My Online Presence

As a young person in our society, naturally, I am a very connected person. I have lots of social media accounts/apps, friends on facebook, followers on instagram, and connections on Linkedin. I honestly probably have a massive online footprint, as I'm very active on social media, because I talk to a lot of people and I love commenting on my friend's posts to hype them up. I was interested in learning more about my online footprint, and I found this site that offers modules and education on your footprint, and how to reduce it. Although I do a lot online, I do not necessarily have a "personal" website which I periodically update or anything. The closest I have to that is this class blog.

I am an adamant user of Snapchat, Instagram, Linkedin, and occasionally Facebook, but these days only to keep up with Sorority information. What I post on these sites varies. On facebook, I rarely ever post or like things, it's just a died out thing for me besides a way to keep up with information from friends and family. On snapchat, I post about my day and maintain bonds with my close friends, and on instagram, I post events in my life and pictures I take of myself, places I go, or pics with friends to share with my followers. If someone were to visit my instagram page without knowing anything about me, they'd learn my name, what I look like, my majors, and links to articles I have written. They would also see that I have traveled a lot, that I am a member of Kappa Delta, and have access to other people's pages from those that I follow, and those that I tag in my posts.

3.28 Social Media and the Diffusion of Innovation

Social Media, predominantly Snapchat and Instagram, is a driving force in the world of Millennial's and Gen Z, or people born from about 1985 to 2010. The youth and future of the world have taken to these applications because of its immediacy, the content it offers, the realness of it, as well as the fact that it is an outlet for people to express themselves and let people who they cannot see everyday in their lives.

While facebook has fizzled out in regards to popularity among the younger generations, Snapchat and Instagram have thrived. Instagram allows its users to post pictures of whatever they please to express their interests, connect with others, and follow other accounts that cater to their interests, such as news outlets, clothing brands, "meme" pages, friends, etc. Snapachat offers real time communication, via sending "snaps", or quick selfies of yourself or a picture of whatever it is you want, with a caption written on the picture, or by the newer addition of texts. Snapchat partners with Bitmoji, a program which allows users to create their own avatar, which provides stickers you can use in your snaps or to send to friends. Your bitmoji is also used to show your location, if you choose, on "snapmap", which gives people access to know where their friends are, and to click around the map to see popular events that are going on that people have willingly posted about on a more public form, rather than just delivering the information to just their friends on the app.

                     


Instagram and Snapchat have their pros and cons, however. Regarding IG, unless your page is private and people must request to follow you, your page is totally open for anyone to view. Anyone at all can also send you direct messages, which can be clickbait or scams. If you do not follow the person, however, you may decline access to the message for security purposes. For snapchat, due to snap maps, anyone can see where you are, which can make people rather uncomfortable, but only if you choose to. Snapchat also is a limited app timewise. If you post on your "story", it is only available for 24 hours, then gone forever unless you save your snap to your camera roll.

Christchurch and the Press

On March 15th, 2019, a gunman opened fire on worshipers in a New Zealand Mosque, killing 49 on site. Adding yet another mass shooting to a seemingly never-ending list, the press covers the Christchurch Mosque shooting. The press treats this situation similarly to others, yet there is one big difference.

After years of giving the shooter the undeserved fame of having his face plastered across early morning television shows while glossy eyed news observers reel in details of facial features, the sometimes small smirk of satisfaction mass shooters wear after their deed is done, eyes that lack a soul, the amount of melanin in their skin which ultimately dictates the backlash we will see, imagining the now wiped away marks of blood of innocence that coated his weak, ill, and radical self. His name rings through our brains, Nikolas Cruz, Dylann Roof, Eric Harris, Dylan Klebold, and hes all we talk about throughout the day.

This shooting, we saw something different of the media. I can't tell you what the name of the Christchurch shooter is. I cannot tell you what race he is. I cannot tell you what religion he is. For once, the press didn't release his name or his face on a broad audience. This is a step in the right direction, because when mass shooters overwhelm our news and social medias and occupy our minds, we open the door for new mass shooters to plot and take action, while we continue to shed less and less tears, and send out our thoughts and prayers, while victims are crying out silent, unheard wails of policy and change.

8 Values of Free Expression

On the list of the 8 values of Free Expression, my group and I came to the conclusion that the 2 values that hold the most importance is Individual Self Fulfillment and Checking on Governmental Power. These 2 were held to the top 2 of our own personal values because of our views on the government and our career choice.

As people who want to work in the communications field, having the value of Individual Self Fulfillment, or being an individual in a society with free speech and using that free speech, in the right ways, is crucial for our career paths. As someone who is a Journalism and an International Relations major, examining our government and realizing the freedoms we have that other countries that I may be placed in don't creates a special feeling of a need to not abuse, but use my freedom of speech to the fullest, to convey messages for the voiceless.

Checking on governmental power is something that more Americans should be doing. In recent time, we have been more vocal about our satisfaction, but more dissatisfaction, with our current administration and the way situations are being handled in these current times. By using individual self fulfillment to have power over our government, the people can be leaders and forerunners in creating a bigger, better, more prosperous, and inclusive tomorrow.

One of the values on this list that I value in my heart deeply is tolerance. We were discussing in class how the use of the derogatory word for people of color has become more taboo to say. I do agree that it is said muuuuuch less frequently, and that makes me incredibly happy. However, at our very white majority institution, I literally hear racial slurs such as this one dropped on the daily by non people of color. Just because it's a social standard to not say things, that doesn't mean people will care of these standards or the facts behind why terms are so awful, and would rather keep saying things that they don't even realize are offensive and express deep racism and intolerance, purely because it gives them attention, good or bad, or because they truly just don't have any regard for anyone else, especially minorities. If we want to promote tolerance, something needs to change from within our souls, which unfortunately is something that I don't see many people adapting to.

iPhone Tracking and Stats

If you have an iPhone, your iPhone is actually tracking your usage and what you send, and how often you do anything. I never realized this until the iOS 12 system update,where a new widget was created that tells you your total screen time.

Twitter Talk: The Trump Administration and Social Media

It's no secret to anyone with any social media account, whether it be facebook, snapchat, instagram, tumblr, or twitter itself, President Donald Trump is no stranger to spitting sharp and tedious words on the daily on Twitter. As soon as Trump hits tweet, he grabs America's attention; likes and retweets spam his account, the comments start flooding in, things are screenshotted and shared on various social media platforms, and everyone pays attention. One tweet that has recently grabbed my attention is this:

                                        
President Trump has a winning reputation of latching onto sayings that are either a) offensive b) inaccurate, or c) unpresidential, and keeping with them, such as "drain the swamp" "lock her up" or calling a senator "Pocahontas".

Should Journalism be Involved in EVERYTHING?

Whether most people comprehend or know it, journalism is all around us. From news covering people's twitter and facebook feed to reading a newspaper on your commute into work to teens clicking on the discover tab Snapchat offers, we are being constant media consumers. This also means we have news more instantaneously. Within a few minutes of a major event happening, articles are published on major media outlets and are spread like wildfire. Whether it is a celebrity death or a shooting, we know almost immediately. This need and accessibility of information so rapidly has the potential to harm, however, in addition of benefiting us, specifically when talking about the negative or devestating news. 

February 14th, 2018. 

Nikolas Cruz, 19, opened fire in Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. This incident killed 17 people, including students and faculty. In almost every single article I look at that covers this mass shooting, whether it be from NBC or CBS, almost every article states Nikolas Cruz's name before the victims names, if they even get around to mentioning them. Yes, it is important to know who did it. However, this constant attention has the potential to do more harm than it does help. By having everyone know Nikolas Cruz's name, he's become a minor celebrity, essentially. Not in a good way, but press is press and press can be turned if one is wise enough. 

This constant attention is sometimes what troubled minds, such as Nikolas Cruz, needs. For at least a month, I remember hearing his name everyday. When the surviving students arranged the March for Our Lives, his name spun back into the media attention. This essentially means he will be remembered for many years to come. In just a short few weeks, we will be at the 1 year anniversary of this shooting. Nikolas Cruz's name will be headlining major media outlets. Lets hope this doesnt encourage other young troubled minds to walk down the same path he did.