My Online Prescence

     I feel like overall I have a normal or medium sized online footprint. I have only recently gotten social media, and I don't have any personal websites besides my blogger account. The Social Media sites that I have are Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and Tok Tok. I have given them my first and last name, birthday, phone number, email, and then I have HPU 24' in my bio on instagram. But those are usually the basic requirements for every website when you are making an account. Visitors could see that I am a freshmen in college at HPU, and that I graduated from CDS high school. They also can look up my name on google and see my football highlights and stats from high school which are all still there, as well as from golf, and cross country. However, with other sites I have put even more sensitive information such, as my debit card for online shopping with home address and signature, and even my social security number for online brockerage firm for investing in the stock market. However I do trust my SSN with that company, but thinking back at it, there are probably some websites that I have purchased things off of that have my debit card that are fine, but probably down have the safest website to protect my data. Overall, I do think social media could make people lonely as it paints a fake and unrealistic picture for how others around you live their life. This constant view of other people's seemingly perfect lives can make people feel lonely or feel like they are doing something wrong which is not true or accurate. I think that a lot of people treat their online and social media life like their real life more than their actual real life. That kind of lifestyle and mentality is not healthy though, people are getting too sucked into the digital world, and should focus on the real world. I need to work on this too, I'll admit that I fall under this category of becoming too invested in the online world, however I do think I'm getting better at it. Recently, I have stopped using Snapchat as much, and only look at Instagram for more sports news and highlights. However, I would like to limit my online presence. I do think that one main problem is unnecessary or useless applications. For example, on Snapchat there is things called "streaks" where it is how many days in a row that you have sent a picture or "snap" to another person. However, these are pointless because it's just people, sometimes not even friends, just sending pictures back and forth to keep a number or streak without any conversation or purpose. However, I have noticed that people more my age have realized this, and are stopping this trend, as I believe it is one of more pointless and useless trends on social media. I would say that I have been rather careful putting sensitive information on any social media, I don't put anything on any social media or online that I wouldn't want future employers or people to see. Social media is a real addiction in our society, and I would honestly say that I fall under that, as I don't go a day without looking at some type of social media, I think last year I was really addicted, but as I've gotten a little older and learned more, I have gotten better about my overall usage. I also feel like with regards to the videos that one about the dark side of ones online presence is more accurate, as I have become very surprised at what companies do with certain information, and how much of our information online is not as safe or as hidden as we think it is. Having even just gone through this course, I know a lot more about online privacy, and I had never really thought about my online presence or the information that I was putting on the internet. I am now going to be a lot more careful and aware of all of this information. 

https://www.instagram.com

Instagram: lukeardizzone14

https://www.facebook.com

Online Privacy

     Online privacy has become a big thing in our society. It has become a much more popular topic with instances like Facebook's data mining scandal. This has been a big issue as of recent with Adhesion contracts, Data mining, terms and conditions, and many other things that are involved with our phones apps, and big companies. Its kind of scary having watched one of those ted talks of how much your information stays on the internet, and that even if you think your information has been erased, deleted, or removed, it is still there like a "digital tattoo". Its also pretty scary to see how much detail about you can be tracked, like how much detail the police go into about and with your personal information, and how they know way more then you think they know. Its also very scary to see things like "Revenge porn" or "digital domestic violence" where an ex-partner can use photos and messages form ur relationship to humiliate you or blackmail you. In our society we should aim to move towards more privacy focused initiatives and be careful and aware of our online presence and privacy as it is constantly being violated. Every time we put in our face or our thumbprint into our phone, that just gives the government records, DNA, and information on it. Every time we roll past those terms and conditions without reading and just press accept, we give those companies an opportunity to use our data in a way that we probably wouldn't want otherwise. Overall, it is important to monitor and pay attention to your online privacy presence. 

https://embed.ted.com/talks/juan_enriquez_how_to_think_about_digital_tattoos

https://hls.ted.com/talks/2149.m3u8?preroll=newshortintro_053119&qr

https://embed.ted.com/talks/christopher_soghoian_a_brief_history_of_phone_wiretapping_and_how_to_avoid_it

https://embed.ted.com/talks/darieth_chisolm_let_s_call_revenge_porn_what_it_is_digital_domestic_violence

Diffusion Theory, and the Social Media spectrum

     Social Media is becoming a vastly large part of our society. Many people in America or around the world usually use at least one source of social media, whether that be Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok, Twitter, Snapchat, etc. . Some people were quick to adopt the new trend of social media while were a little late or decided to stay off social media altogether. I think it predominantly has to do with the generation, as well as peoples values and thought process. For example, with my generation, you rarely see someone in high school or college without any social media, and this is predominately because social media is our primary source of communication and entertainment. This also is dependent on the platform, as college and high school students are more likely to use snapchat than adults, as this is one of our primary forms of communication with eachother. I think that some people were late adopters primarily because they either didn't know how to use it, or were hesitant to get on social media. While the people who don't use social media at all I think don't use it because of perfectly warranted privacy concerns, or just don't like social media and seeing constant flow of pictures and media, and just like to lay low on the grid. Age does have a big play in this, as most adults stick to Facebook and Twitter as Facebook is an older platform that has been around longer, and many adults used it when it first came out, and twitter is more discussions and news. Overall I think that there is a lot of factors that go into why certain people do or don't use social media, it primarily has to do with age, values, and lifestyle, and people use certain social media accordingly or don't use it at all. This article below actually gives an interesting perspective to what type of social media users their are out there, and categorizes it into certain groups. For the most part I think it is accurate, and is interesting to see. 

https://topdogsocialmedia.com/10-types-of-social-media-users/

Vertical Integration

     Vertical Integration is when a Media corporation or company owns different businesses and companies that are all in the same chain of production and distribution. Every prominent tv production or streaming service you see today is all a chain of production, owned and produced by a much larger corporation. Ultimately, almost all of media is owner and run through 6 large corporations: Comcast, Newscorp, Disney, Viacom, Warner Bros, and CBS. In fact, these “companies control a staggering 90% of what we read, watch or listen to” (mattdgp). 

    “When a company expands its business into areas that are at different points on the same production path” (AS Media), such as when a manufacturer owns its supplier and/or distributor they control the market for that thing. “Vertical integration can help companies reduce costs and improve efficiency by decreasing transportation expenses and reducing turnaround time, among other advantages” (AS Media) such as companies not having to rely on suppliers, which ultimately reduces costs. It also leads to a boost in the economoy, however this results in more expensive and less cost efficient things for the consumer, because companies can run up and make prices in media however they want. With streaming services, they can just increase the cost per month whenever they want, and force people to either leav or pay more. A lot of times they own other streaming services though, whoch can make things bad/complicated for the consumer.  

    One of the more prominent examples of Vertical Integration in television is 20^th Century fox which produces its own tv shows and movies, but also has its own subdivion of channels, such as: FX, FXM, and FXX which are affiliated by the Fox Broadcasting channel. Another good example is Warner Bros. who owns Time Warner who has subdivisions through it such as HBO and the CW, and the rights to DC.

    One way that these big companies benefit from it, especially with today’s streaming services is the moving of movie productions to an individual service, that is ultimately owned by the same corporation. Especially recently, many companies are pulling tv shows and movies of Netflix and are using it to start their own or adding it to their own streaming services. This allows companies to charge consumers more money to buy a another streaming service to watch a program that was previously available on a different platform.

    This has a bigger impact than just streaming services too, for example, if Disney were to have a scandle or something of the sorts, or a big hit or production. They control the news coverage of ABC since it is a chain and production owned by Disney. This can be dangerous, as bigger coprorations like this can censor the consumer from what they don’t want them to see, and push forward with a potential agenda or bias that they want people to see, or Newscorp for example that owns Fox, the New York post, and the Wall Street journal, can control an entire news cycle through 3 massive News companies that are big part of the news cycle. 

    Overall, it is important to understand Vertical Integration, as almost all of the media consumed today is run through this. There are 6 main corporations that own almost all media, and therefore control what media is being put out there for the consumer. It is very important to realize this, and not always rely on the big company and corporation for media. 

 

https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-vertical-integration-3305807

https://www.ghjadvisors.com/blog/vertical-integration-in-the-entertainment-industry-and-its-impact-on-profit-participations

https://mpwasmedia.wordpress.com/vertical-integration/

The Internet

     The first prototype of the internet was made in the late 1960s and was originally called ARPANET. this was a project developed and created by the department of defense. There are a lot of things that we take for granted today that we owe to the internet. For example, without the internet we wouldn't have GPS, we would have any mobile cellular devices, and paper would be the primary and a very common thing used in the workplace. The internet has also provided a gateway to many huge things in society today, like google, and social media which at this point have pretty much taken over and are the focal point of our society. It has allowed people from everywhere to have easy access to almost any piece of information within just a couple of seconds/minutes. The internet has also pretty much made paper irrelevant, it is still used a lot today in society, but the impact and need for paper is no long present due to the birth of the internet. The biggest companies in the world are as a result from the internet. Jeff Besos who goes back and forth as the richest man in the world made his money by the creation of amazon, which is online shopping. Going off of that, online shopping has become an enormous part of our society and daily life, and has made it so going to the actual store is no longer needed, but. rather you can browse many options, order online, and have it delivered right to your door. Overall, the internet is responsible for how our life and society is today, and the impact will continue to grow as it is constantly evolving. 

https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/articles/the-impact-of-the-internet-on-society-a-global-perspective/

https://www.bbvaopenmind.com/en/articles/internet-changed-everyday-life/

https://www.technologyreview.com/2014/09/08/171458/the-impact-of-the-internet-on-society-a-global-perspective

Black Lives matter and the clauses and freedoms of the first amendment

 One popular thing that has been happening with regard to Black Lives Matter is professional athletes protesting the national anthem bye taking a kneel during the playing of the national anthem. This trend initially started soon after the George Floyd killing during the NBA playoffs, where most players decided to kneel, as well as wear shirts and were allowed messages on the back of the jerseys that a certain meaning or message about Black Lives Matter. many of the popular messages included, "Black Lives Matter", "Say her name" referring to Brianna Taylor", and "equality", and "Justice". This was a form of peaceful protest which is one of the clauses in the first amendment. The point guard for the Portland Trailblazers, Damian Lillard, spoke on this and said that he didn't want to just say things and just use his platform for protest, but rather wanted to be involved in the protesting. This form of protest was better than the riots and looting that were also committed by advocates for Black Lives Matter. There were a lot of damages and rioting caused by many advocates for BLM who were "protesting", but not in the right way. The First Amendment does not protect violent protesting and looting, and so when they committed these crimes, they were in the wrong and did not have the right to commit the acts of violence and damage that they did. 

Via Google News:

https://www.blazersedge.com/2021/2/20/22292963/portland-trail-blazers-damian-lillard-reflects-participating-black-lives-matter-protests

ANTIWAR

 I think the main reasons these websites like ANTIWAR.com and American Conservative don't get any news coverage, and aren't well known is because these ultimately aren't the news stories that the government and media want the American people to see. A lot of times unpopular opinions or opinions that go against the agenda are swept under the rug, because the media or government doesn't want people to know about it. I think that even those these websites are obscure and hard to find it is important that we have them because it is essential to our democracy that we have dissent, and when sites like these get covered up or thrown under the rug, that prevents that dissent and ultimately prevents democracy and moving forward. This goes back to WWII where actually a lot of Americans didn't want to get involved in the war, but were silenced for voicing that opinion because the government and many others wanted to get involved in the war, and the antiwar stance has predominately been an unpopular opinion. However, that is no reason for their completely valid opinions and arguments to be shut down and be kept almost hidden. Overall I think that the media and government have a big part and role of controlling not just antiwar, but just opinions that they don't agree with and don't wan the American people to see. this is why credible legitimate websites like this end of being hidden, and are outliers, and are often times painted as obscure and absurd. Its important to have these websites and their article and information on them to be known, in order to have dissent and improve democracy.

https://www.antiwar.com

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/web-categories/realism-restraint/

The Founding Era, The Supreme Court

    The U.S. constitution established the Supreme Court, which is the head of the judicial branch in the three branches of government and is the highest  federal court in the country. The Supreme courts job is to uphold the constitution. There have been cases throughout history labeled as landmark supers court cases which are cases that set a very big or important precedent according to the constitution. The first court case reviewed by the Supreme Court was West V. Barnes case. The Supreme Court is nominated by the President of the United States and their terms are for life. Among the Supreme court, there is a Chief Justice who is responsible for setting the meetings and is the kind of head of the Supreme Court. One of the first landmark Supreme Court cases was Marbury vs. Madison. This case set a precedent for Judicial review which is the power of them court to review all acts of the government and deem them constitutional or not. There were also multiple Civil rights cases like Brown v. Board of education that set precedents of desegregation and other laws that are very important to out country history and equality of American citizens. It is so important for our federal government and our democracy that we have the Supreme Court because there job of upholding the constitution is essential to our democracy, and is important to keep our government in check. I think that all of the landmark and important cases that have happened throughout history are very important and essential, and that those precedents set are what keeps our democracy and country in check.

https://www.history.com/topics/us-government/supreme-court-facts

Here are some of the landmark Supreme Court cases throughout history:

History of movies

The first motion-picture film showing consecutive action was called “Roundhay Garden Scene”. Made in 1888, this film was only 2.11 seconds long but is considered the “first” movie made. The movie was produced and directed by Louis Le Prince.

Now although that was considered the first film, the first full length feature film was “The Story of the Kelly Gang”, which only ran for about 60-70 minutes, but was huge for the time, and set more of a template of time that later movies in the future would follow. (Guinessworldrecords.com)

One film made in 1939, and is still widely considered one of the, if not the most influential movies of all time is “Gone With The Wind” which for the time, was by far the most expensive and longest film ever made, that changed the way people saw and thought about movies in color.  (insider.com)

  The 70s and 80s were big decades for movies that have shaped films we see today. For example, Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg in 1975, paved the way for “summer         blockbusters” which throughout the years end up being the biggest and most profitable films of all time. Other movies created and paved the way for their genre, and subgenres. For Example, John Carpenter’s Halloween paved the way for horror movies, and set up a sub-genre of horror, Slashers, as well as just movies in general. With This movie, John Carpenter set a precedent for simplicity and shot framing that directors and critics still use and admire today. 

 
    Many movies in modern day have become so called “period pieces” and influential for tackling issues and topics going on in society. Many films that go and try to take on these topics are called “coming of age films”. Movies of recent history that have received much appraisal for their work in this field are “Moonlight” and “The Perks of Being a Wallflower”

    Many types of movies such as “The Room”, “The Lighthouse”, and even “Napolean                  Dynamite” have divide audineces and caused lots of dispute and talk among viewers, and     eespecially in the movie industry (Screenrant.com). Movies today seem to get more and more polarizing and divisive as more modern issues like politics and race get brought to the forefront in some films. 

    Many films today are used as more than just pure entertainment but rather aim to send a message. Most films are becoming increasingly political as directors try to either voice their opinions or. a lot of times make movies surrounding issues and topics relevant in society today. it is interesting to see how the movie industry has turned to much more of a platform to voice opinions. However, this trend of movies becoming more and more prevalent with stronger opinions, naturally results in them becoming more controversial and polarizing. However, a lot of times you see movies of the same caliber get viewed drastically differently. While a movie like "Get Out" which is a very good movie can get viewed as a masterpiece while other movies of similar caliber can gets swepped under the rug. Directors and film makers are getting more clever and are getting very good at dropping subtle yet powerful messages in movies, although some overtly political movies that are not smart or overtly political such as "Black Christmas" (2019) do not get praised as they shouldn't.

    Overall many movies throughout history have had a huge impact on society today as well as on the film industry and its crazy to see how they have evolved ever since the first film in 1888.

Sources:

https://screenrant.com/most-polarizing-movies-millennium/

https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/first-feature-film

https://www.insider.com/most-influential-movies-2018-11

Below are considered

some of the greatest and most influential movies of all time:

Eight values of freedom of expression post

    I feel like protecting dissent is probably the most important freedom of expression value. The reason I believe this is because this connects directly to the first amendment and democracy, and is a key and essential value to have if one Is truly striving for democracy. It is essential that people can disagree and have constructive conversations about their beliefs, otherwise there is no point to freedom of speech or Democracy. usually one of two things will happen when exposed to other beliefs, one being that you will come around and see a new opinion and maybe think a little differently about your own beliefs, or you become even more affirmed or reassured in your own beliefs, which either way can be a good thing. I also think that it is important to not be surrounded by only people who think, talk, and act like you. I believe that it is important to expose yourself to people with different opinions and values to avoid being sucked in by the constant reassurance of your own beliefs. However, if that disagreement and criticism is not protected, then there is no democracy. People should be able to disagree and criticize others opinions without punishment and restrictions, because the only way that things get done is when people talk them out, and argue and voice opinions to try to move things forward. I have always just not been a fan of restricting or "canceling" someone because of their beliefs, now obviously there are certain circumstances, but overall I feel that people should be able to share their beliefs and argue without people taking that away or restricting it. This also comes down as a key point to Democracy, as the founding fathers intended for the American citizen to be able to have input in how our country is to be run, so it is important that the American citizen can dissent and have a difference if opinions, because that is what ultimately makes progress. This is one main reason why I don't like the banning of President Trump from all major Social media outlets, because although they are private organizations and have the right to, it doesn't promote democracy and regresses the path of democracy for the country. If President Trump can't incite his political opinions or even if his followers can't show their support for him publicly and disagree with other people online, then there is no democracy. Thats why these social media outlets are so dangerous, because they are essentially preventing dissent, an dare shutting out anyone who disagrees with them. This one is very important to me, because I believe that everyone has the right to be able to defend their opinion and be able to disagree with others, because that is what ultimately brings progress. I dislike this notion of "cancel culture" today, I think that it is harmful to democracy to essentially ruin or discredit someone for an opinion or something they said that may be a little out there. The best part of our country and the amendments is that we are allowed to voice our opinion and disagree with people, in order to move the country forward.

https://thewire.in/law/right-to-dissent-constitution-justice-deepak-gupta

https://nation.com.pk/17-Sep-2019/importance-of-dissent

 Top 5 News sources (Not a ranking, and in no particular order)

1. Bleacher Report: https://bleacherreport.com

•     I like using Bleacher Report because I feel that they usually are one of the first sports news services to break a story or make a sports announcement. They always have a large amount of stories and articles on on news in the sports world and their platform is very easy to navigate. As a sports fan I would definitely recommend getting using Bleacher Report as a main source for you sports news.

2. Associated Press: https://apnews.com

• The reason I like the Associated Press for news is because I feel that it reports mainly just the facts and stories with less of a bias and an agenda. However, the main reason I like the Associated Press is because of their voting on sports and and other major events, especially the college football rankings and things like that.

3. ESPN: https://www.espn.com

• The reason I like ESPN is because it has pretty much all the scores of all different types of professional and collegiate sports, as well as clear, accurate and concise stat lines of all the games. I also like the ESPN+ feature available on ESPN, which gives access to more in depth articles and rankings, as well as more streaming options, and things like that. Overall, ESPN should be one of the top sources for any sport fan.

4. Fox News: https://www.foxnews.com

• While I understand the stigma and flaws that many people criticize Fox News for, I do enjoy watching sometimes, and getting some political news off of this source. While there is no doubt that they are biased, I do feel that Fox News lives up to the "fair and balanced" motto more than the other major more biased news sources out there. I do also appreciate that they do have anchors from both parties on their network. 

5. CNN: https://www.cnn.com

• Another news source criticized for being overly bias, and presenting "fake news", I do not use CNN for more political news or debated because I feel that they are very overthetop with pushing their political agenda and bias. However, one main thing that I do appreciate about CNN is their quickness to get on the lates breaking news stories, while being able to validate it quickly. I've felt that CNN does one of the better jobs at getting to the new news story first.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/03/12/fox-news-audience-may-not-be-what-you-think-even-if-programming-usually-is/