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Blog Post: Due 11/18

1. Determine what kind of social media site or digital platform you are creating.

A digital platform that I would want to create is one where students from different colleges from anywhere in the world can interact with each other and be able to use each other as resources and receive help from one another with homework when needed. This can be an app where you just log in and there are several resources for you. As a student, I know how frustrating it can be when you need help on a certain homework assignment and there isn't much help for you, so having this at your fingertips can really help students succeed and be able to communicate with other fellow college students.

2. What will you measure?

This media platform will measure the mass amounts of school subjects that students will be seeking additional help on. Also, student demographics will be taken. The students will be measured for the subjects that they excel the most in and the ones they are struggling with. This can help students be connected by their weaknesses in a certain subject and can see other students that excel in it can be available for any additional help needed. Name of student, age, school year, and institution will also be weighed among every user on this platform.

3. How will you weigh these factors?

Age will be measured by every person who signs up for this there will be a series of questions before setting up an account and this will help gain information from every user that wants to be a part of this app. The only visible information that will be seen by other students will be their name/username and school they are attending along with the subjects they most excel in. They are also more welcomed to share their grades in the classes they took and how well they succeeded in the course. For example, this can be like a discord but this focuses on different school subjects and you can join whatever group you feel best fitted in regardless if you were sent an invite to the group.

4. What factors will not be measured?

In this platform, sex, gender, race, and ethnicity will not be measured. This platform will also not use any dislikes only like buttons will be available. Even though some students may seem to dislike something they can always leave a message but the dislike button will not be available for any student.

5. How will the model learn or adapt to new information?

This platform will evolve along with the students who will be joining. The more students join the more diversity in school subjects there will be. If the number of students joining increases, then the number of help others can receive will also increase. The longer you are active and participate in this platform the more you will be suggested to new users for either help or just to be able to have new users have someone they can talk to regarding any school subject. This platform will be updated and will show users the top school subjects that people need help on and that way students are able to see a subject they are interested in and they'll be able to join.

6. What biases will be built into the model? How will this change the algorithm's outcome?

This model will be based on data from students. Due to no collection of data based on their sex, gender, race, or ethnicity, there will be no biases based on any of those categories. Some algorithms that can be created are having a certain school subject be so popular and overpowering other subjects that are not so popular.

7. How will the model live out the (un)ethical practices we have discussed?

This model will live out certain practices by having race nor sex be involved with using this platform. When using this platform all voices will be heard and everyone is more than welcome to communicate and join each other to solve any questions a student may have. All this information not being asked from a student will limit any racism and any cyber harassment to occur. The less information is given out and shared about a student the safer they can feel using this platform.

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Blog Post: Week 12 Due 11/11

Question 1: What major effects can stem from surveillance online being increased?

I feel like when people know that there is surveillance and they actually feel like they are being watched then that can lead to people feeling weird and start having them act a specific way. I think this is a way how people will limit their actions and they won't be so authentic to themselves due to other people watching. When surveillance is placed in places and people are notified then I feel like people begin to be more cautious about their actions and this can lead to preventing some people from not committing crimes and potentially being more aware.

Question 2: In what ways do you think surveillance can be seen negatively rather than something positive?

I think that when it comes to surveillance there can be a negative connotation placed on it. It's hard to see this as all positive when there are times in the world where technology along the lines of surveillance can be the reason why there are injustices being done towards people. These technologies can be used for the r=greater good, for example, "this would allow the government to identify people with just a photo and to automatically track people as they travel in public" (Parenti, 2004). This can also be a problem when these technologies at hand arent so accurate and that is when being blamed for something due to inaccurate surveillance is seen down upon.

Question 3: In what ways do you think people don't see the severity of posting freely/whatever they want online have a chance of affecting them?

When it comes to social media I feel like people use it as a way to post whatever they want and it can also be used as an outlet to others. This can also be seen to a certain extent because there are people that use the media to say inappropriate and insensitive things to people and since it isn't in person they feel like they can continue to do so and have no sort of consequence coming onto themselves. I think that people don't see that it can be severe if they post things that aren't okay and there can be people that can gain access to this and use it against them at a certain point. It's important to put into consideration what you post due to anyone possibly gaining access to it.

Question 4: In what ways do you think protestors can take advantage of the online world?

I think that protestors can definitely use the media to be able to gather others around to be a part of what they're doing. If they are trying to start some sort of movement, with the help of online platforms, they can spread their information and try to get in touch with others that agree with them and can begin to lead a bigger movement. The online world can make a big movement when it comes to connecting people from different places that have the same motive in the changes they are trying to make.

Sources:

Power, M. (2010). How your twitter account could land you in jail. Mother Jones. Retrieved November 11, 2021, from https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2010/03/police-twitter-riots-social-media-activists/.

Parenti, C. (2004). The Soft Cage: Surveillance in America from slavery to the War on Terror. Basic Books.

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Blog Post: Week 11 Due 11/04

Question 1: How much power do you think the internet has regarding communication leading to movements occurring?

I feel like communication within the internet is something that can be obtained so easily. Due to the internet be widely and almost anyone has access to it, it makes it one of the easiest ways to get into contact with people near or far from you. As mentioned, "Internet communication created street protests, which mean that without the internet there would have been no street protests" (Fuchs, 2018). We can see that with the help of the internet we see movements and protests occurring and this is a way how people are able to spread their opinions and thoughts on certain topics.

Question 2: In what ways do you think activists are able to use technology to progress in their goals?

I feel like technologies provide a vast amount of resources available for anyone to use. Activist have the opportunity to take advantage of any of this in order to achieve any objectives they have. As mentioned, "activists now take advantage of the technologies and techniques offered by the internet to achieve their traditional goals" (Vegh, 2013). With these technologies their strategies can be enhanced and therefore help them reach their goals in a more powerful manner. These technologies can be uses for an extra way to spread information and raise awareness.

Question 3: Do we see any bias occurring towards people of color in the internet?

I do feel like even today there is still some biased going on towards people of color. I do believe that people are seen down due to what they look like and there is still people that are being chosen over someone else just because of the color of their skin. I also think that this bias will be hard to eliminate due to ignorance that takes place either online or even in person. There are also biased perceptions on certain communities not only in society but can also be incorporated with the law.

Question 4: Do you think hacktivism is a good thing or bad thing?

I feel like hactivism can be taken advantage and be used for bad. I know that hacktivists use their skills to bring awareness to certain political views they have. As mentioned, "hacktivism is a social movement a new type of direction action an internet based activity centered on virtual politics" (Vegh, 2013). There can be some instances where hacktivism can be elevated to another level and this can lead to cyber war.

Sources:

Fuchs, C. (2018). Communication Power in the Arab Spring and Occupy Movement . In Social Media: A critical introduction (pp. 83–88). essay, SAGE.

Lee, L. (2017). Black twitter: A response to bias in mainstream media. Social Sciences, 6(1), 26. https://doi.org/10.3390/socsci6010026

Vegh, S. (2013). Classifying Forms of Online Activity . In Cyberactivism: Online activism in theory and Practice. essay, Routledge.

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Blog Post: Week 10 Due 10/28

Question 1: what are some creative ways to combat trolls and trolling? what role do witnesses play?

I think a way to combat trolling can be having these social websites strictly enforce these rules amongst these profiles. With these restrictions, there can be limited trolling that occurs. I do believe that there's people that don't regard rules being placed due to them receiving no consequences so if there are consequences being made, certain actions will change for the better. I think that witnesses can play a certain role just depends on what side of the spectrum they are in. There can be people who are against trolling and these people can make a movement against these trolls.

Question 2: Do you think that there's a specific age group who experience a greater amount of cyber harassment?

I do feel like younger people are the ones experiencing some type of cyber harassment. I think that young people sometimes can be a target and also that age group is most likely to be involved in some social platform that increases their likely hood to experience this. As stated, " It's not surprising that young people are more likely to experience severe emotional distress from cyber harassment" (Bergstrom, 2011). There can be some sort of algorithm that there is some vulnerability with people who are younger and can be easier to attack. I believe that this occurs through all social media and this can be difficult to eliminate.

Question 3: In what ways do you think memes and trolling are related to one another?

I think that memes are greatly used throughout different outlets in social media and they can be used as a joke or even be used to troll others. I feel like there are memes that surface all over different social media outlets and this can be a way that people use something this popular to troll others. As mentioned, that "trolls ability to reference, recognize, and remix existing memes helps fortify a basic sense of trolling identity" (Phillips, 2015). I believe that there can be social media platforms that have memes to be a way for quick trolling. There are also a handful of memes that are made specifically to troll people.

Question 4: What are some things that people can do who are experiencing cyber harassment do to eliminate it?

I believe that when cyber harassment occurs there can be some very serious cases. I think that blocking a specific person who is doing it can be a start. I know that there are people who don't take this serious and believe that the victims might just be dramatic. As stated, " cyber harassment victims are often told that nothing can or should be done about online abuse" (Citron, 2014). I do feel like like it can get difficult to find someone who understands and is willing to help one out. There are also times that these victims are blamed for what they experience on social media.

Sources:

Citron, D. K. (2014). Introduction. Hate Crimes in Cyberspace, 1–32. https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674735613.intro

Phillips, W. (2015). Defining terms: The origins and evolution of subcultural trolling. This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, 1-17. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10288.003.0004

Bergstrom, K. (n.d.). "Don't feed the troll": Shutting down debate about community expectations on Reddit.com. First Monday. 1-11. https://firstmonday.org/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/3498.

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Blog Post: Week 8 Due 10/14

Question 1: How can society be affected when there are certain types of bodies being made virtually?

I believe that the bodies that are bing created virtually is far from reality which begins to give society a misrepresentation for women. This can also lead to body image problems. As stated "these bodies reproduce deeply problematic versions of identity and bodies" they begin to display a women's body as one sort of beautiful and that can strongly influence society and how people see themselves and others (O'Riordan 2006). This is definitely a way to create insecurities and possibly high standards for a women's image.

Question 2: Do you think white supremacy has a chance of ending with all the sources people have virtually?

I do believe that white supremacy is far from ending due to all the events that occur stemming from that. In the reading, they had mentioned how white supremacy is stemmed from a newspaper back when information wasn't obtained as fast as now (Daniels 2009). I do believe that now that we have all these connections to anyone anywhere it's easier for these groups of people to unite and spread ignorant or false information about certain groups of people. With limitations that can be put on media, there can be less of this occurring but might be impossible to completely eliminate.

Question 3: How does cyborg imagery change a persons view on technology?

I think that cyborg imagery is definitely an inaccurate way to compare reality. I feel like since we are able to see how it isn't real as the real world theres validity that is being removed from there due to that. In the reading they mention how there is a disconnect from these metaphysics and technology and there are boundaries and sorts of communication with these (Haraway 1991). We also form our own relationships with these technological devices and sometimes we can see the way refusal chimes into these cyborg images that occur.

Question 4: In what ways do digital beauty hurt the way one seas themselves in real life?

I think that digital beauty has a huge influence on people due to the fact that virtually someone can make themselves look better than what they actually look like. People posting the highlights of the way they look/their life can make others start comparing themselves and begin to hurt themselves by not living/looking a certain way. I do think that teenagers are definitely a target because they are the ones that tend to be online more and they begin to be influenced by people and they begin to think that other people's way of looking and living is real.

sources:

Daniels, J. (2009). Gender, White Supremacy, and the Internet. Cyber Racism: White Supremacy Online and the New Attack on Civil Rights (pp. 61-86). Rowman & Littlefield

O’Riordan, K. (2006). Gender, Technology, and Visual Cyberculture. Critical Cyberculture Studies (pp. 243-252). New York University Press.

Haraway, D. (1991). A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century. (354-359).

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Blog Post: Week 7 Due 10/07

Q1: Why do you think certain limitations that can be placed online wont affect racism that is going on online?

I feel like if there are limitations that are placed online racism will still continue to happen, perhaps not as much but it will still occur. I think it's because it's quite impossible to keep tabs on every single person that has access to media platforms and censor what is bad. As stated, "racism is part of life on the internet" which shows that it it something that will most likely continue to occur (Hunsinger 2015). When getting access to the internet, till this day, we are able to see the racism that is still occurring online.

Q2: In what ways do you think there is white privilege in specific careers?

I do believe that there can be some white privilege in specific workplaces such as a law enforcement career. I think that this is an ongoing situation and thats something that POC are aware of. Due to this there has been recent events that due to white privilege in the law enforcement that people began to speak up and lead to protesting and also some riots. As stated in the reading there has been another example of this and "the judge tossed out the case" when they tried to sue some officers (Benjamin 2020). I feel like there are majority caucasians in the law enforcement that lead to injustices towards communities of POC.

Q3: In what ways do you think accessing/participating in specific white supremacy groups have been easy in today's world?

I think with so many people having access to the internet and the media it is quite easy to get into communication with others. As mentioned, "supremacist discourse is certainly more accessible today" (Daniels 2009). This connection that can happen through the media can lead people to be a part of such groups and participate in specific activities. Due to the internet being very accessible now, it's impossible not having access to any sort of connections to these groups.

Q4: In what ways do you think events of white supremacy online affects certain populations in real life?

I think that this can affect people in real life due to white supremacy can occur to anyone at any time really. As stated, it affects real life because of the violent attacks that are made on specific populations that seem to be at risk (Daniels 2009). Online white supremacy can also have an affect on political games and can try to perhaps expand themselves. Along with political side points they can lead to protests/riots that are arranged online and take action in person.

Sources:

Daniels, J. (2009). Cyber racism: White supremacy online and the new attack on Civil Rights. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Benjamin, R. (2020). Race after technology abolitionist tools for the new jim code. Polity.

Hunsinger, J., & Senft, T. M. (2015). The Social Media Handbook. Routledge.

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Blog Post: Week 6 Due 9/30

Q1: How do identities play an important role in video games?

I think that identities play an important role in video games due to the fact that there can be lots of persuading and influence through this. As stated, "people put on an identity to try to get other to do something" and I feel like acting as someone you aren't and having power over someone else because so can cause problems (Nakamura 2011). Just as mentioned with identity tourism and people making themselves someone they aren't and for video games I think that there can be people who do put up a certain race or gender in order to receive personal benefits being good or bad.

Q2: Do you think that race is not as important in the cyber world?

I think that race does play a huge role in the cyber community just as much as in real life. I feel like when it comes to racism and the cyber world people tend to use insensitive words because they are behind a screen and perhaps it's something they wouldn't say face to face in real life. As mentioned, "we believe that race matters no less in cyberspace than it does real life" (Kolko 2000). Just because one is online and in a cyberspace people think they have the right to be insensitive and say racist remarks when in reality it serves the same as when in real life.

Q3: What ways do video games and stereotypes coincide in the cyber community?

I think that when it comes to video games, there can be a lot of racism that is being thrown out to one another that then can lead to stereotypes. I feel like this also provokes certain behavioral patters against specific people in regards to when people are playing video games. As stated, "accordingly invoke the term to describe dizzying variety of activities, behavioral patterns and systems ranging from material to the virtual, the stylistic to conceptual, the whole-some to the illicit" (Fickle 2019). This author agrees with the ideas that there can be some video games that change the way one acts towards another compared to real life actions.

Q4: Does gender play a different role in video games?

I do think that in video games females are definitely perceived in a different way than males. I have seen the difference in male/female characters and they have the females to be seen sexual and having them show more skin and be more revealing than compared to the male characters. As stated, female characters are situated as "nude in contrived conditions such as bathing underneath a waterfall" (Ow 2003). This shows the difference in how genders do play a critical role in some video games and how female characters are often played upon to be sexual unlike the male characters.

Sources:

Kolko, B., Nakamura, L., & Rodman, G. (2000). Race in Cyberspace. Taylor & Francis Group.

Ow, J. A. (2003). The revenge of the yellowfaced cyborg terminator: The rape of digital geishas and the colonization of cyber-coolies in 3D realms’ Shadow Warrior. In Asian America.Net: Ethnicity, Nationalism, and Cyberspace (pp. 249–266). https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203957349

Fickle, T. (2019). The race card : from gaming technologies to model minorities . New York University Press.

TEDxUIllinois - Dr. LISA nakamura - 5 types of … - YouTube. (n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2021, fromhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT-G0FlOo7g

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Blog Post: Week 4 Due 9/16

Q1: In what ways do you think algorithms employ negative impacts on society?

I think that there can be some negative affects of some algorithms on social media. When talking about social media, theres information that remains on the web forever and that includes rather bad information or good. Society can reach these pieces of information in a glimpse. As mentioned, "you can still find digital traces of the google auto suggestions" and this is regarding information from 2015 (Noble, 2018). I feel like algorithms sometimes continue to appear on the media and when its regarding negative information, that can lead to causing negative impacts on society.

Q2: How does having a certain name affect the perception of yourself to others?

When you hear someones name you brain normally computes a sort of connection with race/skin color perhaps. I think that there are certain last names that are heard and one automatically connects it to be someone who is hispanic or white and so on. As stated, that there are some people with names that causes them to be treated a certain way in some specific scenarios (Benjamin, 2019). I think that certain names/last names can cause racial discrimination towards someone.

Q3: How has digital production helped black communities through social media?

I think that technology and media has greatly affected black communities in a positive way. Focusing on the past, the press would display important information in order for the community to be informed about current events that may be critical to them (Everett,2002). To this day social media has been a way where people can spread important information that can be useful and important for others to know and social media can also be used to spread any awareness regarding anything throughout the community.

Q4: How does intersectionality connect with social injustice within different communities?

Intersectionality displays how there are different social groups and they all connect together. These different social groups can include race, gender etc. Sometimes these groups can have some discrimination and against other different groups. When it comes to social injustice, someone's race/gender is a target and can maybe lead to inequalities that can occur. (Crenshaw, 2016). Sometimes social injustices can be brought out from this.

References

Everett, A. (2002). The Revolution Will Be Digitized. Duke University Press.

Benjamin, R. (2019). Race After Technology.

Noble, S. (2018). Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism.

TED. (2016, December 7). The Urgency of Intersectionality | Kimberlé Crenshaw [Video]. YouTube.

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Blog Post: Week 3 Due 9/9

Q1: Do you think that facial recognition technology can make more negative impacts rather than positive?

I think that facial recognition technology can make a greater impact negatively due to it “disproportionally harming the black community” (Hill, 2020). I think when someone becomes wrongfully accused of anything and having a specific skin color be the target of facial recognition mistakes can lead to a big uproar in the community that will spread widely. I don’t think that police officers should have the right to arrest someone just because of facial recognition due to many flaws that can come with technology.

Q2: what ways do you think social media has spread the topic of women empowerment throughout time?

I think that social media over time has been more involved when it comes to women empowerment. I think that the media has helped women find some sort of “safe space” for themselves to express their support and emotions towards this (Daniels, 108). I also feel like women use social media to post critical information regarding this movement and not only towards females but for everyone that can better informed regarding all of this. Technology has a way of spreading such important news and information quickly and can be accessible to anyone and everyone.

Q3: when it comes to automated decisions, do you think society is getting positively or negatively affected?

Automated decisions seem to be making a larger negative effect to people of color/ minorities. I feel like these groups of people seem to be easier victims when it comes to attacking them with possible false allegations or information and just leads to an “intensified discrimination” (Eubanks, 23). I think that with this occurring, higher class won’t necessarily be affected with this but rather mainly lower class.

Q4: How can algorithms produce false data that can affect certain individuals?

I think that algorithms may have some sort of inaccurate and unbiased outcomes that can be connected to race. An example can be regarding the healthcare system and people of color already being cut shorter than someone who is white (Brown, 2020). There is a greater portion of people of color to not have health care support compared to white people and that causes an algorithm to not be accurate and can possibly produce false data.

Brown, N. (2020). Race and Technology. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8uiAjigKy8

Daniels, J. (2009). Rethinking Cyberfeminism(s): Race, gender, and embodiment. Women's Studies Quarterly, 37(1-2), 101–124.

Eubanks, V. (2019). In Automating Inequality: How high-tech tools profile, police, and punish the poor.

Hill, K. 2020. Another arrest, and jail time, due to a bad facial recognition match. The New York Times

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Blog Post: Week 2 Due 9/2

Q1: When it comes to social media, how does age come to place when it comes to play for the older generations that are not relatively attached to social media?

When it comes to social media the younger generation seems to have more access to it due to their interests and usually being more tech savvy. I feel like now a day the younger generation use their social media as a news outlet due to so much new information that passes these outlets that make certain new stories go viral. Also, in social media there is some news that you probably won’t even hear on the radio or on TV and that’s what makes social media a fast and entertaining way to get any outside source information whether it is good or bad. As for older generations, they aren’t so inclined in technology and use different sources such as newspaper or the radio due to perhaps how social media is formed with “complexities and multilayered meanings” (Fuchs 2014).

Q2: When it comes to political racial news, how is social media’s power affect the audience?

I feel like now in this newer and more advanced generation there is a crucial amount of power that these popular social media outlets have. When displaying news on tv, there are some news outlets that have a specific view on certain things, but what I have found to notice is how unfiltered social media outlets can be and how censored television or newspapers can be. Unfortunately, I feel like sometimes specific news outlets can somewhat “reinforce racial ignorance, group hatred, and discriminatory government policies” (Gonzalez & Torres, 2013).

Q3: Focusing on the positive side of social media, how is it beneficial in this generation?

In this day of age social media is everywhere a second away. Young generations often use these platforms as an outlet that can either be their feelings showing off pictures of memorable memories and so on. Apart from personal usage social media can also play a role in one’s professional life and communication such as to “send an email or chat with a friend on Facebook. Communication is a basic feature of all societies and all human activity” (Fuchs 2014). Social media helps us connect with someone that can be right next to us to even someone on the opposite side of the world.

Q4: How do you think fear is put against people of color when it comes to headlines that are put out?

When I began reading the journal i found it interesting how these news sources are primarily white-dominated and they do hold responsibility and power to portray how others feel. They often would "exploit racial fears" to gain more influence and sales (Gonzalez & Torres, 2013). I find it important to see how they used this as a way to control how others feel and pushing fear into people of different color than them.

Fuchs, C. (2014).  Social Media: A Critical Introduction. SAGE Publications Ltd, https://www.doi.org/10.4135/9781446270066

Gonzalez, J., & Torres, J. (2013). News for All the People: The Epic Story of Race and the American Media. European Journal of Communication. https://doi.org/10.1177/0267323113476985c

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Blog post: week 1 due 8/27

When has technology failed me?

Ever since COVID I had found myself to become pretty reliant on my iPad to take notes review PowerPoints pretty much anything when it comes to class. About a year ago I took a physics class online at CSUF and this professor didn’t accept any technology when it came to writing notes, class work, homework and exams. I decided to purchase a printer for all my coursework that I was goi to have to do for this class throughout the semester. I found this printer to be great! Wifi connected all I had to do was click print and no need for wires connected to laptop or anything. As the semester began this printer was working great when it came to printing quickly but as my first quiz came along my professor only allowed 5 minutes to print out the quiz and then 10 minutes to complete it. I knew I wasn’t going to waste any time I clicked print and boom error clicked again and boom error. I PANICKED not only was the time crunch a big stress but now I wasn’t even able to print out my quiz. Of course the error had to do with some sort of connection problem. I had really thought about how the printer was pretty advanced due to being able to print out through wifi but unfortunately I had an experience where I struggled to print out my work and was late to begin my quiz and was not able to finish it. I was truly disappointed that this printer had failed me and there was some sort of technological issue that day. Ever since that big fail I made sure my printer is ready and working before my class starts! I guess you can say that there was some sort of positive outcome to this because I’ve been scared of any technological problem with my printer ever since and now I’m make sure I’m prepared!