Diffusion Theory

What is the diffusion theory? Diffusion theory is a theory that essentially tells us how, why, and how fast new ideas and technology are spreading. New innovations spread all the time. How do new innovations spread so quickly? Technology spreads new innovations fast in one of three ways. The first way is we see technology used as a founder of new markets. For example, streaming services are really taking on a toll on the business done by movie theaters right now. This is done because a new market of having movies and tv shows at your fingertips was recognized and it has been made possible with technology. The second way technology spreads innovations fast is when innovations use technology as a vehicle for innovation. 3D printing is a great example. 3D used technology as its vehicle to carry its finished product to the finish line. The final normal way technology spreads innovations fast is by when they use technology as an enhancer of human capabilities. For example, architects are now using softwares to take out buildings and place buildings using AR to see how it will look once it is built on the land. 

The first innovation that comes to mind recently that we saw blow up from technology is Tiktok. Tiktok is a social networking service that really focuses on videos as a way of entertainment. A few years ago Tiktok was not a thing and now people spend hours of their day on the app. Whether it is watching dance moves, watching funny videos, or getting tips from a creator, Tiktok has a variety of purposes. While some people think Tiktok has really had a negative impact on the world, I also think it has had a positive impact. It has made another social media platform for people to post their content. There are many people that would not be nearly as successful as they are right now without the app of Tiktok and I'm sure they're thankful for the creation. 

  

Propaganda Today

What is propaganda? I want to start out my post by giving a simple definition. Propaganda is information, normally seen in the political world, that is very misleading and full of false words. Propaganda has impacted the world in a multitude of ways. This article gives us Adolf Hitler as an example of someone who spread masses of propaganda. He was able to convince through his words that he would be a great letter for his country. Men and women in the military were also involved in his scheme. Members of the military community would make up things about the war and their enemies and spread it to the public so the public believed anything but the truth. Why were these leaders willing to do this? The sad reality is they were willing to do it because they really did not see it as doing a bad thing. They didn't see it as doing a bad thing because they had been told to promote a sense of love for their country through propaganda.

However, even though I just spent a good amount of time talking about propaganda from many years ago, let's not forget propaganda is still very much a problem and constant force in our modern world. Let's look at politics for example. What is political propaganda? Political propaganda is something false that is spread to advance or tear down a political agenda. There are two different types of language or information that really make up political propaganda. The first is disinformation. Disinformation is false information that is spread specifically to change people's understanding of an issue or topic. The second is misinformation. Misinformation is information that is spread that is not meant to cause harm or change people's understanding of an issue or topic. We all spread misinformation all the time. Anyone who ever played the telephone games knows exactly what I am talking about. The word never comes out the way the first person said it at the end. 

I know I just explained what propaganda looks like today, but how is it impactful in our world today? Let's think about the whole year of 2020. Fake news made our country be more divided than arguably ever. We know that a house divided by itself can not stand. Therefore why were the Republicans so against the Democrats and the Democrats so against the Republicans. It's because we were in the biggest problem we've been in. Our country has not seen a raging pandemic in quite some time. We were not prepared for it nor were our news sources. With this being the case propaganda was everywhere. It got to the point where people really believed every Republican was racist and every Democrat was completely far left when this was really not the case at all. So often in this world we let our news dictate how we think. We should use the new to gain knowledge or information, but it should not change the way we think on a daily basis because you never really know if the news you are reading is true or not. 

Video Response

I think the issues discussed in these videos affect all of us. We just don't normally think about it because it is very discomforting to think about. The first Ted Talk we watched with Andy Yen is very alarming. He talks about how sending an email is like sending a postcard. Even though the internet has changed the world in many amazing ways, it also has its downsides. Every time we post on facebook, search something on Google, or send an email we are giving the world more and more information about ourselves. One email in the grand scheme of things really means nothing. However, a bunch of emails over a period of time put together can give the world more information than you would really like for it to know. It can tell the world who you've met, where you've been, and even what you are thinking about. The scary part is whatever you send in an email the world can know forever. This is why we need to take a second and step back and think before we post something online. At least in person we know not to say certain things that will cause problems. You never really know the implications of what you can do with your words online. 

The second Ted Talk we watch discussed more information that almost all of us know but prefer not to think about. Finn Myrstad, the speaker we are listening to in the Ted Talk, discusses with us how companies deceive you into giving up your data and privacy. He starts off the speech by giving us a question to think about. He asks if we had a toy that was our companion as a kid. He gives the example of how Christopher Robin had Winnie the Pooh. He assumes that you and your toy companion had endless adventures and what could be more innocent than that? Mr. Myrstad gives us an example of something that is even more innocent. He tells us about a toy known as Kaila. She is girl doll that was voted toy of the year all around the world. The doll even connects to the internet and uses a form of speech technology to answer the questions of your child. However, he tells us that the innocence doesn't really lie in the doll. It lies more with you and your family. While you and your family are innocently talking in the safety of your home, the company of the toy is collecting mass information through what they can hear you say around the toy. It is scary to think how much companies may know about us without us even realizing. 

I think these issues of lack of privacy are a threat to us, our friends, and our family. However, I don't think the world will ever change where people get worried about it because it is happening so much worrying about it could really ruin your life. I don't really honestly think there is much we can do besides just not take or do certain things that clearly look like there are going to be giving away our private information online. However, I do think the government could put restrictions on companies about the amount of information they are allowed to gather from a consumer. While I do think it is possible for the government to do this, it could backlash and then we have a mad powerful company who might just start charging us more for their product. 

What I learned about NETFLIX

In class the technology topic I learned the most about was Netflix. Netflix is an American streaming service that was launched by Marc Randolph and Reed Hastings in 1997. Netflix is not something my parent's generation could have even comprehended. You sit down and with one click of a button you have thousands of different movies or tv shows you can choose from to watch your whole Sunday afternoon. In 2022 the company now has over 220 million subscribers. I think it is definitely fair to say Netflix has changed the world in many different ways. 

In the past virtually all hit tv shows and movies were somehow related to Hollywood. Now, when Netflix comes out with a new tv series it is the biggest thing out. "Stranger Things" and "Squid Games" are the first two that come to my mind. As soon as they came out it was the talk of the town in every town. People want to dress like the characters, buy merchandise, and binge watch until they are completely done with the show. Netflix series have become a culture shock that would be hard for me to explain to my grandpa.

However, other companies are catching onto Netflix's games. At least the streaming services part of the company. This is why Netflix has done things recently like begin to make podcasts, make Netflix original series, manufacturer merchandise, and begin the process to adding video games to their app. The founders of Netflix know they have to keep moving forward because there are always going to be companies that are trying to one up you in everything you do. 

Antiwar

Antiwar.com is very interesting website. It is not a site I would have gone to or seen if you had not told us to go to it.  At a first glance it is just a mess of website. There is so much news in your face at once I don't really even know what to do or what to think. It goes from news about Joe Biden to news about Iran to news dating back to 1991. It looks like a news buff just dumped everything that was in their brain and didn't organize it well at all. Like you said we don't see the news like this in the news really at all. We don't see it because this website is very antiwar and our leaders do not want our country to turn against war and the military because even though we don't want to go to war, America is a very powerful country, and we can't let our guard down.

American conservative looks like a much more professional website. It has articles with very interesting titles that you can click on and read. It has the looks of the NY Times to me. I clicked on an article with the title, "For Peace, Let There Be Nukes." They got me hooked with the title because the title completely contradicts itself. If you want peace why would you drop a nuke? The article talks about how countries wanting to nuke other countries has become so popular it is like peace to some of these countries, such as North Korea. I don't think we see stuff like this in America in the news because it is just not our vibe as a country. As a country we have always been very patriotic and very pro military and if we were antiwar we would not be representing America in the way our government wants us to be representing our country. 

Twitter

Twitter was invented by four men by the names of Biz Stone, Evan Williams, Noah Glass, and Jack Dorsey. They created it in March of 2006 and it was released to the public in July 2006. These four guys created twitter because they wanted a news source where everyone could interact with one another. They wanted an app where if something in the world happened, everyone would know about it in seconds. That is what they created with twitter. Twitter has changed the world in so many ways. 

First let's take a look at politics. Twitter is used all the time to raise awareness of political issues and topics. Twitter lets us know about who is running for office, who has dropped out of the race, who is up in the polls, who is expected to win a specific state, country, election, and who has just won a certain election. Twitter also helps politicians to get their point across or a call for action from or to their supporters very quickly. Twitter has also helped many scientists around the world. Scientists use it all the time to gather information and it is a great source to get people to take a survey or answer a question because you will get so many different responses. Twitter has also greatly changed the business world. Twitter is easy way for businesses to communicate with their customers. It's like an advertisement on television, if gatorade puts something on twitter telling people to buy their product people are going to buy it. It is also a good source for customers to complain to companies. It helps consumers see what they should and shouldn't buy for a company as well as it helping the company know that they need to and how they should solve a problem. Twitter is also great for the world of journalism. 

Think about someone like Stephen A. Smith, who is a commentator for ESPN among many other things. He uses twitter virtually everyday to let people know his thoughts or information about whatever sport or new idea he is thinking about. Twitter, like many other social media platforms, is also great for relationships. If you want to talk to someone it is easy to talk to them on twitter. You can talk to people and relate to people that you might not be able to in the real world unless you went out of your way. All of these are positive ways Twitter has changed the world, but just like any platform there are also negative ways it has impacted the world. Bad news travels way faster than good news. 

This is seen nowhere more than twitter. Someone could put up something that is bad that's not even true and next thing you know it is everywhere for everyone to see. Negativity is also very contagious. Once you put up something negative, even if it is not meant to be that mean, people spread it around and that can be very hurtful for whoever it was directed towards.