Diffusion of Innovation

 Diffusion of Innovation is a way to see a theory and how new ideas and technology spread and grow bigger. Back in 1962 Everett Williams who was a professor of commmuniation studies showcased his big theory through writing a book all on this subject. Roger claims that this idea was able to be spread and processed easier by innovation being communicated so well over time.  Innovation is very important since it allows technology to become more advanced and for new inventions to become higher and more popular to all. 

Rogers states that there are five key elements to this idea. Innovation, adopters, communication channels, time, and social systems. This means that all of these fve concepts are the reasons that technology can be so enhanced. Without these five factors new forms of technology wouldnt be able to move forward and reach the success they have reached. 

Going back to our first EOTO we were told to research a form of technology and see the growth it has made. Many of these presentations have surprised me and made me learn so many new facts about different forms of technology and how they advanced so heavily throughout the years. For example, I researched the telephone, I learned how there was once a talking telegraph that once advanced to a telephone and once they learned how communication was so successful because of this and how it was so beneficial for people to communicate through long distance they were able to enhance the telephone and make smartphones which have also evolved so much through the years. 

Many people became and wanted to be an early adopter. The reason benign for this was because they wanted to be able to be an early part of this product or source of technology. Be a part of this from the beginning. There are different levels of innovators, early adopter, early majority, late majority, and laggards. 

Although technology has made life to be the life it is now and so much easier so people claim there are many downsides of technology. The biggest one being privacy. When using technology nothing remains private and so many people can see your every move. Whether you think you deleted something or not, people  can still see your “deleted” post. People tend to worry about what they say via social media or post, since once you post that thought or idea it is out in the public forever. Some people arent on social media for this exact reason. Many people dont want all their information to be posted and dont need people knowing their every move. THey would rather communicate face to face. 

Artificial Intelligence

 Artificial Intelligence is a type of field that combines computer science and robot datasets together to help with problem solving. The AI is also here to create different systems which can allow there to be different predictions to be made on data. Throughout  the video it discusses all of the potential risks and benefits technology has on our lives. The biggest risk being the lack of privacy there is.

One key concept we discussed a lot in class was privacy, how there is little to no privacy online. The biggest key risk with AI and technology was the lack of privacy there is using technology. Many people know from a day to day basis someone's activity and their information. This really goes back to the  theme of lack of privacy we have. Many times things could be controlled by other people because of the limited privacy we have but no one would know. 

 Differently, one of the biggest key benefits was the fact that AI allowed more people to learn how to use machines. This allowed people to think more and become more familiar and comfortable with problem solving skills.

Many people before using AI consider all of the risks and benefits before doing anything. They think about whether their information should have a chance to be “not so private anymore” and if using AI will be beneficial for them. There are now many new creations in 2023 that are created by the AI. One of my favorite ones being the Tesla. A self-driving car that allows you to do nothing while driving. This shows how technology is always advancing and making new things. 

All in all, I have learned a lot more information about technology and how it has shaped society today. Also how it is always growing and becoming better although there are always some potential risks. 

EOTO #2 Reaction

 After watching all of the EOTO presentations the one presentation that stuck out to me most and made me learn something new was all the information on Online Influencers. Since I do use social media daily I did have a great understanding somewhat of what an online influencer is but I learned so much more by watching these presentations.

The first thing I didn't know was how much the government was actually involved with online influencers and the huge impact they had on these people. Many people who use social media know that an Online influencer is people with high social media followers and who have high authority over  specific people in particular places all over the world. I also learned that online influencers get products from many different popular brands allowing themselves to be a marketing advocate for all these high end companies. They will post many different videos showcasing their products allowing all of their fans to view it making them want to buy these products. 

Online Inlfuencers preach different categories that they are passionate about such  as beauty, fashion, health, food, pets  and even sports for example. There are also higher rankings of online influencers based on how many viewers and followers they have. First the mega-influencers with more than a million followers,  Macro-influencers with 500K to 1 million followers ,Mid-tier influencers with 50K to 500K followers , Micro-influencers with 10K to 50K followers and lastly Nano-influencers with 1K to 10K followers. This was so interesting to me because I never knew there were different rankings of influencers based on how many followers they had and how many people were fans of specific people. This allowed me to put into perspective about which of my favorite influencers would be ranked in which category.

To conclude, these presentations made me learn so much about online influencers and how they support businesses and make marketing bigger. With online influencers so many topics including worldwide subjects influencers are used to spread awareness and information to benefit the world. 

EOTO #2 Operation MockingBird

 Our second EOTO my group had, the overall theme was Awareness. I was able to get a better understanding of the concept of Operation MockingBird. After researching Operation MockingBird I was able to get a better understanding of False information and this specific method of false information. 

Frank Wiser was someone who was very involved with the concept of false information. He was the director of the Office of Special Projects which then became the Office of Policy Coordination. This allowed him to be able to also be involved with False information and be a big part of false information. He was a very big part of Operation MockingBird and allowed people to get a better understanding of what was actually going on in the world and all the different false information and types of false information there was. Frank Wiser was told to create an organizations  focused on “propaganda, economic warfare,  preventive direct action, including sabotage”. This was a line that he preached and allowed people to get a better understanding of what false information was and how it would help the community. 

Operation MockingBird is a program to influence the domestic American Media. Many different important communication sources have used Operation MockingBird before. Operation MockingBird had major influences over twenty five newspaper and wire agencies. It  was also able to be  a  covert US government operation run by the CIA to implant pro US propaganda in American Media and front organizations. This allows people to be able to broadcast their ideas by using propaganda but yet again using the false information method of Operation MockingBird. 

Operation MockingBird was very important during this time period. It was launched during the cold war and collected high intelligence amongst very different people. By working  with high journalists and institutions around the world affecting the public opinion due to being able to manipulate news media. After they saw how much Operation MockingBird influenced the American media it also expanded on to influence the foreign media. Journalists who were apart of Operation Mockingbird were reportedly through blackmail and threatened into doing this network. Many different documents during this time were shown but none of them were classified as Operation MockingBird. This allowed people to think that there was no sighting of false news in any other category that could be considered Operation MockingBird. 

All in all, Operation MockingBid was a way that was able to make the American news something it wasn't. There was always so much confusion in the world when different news sources and information was shown. This was a way for people to think something was going on when it really wasn't and was a way for people to gather incorrect information. Many news sources were changing from all of these different false information concepts and were blackmailing people to join their organizations and be free of this false idea. By the end of researching it was evident that the goal of Operation MockingBird was to manipulate domestic American News sources 

Anti War

After being in class and discussing all the factors of anti-war I never noticed how much people would voice their opinions on this subject. There are many websites and platforms that have made me enhance my learning on anti-war aside from what we discussed in class. The two websites are ANTIWAR.COM and The American Conservative. Both of these websites gave me a better understanding on what anti war really was and different examples of it. 

After reading the article Whatever Happened to the Antiwar Left  I learned how so many people actually did use their voices and stood up for what they believed in. It was February 15th when millions of people stormed the streets of eight hundred different cities to oppose the US led invasion of Iraq. Many people didn't agree with this and their choices. Although this was in the past there are still many different marches for people to stand up for what they believe and to use their voice. Many people don't hear about different situations going on in the world, another important one being stated in the article The Old Normal. This was about a church staying open during the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic. Many people thought everything in the world should be shut down yet this church was known to be the most successful and still is because of it staying open. You never heard this on CNN or Fox because of how much the news preached we were in a world wide lock down. 

Many times we don't hear of information like this. Websites like the two I looked at, ANTIWAR.COM and The American Conservative aren't ones people typically look at, yet they give us so much information and stories about different people using their voices and stating all the differences in their world. Sometimes by studying websites like these ones you are allowed to learn more and be able to voice your own opinions on situations you didn't even know were happening in the world.

Reaction to EOTO

After listening to the EOTO presentations I learned a lot about everyday technology. One piece of technology that's history stuck out to me in particular was Netflix. In 1977 Netflix was founded by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in California . Back in 1977 Netflix was way different than what it is now. Netflix users would have to order movies off of a website and then receive DVDs of the film in the mail, and would have to send back the disk once they were done watching. This is so shocking to me because Netflix has evolved so much from this. Each movie rental was four dollars and a two dollar postal charge since the film was shipped. In 2007 was the time when Netflix allowed subscribers to be able to stream shows or movies from their own internet devices as well as DVDs. Once Netflix realized all the success that was reached once they let people stream different movies and shows from their own internet they were no longer mailing disks to people. Netflix is something that many people use and watch all of their different shows and movies on. Many people in today's society depend on Netflix to watch all of their favorite shows and movies. After hearing about how Netflix used to send people DVDs and you would have to pay per movie or show rather than a package it was just so shocking to see Netflix evolve so much.

EOTO

 One piece of technology that has evolved over many years that is very important is the telephone. The telephone was created in 1876 designed by Alexander Graham Bell. Alexander Graham Bell was not the only person who had the idea to design the telephone Elisha Grey was also someone who applied to invent the telephone. Bell's patent was the only one who went through in moving forward with inventing the telephone by the supreme court. Not only was Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Grey the only ones who had the idea to create the telephone, Antonio Meucci invented something very similar to the telephone in 1849, it was the talking telegraph. 

Alexander Graham Bell designed the telephone in a centennial exhibit in Philadelphia Pennsylvania. This was where all of his ideas were in place and he was able to put together all of his ideas. Bell's purpose for creating the telephone was because when he moved to America he became a teacher to deaf students. He wanted to do something to help those who were deaf be able to communicate better. Another motive for his creation of the telephone was because his mom and wife were both also deaf.  Alexander Graham Bell thought communicating electronically could be a great way for people to be able to communicate from longer distances. This would be the first time back in the 1800s people were able to communicate with one another from longer distances. 

Getting the telephone technology to work so well obviously caused some problems for him.  He heard the sound on the wire everytime he would try to use the telephone. After lots of work he ended up figuring out how to fix this and added a simple current through the sound waves. Alexander Graham Bell was so determined of his creation and wanted to see it come alive. 

The telephone has changed society so much today. Telephones are still used each and everyday which is so beneficial. First before telephones people would have to write and mail letters or go to someone to talk. Now communication is so enhanced  because of telephones and the fact that you are able to call people from such a distance. Telephones have also allowed there to be many more job offers for people as well as bringing more business to the society. Without telephones people wouldn't be able to get a hold of businesses or others while in a workplace. Today everyone is always using a telephone because of how beneficial it is. Telephones have also been enhanced so far ever since Bell’s invention. News is also spread faster because of telephones which allows people to be more aware of what is going on in the world. Many people practice the concept of communication more efficiently because of telephones being made. If it weren't for telephones many people wouldnt be able to have all the benefits that they do today. All in all telephones are the reason people are able to keep in touch today so sufficiently and why so many people are so successful with their jobs.