My Online Presence

After listening to the lecture in today's class and searching my name in Google, I can easily say that I am alarmed by all of the information that the Internet knows about me.

As someone who enjoys using social media and values technology, I have a fairly broad online presence. I have social media accounts on Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Spotify, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and VSCO that I use on a regular basis. As far as a personal website, I have an account on Adobe Portfolio that I use to display all of my work to send to companies when applying for internships and future careers.

On all of the social media sites that I use, I normally post pictures of my friends, family, and myself. I am very adamant about keeping my social media content "clean" on all platforms for the fear of future employers finding content that does not accurately display myself as a person or as a potential employee.

By searching my first and last name, someone can find my Facebook account the easiest. However, when searching my full name, Anna James Harris, people can find my Twitter, VSCO, Instagram, Pinterest, Spotify, and pictures of myself on Google Images because I use my full name as my username for almost all of my accounts. By clicking on any of these accounts, people could figure out where I'm from, where I go to school, what I look like, what kinds of music I listen to, etc.

As far as private information, I have given my email to most social media sites because almost all of them require an email when creating an account. I do not share my phone number to most accounts, but have it on some just because of security purposes. All of this information is shared for my viewing only, however, I know that the companies have access to it.

After looking at the questions on The Atlantic articles, I believe social media helps people feel a void of some sort. Whether that be loneliness, depression, low self confidence, etc., I believe that anyone can feel more "fulfilled" by numbers of followers or likes on a screen. However, just because one might have hundreds of followers or millions of likes, it does not mean that they feel "whole."

Personally, I believe that social media has its advantages and disadvantages. It helps people connect in a new way, it utilizes technological advancements, and it allows people to be creative through a different outlet. However, I think that social media can create a toxic environment for people in a social setting and it has the possibility of being extremely detrimental to one's wellbeing.

The Diffusion of Snapchat

Snapchat, one of the world's largest social media platforms, was created in the halls of Stanford University by Evan Spiegel, Bobby Murphy, and Reggie Brown in September of 2011. This multimedia messaging app is now worth around $15 billion and remains as one of the most popular social networking sites for the Millennials and Gen Z.

Image retrieved from Smart Insights.

To demonstrate the growth of Snapchat, it is best to refer to the Diffusion of Innovation Model.

Stage 1: Innovators
Brown mentioned to Spiegel how he wished that pictures he was sending to a girl would disappear, and thus, the idea of Snapchat was born. With the original name, "Picaboo," the app obtained about 127 users by the end of the summer of 2011.

Stage 2: Early Adopters
Due to an argument amongst the three friends, Spiegel and Murphy decided to continue the company without Brown. In September 2011, the two relaunched the app under the name, "Snapchat," increasing its popularity significantly within the next year. The app reached 100,000 users and investments from different companies.

Stage 3: Early & Late Majority
By May 2013, 150 million snaps were being sent per day by the app's users. Between December 2014 and August 2016, the app participated in active fundraising and had a significant increase in video views. Snapchat drastically improved with the addition of stickers, Chat 2.0, and new monetization strategies during this time as well.

Stage 4: Laggards
I believe that Snapchat is still in its Early & Late Majority Stage. However, the company has rebranded itself from "Snapchat Inc." to "Snap Inc." and introduced initial public offering. Although I don't believe that Snapchat is lagging, I could see the app starting to dissipate by the time my generation is in their late twenties or early thirties. With the invention of so many new social media apps and the way we have aged at that point in time, I think the new generations will begin to pick up on the newer apps and leave Snapchat behind.


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Promoting Innovation

After reading over the eight values of free expression, I believe that the seventh value is the most important. The seventh value of free expression is to promote innovation. When promoting innovation, people are inspired to fulfill themselves in many diverse and interesting ways.

Image retrieved from Sloan Review.

In a society where free speech is valued, it's citizens are more likely to be creative and engaged in their interests. For example, as someone who aspires to have a career in the communications field, hopefully something in print journalism, I am trying to gain as much experience in college before it is time to apply for jobs post-grad.

Being surrounded by others who have a passion to pursue their goals makes myself even more inspired to succeed. I believe that the idea of promoting innovation is extremely powerful because it fosters the belief system that everyone can succeed in their own creative ways within society.

I also believe that the seventh value of free expression is slightly underrated. I think people take certain opportunities for granted. For example, someone who grows up in a family where both of their parents are bankers will be more inclined to become a banker when they get older. By settling with their family's roles, this individual holds back some of their creativity to pursue other careers. I believe that this individual should look at other career options before settling because they might discover other interests along the way that they might like better.

The value of promoting innovation is very inspiring, especially for college students. We are at a perfect time in our lives to explore the opportunities that the world provides. Promoting innovation and creativity will only better society because it will influence people to succeed and go their own path.


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Matt Lauer’s Ongoing Controversy

Matt Lauer, former cohost of NBC's Today show, has really never left the news at all. In 2017, he was fired from the network for inappropriate sexual behavior and his wrongful actions are still occurring today.

Image retrieved from Hollywood Reporter.

In October 2019, a new book will be released  called, “Catch and Kill” that explicitly explains the sexual encounters between Lauer and an NBC employee. The details are beyond crude. Interestingly enough, former co-host, Katie Couric, has started writing a book about Lauer and the scandal as well. One source said the book will “paralyze him with fear.”

Lauer is reportedly hiding away from the public eye at his home in The Hamptons. His home reports to be on the market for $44 million. He purchased the 6+ acre compound with 12 bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, two guest houses, pool, and waterfront from Richard Gere.

Aside from his luxury mansion, at one point in time Lauer said it was his ‘full time job’ to make things right. So what is he spending his time doing while he’s hiding away in this luxurious home? Dating a blonde in her 20's. It’s truly a mystery if Lauer will ever make his ‘full time job’ a reality.

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The Evolution of Instagram

One of the world's most popular social media platforms, Instagram, has gone from a photo-sharing site to a company estimated to be worth more than $100 billion.

Image retrieved from The Outline.

After checking out the Evolution of Technology Timeline in Cottrell in my Media Law class, I decided to do my section of the technology group project on the Instagram app.

Instagram was invented by Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger in 2010 as a photo and video-sharing social networking device and it is now owned by Facebook Inc. The app allows users to upload their own photos and videos and use various filters, hashtags, and location information on every post.

The first photo posted on the app was of South Beach Harbor at Pier 38 on July 16, 2010 by Mike Krieger. Just a few months later, the app launched in the app store on October 6, 2010 for all iOS devices and expanded to Android phones in 2012.

By posting content on an Instagram profile, it adds to the user's personal feed and they are able to interact with others by liking and commenting on other posts. Other users can consist of people they follow and people they don't follow through the "Explore" page. Anyone can change their privacy settings to be either on public or private, so not everyone can see every post any user makes if they do not wish.

Since the app has hit the app store, it has added features such as Instagram stories, IGTV, and Instagram Direct. With these added features, it has only expanded Instagram's outreach and success.

Today, the company is expected to be worth over $100 billion and with the app's audience being mostly younger users, the company can only get bigger and better.


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We Live in a Mad World

We live in a world centered around technology, wondering what the newest gadget is on the market, how we can get it, who else has it, etc. Although the advancement of technology has improved communication and media outlets, it has significantly deteriorated people's well-being.

Image retrieved from YouTube.

After watching the "Mad World Remix of Moby" video, it is evident that today's world is no longer viewed from the surface, but through posts and interactions on a screen. In the video, the main character is surrounded by people looking at their phones. He gets trampled over, is constantly ignored, and looks very upset that no one is paying attention to him.

The video demonstrates various trends within the media. The selfie, texting, people taking pictures of their food, and a demonstration of the popular dating app "Tinder." Other than the popular trends, the video shows a darker side to the media. One of the shots was of an unhealthy looking girl suddenly looking beautiful and healthy online and another was a woman getting injections to portray herself as someone that she's not to impress others. These shots portray a self image issue that is happening to many young girls in today's social media craze. Many people feel like they need to look a certain way to be well-liked by society or to get the most likes on social media. However, this is causing people, especially young girls, to be very self deprecating and reliant on their peers' opinions to feel wanted instead of having the self confidence to feel wanted by themselves.

Another issue this video highlights is cyberbullying. For example, the shot of the girl dancing that was posted all over social media. People were making fun of her and the harassment pushed herself to take her own life. This shows just how damaging the media can be. If someone is willing to end their life over comments made by others through the Internet, it proves how toxic technology and social media are.

Everyone is constantly behind their screens instead of paying attention to what is going on right in front of them. It is depressing to watch other's put themselves down due to the media and I hope we can all come to an agreement that technology is only good to a certain extent. We get so caught up with our own images and competing against one another that we fail to notice that the world is slowly turning into black and white.


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Deadly Drone Strike in Afghanistan Lead From False Promises

In early September, a U.S. drone struck a pine nut harvesting area in Afghanistan, killing 30 civilians and injuring 40 others after a letter was sent guaranteeing the people that their toughest laboring season would improve.

Image retrieved from Reuters.

Right before the pine-nut harvest season started in Afghanistan, the governor of the country's eastern Nangarhar province received a letter guaranteeing the people that they were going to recruit 200 laborers and children to help them pluck the dry fruit during the harvest. This letter came from villagers in the Wazir Tangi area and the purpose of it was to help protect the laborers from getting caught in between U.S.-backed Afghan forces and Islamic State fighters controlled by the jihadists.

Hours after the laborers worked in the fields, a drone struck the site, ruining their days of work and killing and injuring plenty of civilians. This violence shocked the locals because of how confident they were in the promises proposed by the letter. They participated in protests, carrying dead bodies to the provincial capital, Jalalabad, the day following the attack in hopes of the U.S. regretting their actions.

Although this drone strike destroyed harvesting and killed innocent lives, that was not the initial intention of the strike by the United States. The U.S. had the intention of destroying the hideouts of Islamic State fighters, not ruining pine-nut harvesting season.

This attack has not only increased the number of civilian casualties in Afghanistan, but has only added to the number of air strikes that the country has suffered from in the past, according to the U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.


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