would the CEO not have control over its app or users? This leaves questions as to whether the app owners are blind to types of harassment on their platform. Most of the time, apps quickly remove awareness posts or threads from the algorithm. They can take down other people’s posts but are not able to handle the issue of harassment, especially when someone has been crucially bullied online. 

How does white supremacy take a role online? 

White supremacy plays a massive role in the digital space. Many white supremacist create groups online where they spread their beliefs and ideas. Oftentimes, this can lead to hate spreading online to minorities and can often spread misinformation. In the article "White Supremacist Social Movements Online and in Global Context" by White, they also explained how groups were spreading their ideas in forms like memes and videos to catch the younger audience's attention and make their beliefs seem normal to children. In a way, they use these tactics to recruit younger people to adopt their beliefs. 

Will Artifical intelligence help eliminate white supremacy? 

Artificial intelligence could worsen the situation; it has been shown that AI uses bias in its algorithm due to how it interprets history. The people creating these online groups could use AI-generated pictures to spread in their social media groups, which could cause harm or misinform. The government has also tried to stop white supremacy groups online by implementing rules and monitoring these online profiles. Still, with AI, this may become harder as they may find forms to use bots that could help them avoid monitoring sensors going off when something is posted. 

How far are people willing to go in a protest? 

The article​​ "The Radicalization of Zeke Spier" by Larry Elin talked about how many people began to get arrested for protesting, and this upset groups as they pointed out that the First Amendment protected them. The article shared Spier’s story about his passion for protesting. They mentioned that although he did not grow up in a family where they discussed political views, he was very drawn to that. Spier was passionate about social justice and was willing to get arrested to prove a point. His love was powerful. He began to look into social forums and look for people who had been victims to share their stories and avoid injustices from happening to them. Many people have also shown a willingness to risk their lives and get arrested for a cause.

Refrences:

Elin, L. (2013). Finding R&D trends and experts made simple.

White, D. (n.d.). White Supremacist Social Movements Online and in a Global Context (p. Chapter 4). essay. Retrieved 2025,. https://csufullerton.instructure.com/courses/3496314/files/259401392?module_item_id=86755603

Silman, Anna (2016)A Timeline of Leslie Jones's Horrific Online Abuse

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Blog #6 Week 8

How has bias in cyberculture affected video games? 

I think cyberculture has been affected in video games due to the bias game makers and tech creators have implemented in them. Today, we see video games with storylines where men are the leaders and savers, and women are just assisting them or just in the background. We have also seen bias in how women are made to look in video games, for example, Fortnite, where all female characters have tiny waists and big thighs. We have not only seen an influence in gender roles but also minority groups; for example, the bad guys in video games are always a race that may have a stigma on them due to the bias society has created for them. We have also seen certain games promoted to specific genders. For example, beauty games or family related games have always been targeted towards little girls rather than boys, and vice versa. Boys have racing and shooting games promoted to them. 

How has interpersonalization affected cyber culture?

Interpersonaalization has been affected by cyberculture today because of how well these cyber characters imitate human behavior and likeness. We see many people playing games and gaining a relationship with the game's character because they simulate real-life interpersonal relationships with the players. This has become normal now as technology has grown “...Not suggesting that the simulation fools the customer but that we have reached a cultural moment in which the concept of interpersonal extends beyond humanism to encompass phenomena other than organic humans.”(Pg. 246, O’Riordan). With this shift, we have also seen groups of people who have started fan clubs or have developed feelings for animated characters due to the character's online personality; this is often seen with anime. This shows a shift to self-expression due to the perfectly interpersonal relationships people make with fictional characters. Another example would be Alexa; when we give instructions, she always responds appropriately and perfectly simulates another person. 

How have tech engraved bias in cyborgs?

Tech has engraved bias into the cyborg because of how they have created it. Creating women cyborgs or a cyborg of color is not mainly the reason behind why they use bias. But the reasoning for why they do it is. Many tech people have created these cyborgs to help with daily tasks, in a way as assistants or personal helpers. And this can be biased because women have been known to always assist a man or to be the inferior person. And this can also be applied to a cyborg of color. People can compare it to when people of color would do free labor. “They have all been systematic to the logistics and practices of domination of women, people of color, nature, workers, animals…” (Pg 356, Haraway). We also see this with other technological devices, such as Siri and Alexa, which were initially created to be female characters who help us.

With technology increasing can cyborgs or other digital characters affect relationships with humans?

I think it is very concerning how technology has advanced to make our interactions with digital characters feel interpersonal. I think this could eventually lead to future generations being less social. Especially those who are afraid to get out of their comfort zone as they will settle for their online friends. Personally I think that it can be very dangerous for those who may be lonely and are seeking company. I do see Cyborgs becoming better and more common. Like in the Film Subservience where the main character began to fall in love with his cleaning cyborg because of how she acted very similar to a real human.

Refrences:

A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century, Donna J. Haraway

Gender, Technology, and Visual Cyberculture, Kate O'Riordan

Subservience, S.K. Dale

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Week #7 Blog#5

How does social media affect our version of authenticity? 

Social media has a huge influence on trends we take part in from the clothes, shoes  we   wear, to the music we listen to. But people also take part in trends that involve doing certain activities or going to certain locations. Oftentimes this leads to people staging “meaningful moments” to seem authentic. For example Black Mirrors, Nosedive where Laysi was posting her breakfast for her social media but didnt even like it. Most of the time the “off guard” picture posts were not really off guard pictures. Most people on social media feel urged to participate in what everyone else on social media that they don't desire to explore further than that. Oftentimes people feel the need to participate in trends to be likeable or simply fit in. 

How might we unknowingly participate in racial divide on social media? 

 On social media, especially Tik Tok we have developed “communities” where people share common interests, fashion trends, foods, and humor. Communities on social media can often unintentionally take part in social media divide or even racial divide especially when making videos trying to imitate or act out behavior we think of based on a certain culture using bias for humor. It might not be made to purposely hurt someone but it does create a divide because the people within your target community might not be that race at all. On social media I have often come across terms like “asian-tok, hispanic-tok, Black-TikTok, Fitness-tok”, etc. Similar to Twitter's “Black Twitter” community where “...Black Twitter represents a ‘“public group of specific Twitter users”’ rather than a ‘“ Black online public”’. (The Social Media Handbook, by Jeremy H. & Theresa s.) Oftentimes people in these certain communities are only open to engage within their racial or cultural groups. A divide is also seen in the way people, brands, other influencers treat white creators vs how they treat creators of color. 

With social media having a large amount of influence with newer generations, could it be possible to experience a new form of interaction? 

 I think most people have already experienced a new form of interaction. Especially after  COVID-19 I believe most people found digital interaction better or found it more important to keep others informed with what they are up to through social media. We have seen how common online dating apps have become within the past few years. In the past people would go out and find someone at any common place. Now people seek for partners online based on a swipe system. In the film Black Mirror, Nosedive by booker people would show their appreciation towards others or opinion based on a digital rating system. And today we also have a similar system for restaurants or any business that provides a service. There have been many apps that have also been created to interact with others through a screen. An example is BeReal, where people would share exactly what they were doing to their friends by sending a picture of themselves at that exact moment. And by doing this it would prove a sense of authenticity since you are capturing the exact location and thing you are doing. 

How do you think the idea of white supremacy has changed through social media?

I think white Supremacy has found its way onto social media. There are many white people who have used social media to target minorities through bias they have of them. Weather to spread misinformation or simply bias. As mentioned before there are videos of people acting as minorities and ideas they have of them for humor but oftentimes don't realize this can be offensive to a group. We also see big brands on social media sponsor or work with white influencers only since they might think they would be a more appealing look or character to represent their brand compared to a person of color. “...emerging technologies hide, speed up, or reinforce racism, but also how race itself is kind of technology one designed to separate, stratify, and sanctify the many forms of injustice experienced by members of racialized groups, but one that people routinely reimagine and redeploy to their own ends.”(Race After Technology,) many times on social media many acts of racism are hidden especially with tailored marketing.  

References:

Black Mirror Episode 1 season 3 by Charlie Booker

Race After Technology, by R. Benjamin

The Social Media Handbook by Jeremy Hunsinger and Teresa Senft

[dayjmz19]

Blog Post 2/27

With AI growing rapidly will people be advised to learn about digital literacy?

Digital literacy is essential and should be required to be taught in schools and workspaces, but it is often overlooked. Not everyone has access to the same type of resources when it comes to digital devices, and not many establishments see it as their responsibility to teach about these subjects. This leads to a digital divide and misuse of resources due to insufficient knowledge of how to take full advantage of them. There is not enough awareness regarding digital literacy because people assume everyone has the same level of digital expertise. 

How does cyberspace manage racism? 

The cyberspace does not seem to have much control over racism in the digital world. For example, in “5 types of online racism and why you should care,” Dr. Lisa N. shared that when queer people or people of color would come on the game Halo, others would scream racial slurs or make inappropriate comments through the game's microphone. They also explained how the players were affected by racial slurs and were forced to drop the game. In the video, they also made connections about how digital sales are also affected by stereotypes. For example, depending on who's displaying a product, whether a person of color or a white person, you would also see a preference for the white person selling it despite it being the same product. It's challenging to know this type of discrimination changing in the digital world because it's been shown in previous studies that technology and AI also have biases toward minority groups since they learn from past history. 

How have we learned to overlook racial stereotypes in the digital space?

People overlook racial stereotypes, especially in films. Oftentimes, we do not think much of stereotypes and ignore them as jokes created to make a movie funny. In the journal “The Revenge of the Yellow-faced Cyborg Terminator,” they explained how some races would be inserted into specific film categories depending on a bias we might have created about this particular group. For example, Asian people would be rolled as aliens, math experts, or even actors would use “ yellow-Face’’ where white actors paint their faces yellow to act as Asians. They did this to not cast an actual Asian person robbing an opportunity from them. This also applied to people of color, where actors practiced blackface. As viewers, we don't think much of these actions because they don't directly affect us, but the minority group watching this happen might feel targeted or offended by this. Today, I often see many people liking certain types of memes or reels about racial stereotypes of certain groups, thinking it's part of a humorous culture overlooking the hardship people encountered to be seen and treated as equals. 

How do video games participate in racial stereotypes?

Video games participate in racial stereotypes because they represent players in the game environment. The article “Ludo-Orientalism and the Gamification of Race” talks about how the game industry creates games that represent certain cultures in their games, and depending on how they are exercising it, they might be partaking in racial bias. It's been found that certain games would label certain cultural groups as terrorists taking part in cultural bias. The article also emphasized that the players also take part in the racial stereotype depending on how they react to it. Not everyone may recognize the racial stereotype being shown in the game and then reinforce or gain harmful assumptions about a particular group of people. I think this would mainly affect younger communities who are not aware of certain hardships other cultural groups encountered in the past and might see it as funny.  

Sources: “5 types of online racism and why you should care” by Dr. Lisa N.

“The Revenge of the yellow-faced cyborg terminator”, and “Ludo-Orientalism

And the Gamification of Race” by Beth Kolko

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Blog post #3 due 02/13

How has technology changed oppression towards people of color?

Oppression towards people of color has been around for many years. As technology progresses new forms of oppression have developed like algorithmic oppression. It has been revealed that women in minority groups have been heavily associated with sexual content on the web. A simple search for a minority group would result in pornographic content. Google also claimed to have glitches where it would relate people of colors with animals.“The first problem for Google was that its photo application had automatically tagged African  Americans as"apes " and"animals " (S.Noble, 2018). In Noble’s article it explained that these cases were due to bias that the algorithm carries from the past, meaning past events of oppression that may have occurred before technology but are now registered in the system as “history” leading to carry that bias over to today. Today I can say that algorithmic oppression still exists especially through social media content like, reels, memes, tik tok but are overlooked by most since they consider it a simple meme or skit. 

How has Intersectionality affected social media and the film industry? 

Intersectionality has taken away opportunities from minority groups, making it difficult to get jobs, promotions, healthcare, and assistance. I have personally noticed that today, on social media, there are hardly any social media creators of color who are offered the same opportunities as white content creators. Most big corporate brands don't seek to work with these groups as they are often seen as problematic due to cultural bias. Another factor that may lead to creators of colors being overlooked is due to their appearance, as they might not be considered up to standard due to their cultural features. For example, in most movies, the protagonist is a pretty petite blonde girl. Hardly any big movie features a person of color as their protagonist. This also applies to films not being promoted or denied to be released as they feature a minority group; we often see this with queer shows where they get discontinued after the first season and minimal advertisement. 

How does your name make you prone to bias and racism? 

Oftentimes people are aware of someone's cultural background due to their name and last name. This happens mainly due to the biased idea of what each culture usually names their children. This leads to people socially constructing what a “normal” name and last name is.“ Usually, many of my white students assume that the name exercise is not about them” (R. Benjamin, 2019) due to the bias from generational ideas carried on to children creating a cycle reflecting that “White people” are simple/ normal people .This often leads to oppression or racism simply by having a different name from what is considered “normal”. This also leads to people going by nicknames, aliases, or their names pronounced the “American way” to not be victims of bias in the workplace or school.

Is there a bias to who we bring awareness to? And how does the algorithm affect it? 

I definitely believe there is a bias on who and what we bring awareness to as a society, Kimbrele Crenshaw did an exercise in her ted talk where it resulted in the crowd being aware of African american males that were killed by police but very little people knew about African American women who were also killed by the police. There have been many documentaries created telling the story of white victims and their offenders but we hardly ever see any about minorities being victims of white people. This is because there isn't a bias against white people compared to how there is to people of color. A classmate had brought up a point in wednesday’s class about how Luigi Mangione was seen as a hero for his actions all over the social media but if it were a minority who would have done what Luigi did it would have not gotten the same reaction. I do agree with this and this is also an example of how the algorithm pushes videos to the mainstream media of how he's such a hero, handsome, innocent, etc. But if it were about a minority victim the algorithm would most likely not push the posts to the mainstream media. 

[dayjmz19]

Blog Post #2

How can technology negatively impact as AI continues to progress? 

With artificial intelligence growing and many other similar platforms being released I think it will bring lots of uncertainty to older generations and low-income families as some are unable to keep up with the technological updates or simply can't afford advanced technology devices being released today. Especially with many jobs relying on artificial intelligence to store or collect information of others personal information. “Though these systems have the most destructive and deadly effects on low-income communities of color, they impact poor and working-class people across the color line.” (Eubanks,2018). As Eubanks pointed out many people don't become aware they are being targeted by mistakes the system made leading to many employees not listening to your concerts because they simply “ trust the system” not taking into consideration the system might have made a mistake. This can negatively impact minority communities since it could leave them without essential resources due to system errors. 

Are people supportive of cyber feminism? 

Over the years, we have collectively evolved to be more inclusive of women and minorities. Some places are more than others, of course, but there are still many people who have pushed away from cyber-feminism. But many people do not notice. Many jobs today pay women less while their male co-worker gets paid more for the same position, but they don't know since the company does not disclose the information. Many women in tech are more likely to be harassed at their male-dominated jobs and are often ignored when they seek help. Many jobs promote being inclusive to women so that they look good to the public, but they are often ignorant. This also applies to many people's beliefs, especially parents who often restrict their children from having an interest in sports, toys, and characters that are socially viewed for a particular gender.

 Do we practice cyber feminism today?

 I think we do practice cyberfeminism today since we see more employers hire women for important roles in the tech industry. Many women who work in these male dominated roles often advocate for younger girls and spread awareness of their accomplishments to motivate the youth of girls to show them that women can be incharge in the world of technology. I feel like in the past many girls were restricted from technology, especially from devices due to the stigma that it was something for boys. For example a console not being given to girls because it was seen as a male toy, I personally was affected by this constructed idea when I was younger. 

Another example would be the women in the car industry who are overseen due to the idea of women being unable to have knowledge of cars. 

Is the algorithm being used against us? 

I have always loved how accurate the algorithm has been when it comes to understanding my humor and pushing videos that I enjoy on my feed. But I had never thought about how it could be used against me or how it's been used against me in the past. This not only applies to me but also to many other people. We are being watched by companies that can see what we enjoy or what we are most likely to take in, and this could lead to an intake of misinformation. “Online community neighbor apps such as NextDoor and Ring devolve into fear-based racial profiling community mobs” (Nicole Brown,2020). As Nicole Brown explained, many people are being targeted on apps without having actual evidence just due to an assumption. Then others will believe the person posting the post created a group of misinformed people. Companies could also use the algorithm to push ads to sell us products we don't need or even push political ideas we are most likely to fall for.

  Works Cited: Brown, N. (2020). Race and technology [Video]. YouTube.

Eubanks, Virginia. 2018. Automating Inequality-Introduction.

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When The Internet Did Not Live Up To The Hype-Week 2

Throughout my life, the internet has crashed on me plenty of times, but it has eventually returned to normal. There's always been an easy fix with zero consequences to restore the internet and other programs, especially at work. I will never forget July 19, 2024, When Microsoft stopped working for a few days. This was one of the most stressful work weeks of my life. At my job, we rely on the internet and Microsoft-run programs. We heavily did not expect or were prepared for Microsoft to be down. We could not use our printers or computers during this time, leaving us to return to old-fashioned paperwork. We recorded payments by hand by writing card numbers on paper with names and amounts owed. Although our systems were down, we could not turn down clients and had to keep the business running. Keeping track of over 100 payment methods and people's names and tracking them where they were was very stressful as we were developing our systems to help us better keep track of all these transactions. With no Microsoft, we were also unable to know about new reservations being made throughout the day and throughout the week, so once the guest arrived, we could not find details about their booking, causing an inconvenience for everyone. With all this going on, we didn't think about how many work days we had to catch up with once Microsoft was restored. We had to return to the system and insert all the card numbers we had written down on paper with the amounts owed to charge people while keeping up with usual business inquiries. It felt like we were never going to be able to catch up. This made the work emotionally demanding, as many people did not understand the situation, and there was tension between coworkers.