Eight Values of Free Expression

Out of the eight values of Free Expression, there are two that are seemingly most relevant today and stuck out to me the most. The first is "Promote tolerance" and the second is "Protect dissent".

Promote tolerance seems to be the most relevant to my view of society and I think is a viewpoint that may not be analyzed to the extent that it is. People are extremely negative and sometimes never think about the positive side of all of these hateful things being spewed. Thankfully, consequences are allowed for hate speech even though the speech itself is protected. Watching so many celebrities get "canceled" for better or for worse has shown certainly our younger generation that speaking and acting in a purely hateful way is not acceptable in today's society.

https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/travis-scott-astroworld-what-happens-next-9657656/

Most recently in "Cancel Culture" America is polarized on what should be done with mega famous rapper Travis Scott after 11 people were confirmed dead after his headlining annual "AstroWorld" music festival. Many believe that despite the event plan saying that he was not able to stop the festival and him paying for funerals and therapy for victims, some people believe that due to the violent nature of his concerts that he should be canceled. He faces losing brand deals, recording contracts, and even bigger industry wide consequences such as a move away from once beloved general admission events. The right to criticize the situation that happened actually may end up making future concerts safer as well as determine the future for the rapper. Movements like #Metoo allowed women everywhere to share their stories and therefore create a more aware society that will not tolerate sexual violence not being spoken about. All of this promotes tolerance and therefore shows people how to behave in the future and that this standard needs to change.

Somewhat similar, the idea of Protecting Dissent is very relevant in today's society. There are so many people with polarizing views on all ends of the political spectrum. Even though some may seem extreme or way overboard, they are still allowed and encouraged to voice them. Within today's COVID climate, everyone seemingly has a little bit different of an idea of how things should work surrounding masks, vaccines, in person school, travel, social distancing, and everything inbetween.

https://www.aarp.org/politics-society/government-elections/info-2020/coronavirus-state-restrictions.html

Looking at the different regulations within each state, there are some states that are completely reopened and then others where they still have some strict procedures in place such as curfews. Every single person is entitled to feel how they do navigating this unprecedented time and their voices get to shape what will happen next.

Although these two stuck out to me most, it is incredible how the eight values of free expression really resonate with so many social issues in America.

 

EOTO #1

My particular technology that I researched is Instagram. This photo-sharing app, now owned by the big bad Facebook is the hallmark of photo sharing in modern society and birthed an era of influencers, social media marketing, hashtags, and even mental health issues due to photo editing and "Fear of Missing Out" (Yes that's a real thing). Sleep issues have even become prevalent because of increasing screen time on the app. 

Pictured is the evolution of Instagram's logos.

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/102615/story-instagram-rise-1-photo0sharing-app.asp

Instagram was created in 2010 by Kevin Systrom and Mike Kreiger in San Francisco. It originally was named "Burbn". This photo sharing platform began with square photos, liking and comments. In 2012, Mark Zuckerburg and Facebook acquired Instagram and its 27 million users for $1b, just a fraction of the platform's profit today. 

Instagram connects people all over the world and is currently available in 36 languages. Since those early days, it has now expanded to tagging photos to a stream of photos like it or "hashtags" (#) and tagging locations in photos to see a similar stream. It also has video sharing capabilities and countless filters to put on content shared. There is a program called "Reels" similar to TikTok highlighting short videos, a shopping tab, paid advertisements, photos and videos can go beyond the square size, a "Stories" feature similar to snapchat where things disappear after 24 hours, reposting, direct messaging and so many more capabilities. This app has expanded so far beyond the creator's original idea. Now with Facebook entering the "Metaverse", it should be quite interesting to see how Instagram fits in as well as dodging the seemingly ever-increasing controversies surrounding its parent company and even the app itself. 

https://time.com/4793331/instagram-social-media-mental-health/

With so many ways to be expressive, also comes the downfalls of comparison. Many people on Instagram convey a "perfect" life where they edit their photos to look skinnier or prettier and show only the best parts of their lives. This can be very damaging, especially to its younger adolescent target audience and the girls within that target. The government is even being called to action to teach safe social media use within schools. Obviously our parents could never even imagine this having to come to fruition. When talking about Instagram, one survey respondent stated,

“Instagram easily makes girls and women feel as if their bodies aren’t good enough as people add filters and edit their pictures in order for them to look ‘perfect’.”

The article even goes on to say that Instagram is the worst platform for mental health, especially referencing the "Compare and despair" attitude. It is important to note that Instagram and therefore Facebook are very much aware of these issues that users have to grapple with while on the platform, but since they continue to monetize, they do not feel the need to change. With so much freedom of expression, damaging outcomes can occur. Facebook is also knee-deep in crisis with consistent reports of data-stealing, election tampering, tax avoidance and surveillance controversies.

Instagram revolutionized photo-sharing as we know it today and then influenced other platforms to begin allowing photos to be shared. The platform will surely continue to grow through advances of technologies and adapt with today's ever changing social climate. 

Extra Credit AI Post

Learning about the AI technologies through the video screened in class was exciting yet also quite scary.

The video first shows a quite disturbing AI baby that is supposedly able to at least begin to mimic human emotion and interact with humans beyond just the basic robots that we interact with daily on automated call and chat help services. This was quite concerning to me because I do not quite understand the need for this whatsoever.

There also was a man with a robotic arm to help him make music. This was actually a really interesting technology because with certain technologies within the fingers holding the drumsticks, it could create rhythms that humans can not. At this part of the film, the question begins to subtly bring up the question "How far is too far?". However, it does not address any limitations or potential ethical concerns and just shows the vastness of the technologies.

Through following will.i.am and his journey to create an AI avatar to practically help him through his busy schedule, he said something I feel is important to end on and is how I feel about AI technology as it has much bigger implications than the simplicity of his quote.

"I do not want it too detailed. My mother should not have to be confused as to if this is the real me or not when she sees my avatar".

SCOTUS History

 

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

After reading the attached article highlighting the history of the United States Supreme Court system, I came away with a lot of takeaways about a pivotal branch of the government that I did not know very much about before. This article provides a solid foundation and overview of the operations of the Supreme Court as well as the historical context.

Certainly the most surprising thing that I learned is that the Supreme Court was not able to meet in New York City on its originally planned day due to transportation delays (the horses were slow!!). It also was fascinating that the first case was about a farmer's dispute. Often today the Supreme Court is only concerned with the most high priority cases of importance and to think that the origins were just about a farmer is incredible.

I learned also that the number of justices has fluctuated from six to ten, to the current nine now. It is very interesting to know that so many critical moments in the United States history, including civil liberties and presidential impeachments have been decided by the total 115 judges that have severed on the Supreme Court.

This definitely changed the way I view the court as it gives me a broader knowledge on how it came to be and some of the cases that it has tackled. The most important take-away about the court is that it is in place to check the other branches of the United States government and to introduce some famous as well as current judges and cases they have decided on.

Where I Get My News

I value getting news from credible, reliable outlets that align with my values. Here are my top 5 news sources and why I consistently choose each one.

Source 1: ESPN

https://www.espn.com/

Although ESPN is only one category of news, it is a hugely important piece of keeping myself connected to what matters most in my world every single day. So much of my life revolves around my favorite sports teams. 

Usually when I first wake up, I open the ESPN App up and visit the pages of in-season teams that I am a fan of. For example, as of now I click on the tabs for the New York Giants, New York Rangers and Boston Celtics and if they have played the night before and I did not finish watching a game, check the scores. From there I try to read at least one article about the teams if they are in season, and continue reading if there are any more updates.

I then will click on the homepage within the app to see other major scores and stories throughout the different leagues. I will typically take a look at off-season teams, as of now the Boston Red Sox, every couple of days. The notifications from the app to update on games and important sports news is one of my favorite features, so these things can come to me during busy days without actively having to look. Sports are such a huge part of my life both personally and socially, so keeping myself updated in one centralized location every morning is critical to me.

Source 2: CNN

https://www.cnn.com/

I recently stayed in Atlanta right next to the CNN Tower. After thinking about where I get my news, I realized after seeing the tower how prominent CNN is in today's society. 

CNN has an email list that my parents have gotten since I was little that includes "5 things you need to know about today". I often find my parents sending me things from this list and this is such a great tool to educate readers on a daily basis with what is important.

I do, however, realize the bias that CNN is famous for. Although this is a liberal leaning news outlet, I hardly ever choose to read about politics from any source and am purposefully very removed from today's political climate, for better or for worse. I believe it is important to recognize this biases while still believing that CNN is an easy source to locate some of today's biggest general stories in many different categories of current events.

Source 3: The New York Times

https://www.nytimes.com/

Growing up, my family has always had a subscription to the New York Times, and as we all share an Apple ID, I have access to the subscription within the Apple News App.

The New York Times is informative and always stays up to date with various different sources. The Times is 170 years old and entrusted by so much of society. There are even some pieces on sports, especially New York sports as well as the music industry which is a huge interest of mine.

Being a paper from New York, it obviously tends to lean left as well. However, I feel that because it is so vast, there are many varying opinions and diversity of thought. I plan on living around NYC after college, so I enjoy the New York specific news.

Source 4: The Boston Globe

https://www.bostonglobe.com/

 

Being from New Hampshire half an hour away from Boston, the memories of my parents getting The Boston Globe physically and flipping through the pages will forever be engrained in me. In my house, we have some covers saved from Red Sox World Series wins, a Celtics championship in 2008 cover and also the Boston Marathon bombing. These moments were so fundamental to growing up how I did and where I did.

I love being able to stay connected to where I am from while I am away and also have the Boston Globe subscription from my parents on my phone. There is always something locally to catch up on and I love reading things about food and experiences in the area.

I follow The Boston Globe on Twitter and like to see how they include different stories from all throughout New England, not just Boston. Recently, their tribute to Red Sox legend Jerry Remy really touched me.

Source 5: Rolling Stone

https://www.rollingstone.com/

When my grandfather died, my family inherited literally hundreds of Rolling Stone installations. By the time my dad and I spent days upon days flipping through the pages of this magazine, we knew that the subscription needed to continue.

I am a huge fan of many different kinds of music, from rap, to country, to Foo Fighters. I love the link to rock classics and today's music that the magazine always highlights. Rolling Stone's website is also updated with the most current stories related to the music industry.

Although this source is just about music, I love getting to read about all the different genres and what is relevant in the industry. I am very strongly considering a career within music business, so this is perfect for me to gain more knowledge within the field's current climate.