Blog 5: Mad World

This video is a re-edit of the music video titled "Are You Lost In The World Like Me" with the song "Mad World" by Michael Andrews and Gary Jules. While the original felt like a mix between an old-fashioned black-and-white cartoon mixed with an energetic anime-esque theme song featuring caricatures of today's cell phone users, the remix casts a far more depressing tone over the video. The video revolves around a child who is surrounded by several different crowds of people in different environments such as subway trains and a city. These people are staring at their cell phones with wide eyes every second that they are on screen. Several instances of cell phone use are showed, such as people staring at them in a restaurant while several animals are about to be slaughtered, presumably the same child's parents allowing him to wander off because they were checking their phones right after his birth, as well as several people recording a girl committing suicide while the child watches in terror. Lastly, the video shows everyone staring at their phones while slowly walking off to their deaths.

While this video is clearly an exaggeration of the real world today, there is some cold truth in it. Everyone is spending too much time on their cell phones while they should be focusing on the real world. There are several times in the video where the child tries to get the people's attention yet he simply cannot because they are so immersed in their cell phones. And there are certain situations in which people really do not need to be on their cell phones as well as situations in which it is absolutely unacceptable to pull out a cell phone. With the popularity of social media and the constant obsession over new content, this animation really shows how social media is harming our ability to interact with others and ultimately, our lives.

Blog 4: The Implications of Cell Phone Interactions

Article link: https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/edward-snowden-kamila-bendova-surveillance-state/

Continuing with the topic of antitrust investigations on social media, Edward Snowden has recently released a new memoir known as Permanent Record. In the past, Snowden has leaked confidential information from the National Security Agency. In this memoir he discusses STELLARWIND, a program that is designed to collect every existing piece of electronic communication and permanently store it all. So in other words, every bit of personal information that has ever been put on a device is available to the NSA: your name, your address, every location you have visited, and everyone you have texted. One thing Snowden points out is that there is no agreement the cell phone user signs for how much information is shared. He states the following:

“Your devices are constantly communicating for you whether you want them to or not. And, unlike the humans you communicate with of your own volition, your devices don’t withhold private information or use code words in an attempt to be discreet. They merely ping the nearest cell phone towers with signals that never lie.”

This quote explains that we have no control over what is sent to the government. Any data that is on our phones or sent to other people’s phones will be sent to the cell phone towers and certain people will in fact have access to this information. And that is the worst part; people who have detailed, personal conversations over text are essentially being stalked by the government. So everything you have ever done electronically is visible. While people think that openness is good for the US citizens and government since the citizens are innocent, anything the citizens have ever said online can be accessed by the government. And if that is the case, does America have any sort of online privacy at all?

Blog 3: Antitrust Investigation

As Americans, we are in an age that is defined by the developments in social media. Over the past couple of decades, the internet has seen the emergence of Google, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and more media that stores our information. As Dr. Smith emphasized in class, these media advertise the idea of building a strong community, Facebook especially. Facebook does more than create a community- it is paid to sell your personal information. This creates a lot of suspicion in the users and they are thus hesitant to post too much. Letitia James, the New York Attorney General, assembled a multi-state coalition of Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, and Tennessee “to determine whether Facebook’s actions may have endangered consumer data, reduced the quality of consumers’ choices, or increased the price of advertising” (Fung). All of these states are participating in this antitrust investigation towards not only Facebook but also Google.

The article states that there will be several court cases against several people to see whether or not Facebook uses this information with harmful intent. In addition, the article mentions Jeff Landry, Louisiana’s Attorney General who believes Google is dominating online advertising because it is inefficient to advertise on any other platforms. This is interesting because if somebody searches Google for something, that thing will come up on an advertisement 5 minutes later on a different website, so Google definitely keeps track of the user’s information. This is a somewhat disturbing concept to consider seeing how reliant our culture is on social media and the internet. People post on social media and use Google every day. Thankfully Facebook is not used as much as Instagram for example but still, what the user puts in is what the company makes its money off of. Facebook is disrupting our privacy and raises the following question: Do Instagram and Snapchat sell our information too, and if so, does this also apply to private accounts? Surely users cannot access these without a follow request but can the owners? And what becomes of the personal information that is sold? These are all complicated questions that show how careful people need to be when they post on social media, as there has to be a balance between being inoffensive and also being sure not to post too much personal information.

Link to article: https://www.cnn.com/2019/09/06/tech/facebook-antitrust-investigation/index.html

Blog 2: History and Function of the Supreme Court

In the year 1789, the Supreme Court was created. This branch of government was created to safeguard liberty, preserve the union, and uphold the rule of law. It determines the boundaries between the president, congress, and the states. In 1801 when the US government moved to Washington, the Supreme Court was held in the unfinished capitol. Chief justices were given the greatest judicial powers and when the new court was made, John Marshal established it as a well-respected form of government. One mistake made, however, was the Dred Scott Decision in 1857 which gave western territories the right to own slaves. This was the court's greatest self-inflicted wound so they amended it after the Civil War with the concept of due process- the idea that people cannot be thrown in jail without a fair trial- in the 14th Amendment. The "We the people" mentioned in the Constitution, therefore, applies to everyone who lives within America.

The fascinating thing about the Constitution is that it gave advice and certain truths that are still relevant to the problems that the Court deals with almost 200 years later. Every year, the Supreme Court deals with 1,000 different petitions and 7,000 new cases. 9 justices consider these, whether it involves defending a wrongly convicted prisoner or defending the president's power. The oral argument that follows is essentially the court having a conversation with itself through the attorney and talking to 9 different justices about a case can be overwhelming as there are at least 4 different trains of thought being juggled through. A few days after this argument, the justices meet in a conference room and reach a decision for the case, which the law clerks explain legal reasons for doing. Reporters find out about these soon and briefly explain the new decisions. Opinions are later sent to all 9 justices and amendments might be made along the way. Thus, the law is maintained in America.

Blog 1: How Social Media Undermines Careers

A few years ago, if people performed well at their jobs and had good résumés, they would realistically be allowed to keep their careers. However, social media has become more dominant in our culture than ever with the likes of Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. Because of this, people online can dig up offensive posts from the past. For example, James Gunn who directs Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, had his past offensive tweets uncovered and was fired at one point from finishing his story in the third film. Reading Howard Kurtz's article on Fox News illustrated another side to this problem: not necessarily using old tweets to decide whether or not someone is fit for a job, but instead using it towards writers and journalists who are always tackling these uncomfortable issues.

Politically speaking, Trump supporters have been using these sorts of tweets to call out the reporters who might be criticizing Trump. One editor, Tom Wright-Piersanti, was called out for blatantly anti-semitic tweets, but the article pointed out that he had apologized a decade ago yet he was still being thrown under the bus for it. These Republicans are bringing attention to past tweets which were put out by the journalist for public consumption, yet these are the same standards the president is held to. The New York Times explained in response that it is acceptable for people to look for this sort of information to see whether a President is fit for his position but it is not acceptable for people to do this as any sort of retribution for previous criticism. Overall, the problem with these Republicans is that they are harassing these reporters who are handling uncomfortable truths about our government and thus, are stifling the freedom of the press. This article also is a good illustration that the media has the ability to remove people from their jobs, so it is important to monitor what type of content gets uploaded.

Article link:https://www.foxnews.com/media/paper-says-past-tweets-should-be-used-against-politicos-but-not-journalists