Our Relationship with Technology

        With technology influencing more and more of our everyday lives it can be good to think about our relationship with it. During my lifetime alone my phone has gone from something I would use to call my parents to something I could use to send emails, interact with hundreds of people, order at fast-food restaurants, and even start a small business. After all the U.S. did get to the moon with less advanced technology than what today's average phone contains. At this point, it is almost impossible to ignore our relationship with technology and for most people my age, they probably interact with their phone more than any other real relationship they may have with a friend, significant other, or parent. So, what are the implications of our relationship with technology sometimes being our strongest one?
         
        One major consequence of technology frequently being talked about today is the effects of social media. One important thing to note right off the bat is that 77% of all Americans own some form of social media proving that this is a nationwide concern. Melissa G. Hunt, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, did a study on the effects of social media on mental health and got some shocking results. She found that no matter their baseline results, the group that cut down their normal social media usage all became happier in terms of self-esteem, loneliness, anxiety, and more by the end of the trial. They also found the more depressed the person was at the beginning of the trail, the bigger the difference in the change of their mood by the end.
           
  I believe the reason why social media causes depression in people is due to social comparison. Social media was designed so that people could post all the fun things they are up to. Over time, people have begun to take social media more seriously and this is the problem. Everybody only wants to post what makes them look good. So everyone posts their best outfits, memories, pictures, etc. As a result of this, users are constantly on social media comparing themselves to the "perfect lives" of other people. When in reality, all the negative aspects of the user's life are just kept from the social media spotlight. I think this sees the snowball effect as people suffering from social media-induced depression feel obligated to "fight back" and try to build up their online persona as well. In-time, everyone is posting to make themselves look as perfect as possible and no one stops to realize how lonely and isolated we have become substituting real-life experiences with online interaction.

The Illusory Truth Effect: What's really real? (EOTO2)

              Initially mentioned in a paper titled "Frequency and Conference of Referential Validity", the Illusory Truth Effect was first described as a phenomenon by Lynn Hasher, David Goldstein, and Thomas Toppino. In short, it describes the process by which people become more inclined to believe something the more it is repeated to them. Scientifically this is due to the human brain searching for shortcuts. As the brain takes up 20% of a person's energy, it views thinking as hard work and looks for ways to make the process easier. Facts or statements that we have already heard are familiar to our brains and therefore easier to process. That is basically it. Since our brains can process that idea easier than a different one we feel more comfortable with it and tend to prefer it. As a result, the more often we hear something, the more likely we are to believe it. 
               While the Illusory Effect may just seem like a cool bit of information to know, it also has some serious societal consequences, and the evidence of it is everywhere. For instance how many people across this country believe the statement "humans only use 10% of their brain"? While this is almost a virtually agreed-upon statement there has never been actual proof of it being true. While movies like "Lucy" have been based around this concept, scientists including Einstien have come out and said its completely false. Barry Gordan at John Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore was even quoted saying "Though an alluring idea, the "10% myth" is so wrong it is almost laughable". This is where the conflict begins with the Illusory Truth Effect, something false can be widely agreed on without the evidence of proof. 
                This could possibly lead to a huge disconnect between the truth and what society believes. This could even be the cause of the "fake news" phenomenon we are seeing right now. With traditional forms of media being pushed away by social media, there is more information out there for people to find than ever before. With the creation of social media, it is also possible for anyone to be posting any information they want. As a result of this more and more false information or "fake news" is invading people's brains and tricking them. While fake news may not be true, or even backed with evidence, because of the Illusory Truth Effect if it is repeated enough people are going to start believing it. With social media growing faster than ever before and the new generation looking to it for all of their information we must all be careful because, in time, we may not know what is true at all. 

The Tracking of Humans

             Now more than ever humans are under a constant eye of surveillance. While it may not seem like it, the harsh reality is that your local police and even the federal government have a considerable amount of data on what you have been up to. This was made possible through the use of two new technologies. First, we have license plate trackers. These can be found on cop cars, on telephone poles, and just about anywhere else. These cameras spot, photograph, and log every time they see your car. This means that basically everywhere you drive, the police can pinpoint your location. Furthermore, police can also use cellphone towers to find you as well. By cross-referencing how far away you are from each cell phone tower your phone is near, they are able to track your location.

         While this may not seem like a big deal, it really is. The important thing to understand is that the police are not deleting this information. As storing data has become cheaper police are no longer forced to delete non-relevant data. So, they are not just keeping data about criminals and their activity, they are keeping data about everyone “just in case”.

             The scary thing is, you have no idea what information they have about you, or how an officer of the law may use it. For example, let us say you are a recovered alcoholic with no history of crimes. As a result of this, you attend AA meetings weekly just to keep up with your sobriety. In this hypothetical scenario, the local cops have taken notice of this and are keeping an extra eye on you. When you drive at night, you frequently get pulled over because cops are in suspicion of you drinking and driving. It could even be worse. Let us say you are a Muslim in a predominantly Christian town. All it takes is one racist cop to notice you attend a mosque every week and you could be getting harrassed every time you leave your house. This is the problem with government agencies owning data like this. While the information may not be incriminating, who knows what the people in control will use it for.

My Online Presence

It is hard to really tell how big of an online footprint I have. Yes, you could look at the number of social media accounts I own, the number of things I have posted, even the number of followers I have, but what's hard to understand is how connected we as a society are online. It seems like every day the virtual world becomes more and more realistic. But at what cost? Is the real world getting more virtual? There are so many things people can do online I never would have thought possible. I remember as a kid reading about the possibility of phones that had video too. That way you could talk to someone and show them what you were doing at the same time. Back then that sounded way to futuristic to me. Yet now, teachers are giving lectures online and writing notes for a classroom of students across the country, just another experience I thought was only possible in the real world.

So, when thinking about my online presence I could think about my immediate footprint like my followers and posts, but it is too hard to ignore the possibility of its growth. Like many kids my age, I could one day post something that goes "viral". In days, even hours I could go from being interacted with by just my friends online to thousands of strangers. Suddenly everything I post could be liked by thousands, seen by millions, yet I would never even have to leave my house to be "famous". Although, in my opinion, that type of fame, the one that stems from virtual interactions and is void of any depth is the loneliest type there is. I cannot claim to know where social media is going and how the future will look in the virtual sphere, but I know one thing is for sure. We as humans need real interaction, real experiences to make us happy, and if somehow we forget that as a society a lot of people are going to end up hurt.

The Innovation of Snapchat

Since its creation in 2011 Snapchat has become one of the largest powerhouses in social media. Just about every single person I know with any type of smartphone has downloaded the app and is a frequent user. In the beginning, this social media platform only allowed one to one conversations via pictures. Since then, it has developed filters, the ability to edit photos, memories, stories, direct messaging, group messaging, and many more features fueling its success. Although with platforms like Instagram and Facebook who have since adopted almost all of those features why is it still so popular?

I believe one of the innovations of Snapchat lies within its lack of formality. While Instagram and many other platforms have slowly become more "professional" Snapchat has kept it casual. Where Instagram has created the ability to let people have business accounts, advertise, and self promote, Snapchat has not. This has lead people to care too much about what they post on Instagram. Snapchat on the other hand, still allows people to connect with their friends and post what they want without feeling too pressured to be so formal.

Another reason Snapchat may be so popular for people trying to communicate with their friends is because it is essentially another take on texting. Every feature iMessage (the iPhone texting platform) offers is also offered through Snapchat yet in a more user-friendly and interesting way.  Instead of just texting Snapchat gives you the option of texting or sending pictures. While Apple also offers the ability to send photos, Snapchats are not saved and disappear after being sent allowing for less clutter and more motivation to send them. Furthermore, Snapchat also offers features identical to the iPhone's Facetime, calling, and camera roll in a more favorable way. For instance, while a camera roll on an iPhone may be lost due to a broken phone Snapchat memories are linked to an account and safe forever. In conclusion, while Snapchat may not offer any features unique to just their platform, they have developed their features in a more enjoyable way leading to their great success.
https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/history-of-snapchat

Innovation as a Product of Free Speech

One of our country's greatest early successes was the establishment of the right to free speech. As a result of this citizens in our country were free to engage in any topic of conversation worry-free that they may be punished by their opinion so long as it did not aim to harm another individual. There are several obvious benefits to this policy including the ability to speak out against governmental tyranny and personal comfort knowing it is allowed to stick up for oneself. Although, one huge benefit that may not be as evident as the others is free speech's role in innovation.

To innovate is defined as to "make changes in something established, especially by introducing new methods, ideas, or products. To watch a short video describing the definition and importance of innovations click here. Essentially, innovation is the process by which we improve something through new technology or procedure. When promoting a community of high innovation, creativity must be valued. In order for creativity to be valued, it is important for the members of the community to be comfortable when expressing their new ideas. That is why a community of freely speaking people is more likely to be efficient. 

I imagine a world without free speech as a world slow to innovation. While many do not realize it, the citizens of the United States are blessed to witness and collaborate on our country's growing innovation and technology. Throughout history and even today, there have been several nations not allowing the average citizen's involvement in their country's innovation. Like current North Korea, the people living there have no idea of the new technology being made by their government. Their government fears being overthrown and as a result, they create all of the new inventions that benefit their nation. While it may seem unfortunate that their people are robbed of the excitement that stems from the process of innovation, there are other more serious negative repercussions as a result of the lack of free speech there.

All influential products, methods, or technology are the direct result of an idea. Although, ideas do not stand alone as the only thing that drives innovation. It is the acts of sharing ideas, building on top of other ideas, revising, then rediscussing ideas. In short, while ideas may be the birthplace of all great innovation, open communication is the channel by which an idea becomes innovation. So, while many people see free speech as a benefit to only the individual, think about the technology around us and how little of it we would have if its inventors were unable to collaborate. Think about the fact that the United States is one of the most economically competitive countries in the world and also the biggest supporter of free speech because, to me, that does not sound like much of a coincidence. 

Google: In terms of its History and Impact (EOTO1)

Today, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin boast a highly impressive net worth of at least 53 million dollars apiece. This may not come to a surprise to most as these two began one of the most successful and widely recognized companies in the modern era. Holding a current market value of 858$ billion dollars and averaging 3-4 searches per person, per day (in terms of the world population) they are a hard company to ignore. Although, while it may be challenging to look past their current success, similar to most successful companies they stem from quite the humble beginning.

Page and Brin began the powerhouse known today as Google out of their dorm rooms at Stanford University. By maxing out their credit cards and using discounted computer parts they were able to engineer a computer program they named BackRub. This program utilized a data collection system known as PageRank which backtracked links to determine the importance of a page. A few years later the hype of Backrub had officially spread from the academic world into the investors of Silicon Valley. In August of 1998, Andy Bechtolsheim wrote Page and Brin a check of 100,000 dollars and simultaneously the pair decided to change the name of their newly incorporated company. It was here Google Inc. was born and set off with the mission to “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

Since then, Google has effectively branched out into several different aspects of the internet, finding success in many different places. For starters, Gmail, the email server created by Google in 2005, is the most popular email server in the world, serving more than 1.5 billion active users. Chrome, Google’s signature web browser, has been installed more than 5 billion times. Youtube, a video search engine created by Google, has over 1 billion videos watched on it a day and is the second-largest search engine in the world (behind Google of course). Finally, Android (launched in 2007) controls around 85% of the mobile operating system market and is the system used on almost every phone not owned by Apple.

As a result of this success, Google has revolutionized the way we see online advertising. This is because of two crucial factors. Due to the massive amount of reach they have into many different areas of the internet, Google is able to track more personal information about consumers than anyone else on the internet. In addition to that, they hold such a popular search engine that everyone wants to use it, and in turn, it becomes the most sought-after place for companies to advertise. Combining these two factors Google is able to place certain advertisements in the place they are most likely to be bought. This leads to Google not only charging large amounts of money for companies to show up at the top of their search results but also Google making high revenue as a percent of sales from these companies. In conclusion, Google effectively plays both sides of the fence controlling the data being used as insight and the location for which the ads are being placed.