Blog Post: 12 My Blog Posting Experience

My blogging experience was very interesting and very enjoyable! It gave me an outlet to speak about anything that was going on in the world. One of the biggest things that I learned from blogging is that you have to really vet your news sources and make sure that they are credible. If the news you report isn't credible then it becomes a problem as its an issue for yourself as a blogger and the person reading it as they are reading news that isn't true. With this not being my first time using blogger I was better able to understand how to format my blogs that way it would be easier for the reader to follow the story and understand what was going on.  I think I will continue to blog after this class has ended as I find its a great tool to use in many different things going on in my life.

Blog Post: 11 Class Presentations

One of the things I learned from the presentations today was a whistleblower topic. I found it extremely interesting and that it was The definition of a whistleblower is a person who informs on a person or organization engaged in an illicit activity. They expose some type any kind of information or activity that is deemed illegal, or immoral within an organization that is either private or public. There are plenty of examples of whistle blowers but one of the more well known ones is Edward Snowden. He revealed that the NSA was spying on American citizens. Many of Snowden's revelations changed how people view there online privacy and it created a deep sense of urgency to fix the issue and distrust of the people from the government. 

https://www.npr.org/tags/190293264/edward-snowden

https://mashable.com/2014/06/05/edward-snowden-revelations/

Blog Post 10: Cord Cutting

What is cord cutting? Cord cutting is a term in the broadcasting industry for people canceling there subscriptions for cable, television or any multi channel subscription service.

There are many companies that offer alternatives to cable television, because of this new companies are emerging and making old companies go out of business. For example one of these new companies is called Pluto TV.

Pluto TV offers free television to a multitude of devices. With the current trend of the market and what people want it looks like Pluto TV is going to be a major player in the digital marketplace. It was recently acquired by Viacom for a staggering $340 million dollars. 

Blog Post: 9 Your Online Presence

There are many new things that people use social media for today. One of the biggest that comes to mind for me being a current college student is the use for applying for jobs. Companies will do a quick google search and find things about you that could be detrimental to your name and your self brand.

Social Media has been used by so many of us constantly without giving anything a second thought. The most obvious sign of this would be if you are underage and post a photo with alcohol to your social media account. Companies not only look for this stuff but they look for stuff that would be potentially problematic or harmful to there brand. Along with that we don't always voluntarily put information online for other people to use sometimes its either stolen or a friend posts it and someone finds it and tags us in it. There are plenty of ways to combat this the biggest would be to adjust your privacy settings, or to not have an account all together just to name a few. As the day and age of social media moves on people will constantly be using it for many more ways than it was originally intended for.

https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/2377-social-media-hiring.html

Blog Post: 8 Diffusion of Innovations

This weeks blog post is about reflecting on new innovations such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and other social media platforms and why they are so successful.

One of the main reasons that social media has caught on so much has to do with the Diffusion of Innovations. Diffusion of Innovations is a theory that explains how new social media catches on and how quickly it does so.

There are a few reasons that social media has caught on so quickly. The first is that social media came at the turn of the century and was a new and innovative technology that people liked and were able to connect with easily. This goes back to how fast technology has been developed, since WWII we as a civilization have developed and created more technology at an advanced rate faster than ever before in human history. So why is this important? It's important because sooner rather than later there will be the new big hit and social media will fade away into something else. We continue to want to feel a sense of approval from others and social media has been a great way to continue that. We are now in a waiting game to see what will come next and what will allow us to feel the same way. As it seems today the biggest thing that is holding up social media and making it successful is the sense of self validation and seeking approval from others. The other reason that social media has been so popular is how easy it is to use. People will tend to go with anything that is easy to use and can is quick to learn, and can provide that instant gratification. 

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/understand-other-people/201602/seeking-validation-online-doesn-t-bring-real-happiness

Blog Post 7: Eight Values of Free Expression

I think out of the Eight Values of Free Expression that the most important is the second. Participation in Self-Government. Alexander Meiklejohn was the first political theorist to found a defense of freedom of speech entirely on democratic theory. The function of liberty of speech and of the press, in his view, is to enable the most inclusive and therefore best public deliberation. It thus refuses to identify the right to speak freely with property rights, which as Meiklejohn observes can have relatively severe restrictions within the overarching limitation of due process. It has been suggested that citizens will not make wise and informed choices in elections if candidates and proponents of certain policies are restricted in their ability to communicate positions. We want an informed electorate involved in the debate to best represent the interests of the people and want to make sure we are electing the right person for the job.

https://www.lawbookexchange.com/pages/books/28756/alexander-meiklejohn/free-speech-and-its-relation-to-self-government

Blog Post 6: The Supreme Court

The Supreme Court is one of 3 branches of the United States Government there is the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch, and there is the Judicial Branch. The Supreme Court is the highest court in the Judicial Branch. The Supreme Court is the highest court in all of the United States, but it hasn't always been this way. For a period of time the Supreme Court didn't have the power to review if a law the government had made was constitutional or not that came in 1803 during the case of Marbury v. Madison the court ruled that it had the power of judicial review. This gave them the right to review any act of the government determine if they are constitutional or not.

It wasn't always a great honor to be on the Supreme Court at times many judges dreaded it and wanted nothing to do with the court. But as time went on and the court grew in power and what it was able to rule on it became a very high honor and is now a very coveted position to have. When it comes to proceedings the Supreme Court you would think would have everything held in private, but in actuality everything is publicly done. This is because it is part of the government. When it comes time to make a decision the judges either write a opinion in support this is done by the most senior member of the court that has taken this view, or they write a opinion against this decision. This process usually takes about 1 month to complete. The Supreme Court is the most powerful court in all of the United States and will be far into the future too.

Blog Post 5: The Effect of Social Media on Our Lives

Social media has a large effect on our lives. Wether we like it or not in todays day and age perception is everything, and that starts with our social media. For example if you are looking for a job you have a LinkedIn profile and that is a form of social media. Or if you use facebook to connect with old friends thats a form of social media. Social media has an effect on our lives all the time.

We use social media in many ways for example we use social media to update people on what we are doing in our life. The down side to this is its hurting our social skills. It also creates superficial relationships or relationships that are only online. Another way social media has an effect on our lives is companies use it to advertise there products. As much as we try to balance our daily lives and personal interaction compared to our social media usage everyone uses social media and it will constantly have an effect on our lives. I also read an interesting article that explains in more depth about how social media effects our lives.

http://sciencenordic.com/how-does-social-media-affect-your-well-being

Blog Post 4: Combating Fake News

          What is fake news? Nowadays that seems to be on everyones mind. Especially in the age that we are in along with the political atmosphere it has been brought into the spotlight. So what exactly is fake news? Fake news is false stories that appear to be news, spread on the internet or using other media, usually created to influence political views, gain power over someone else or made as a joke. So how do we combat fake news? The Huffington Post wrote an article about how it should be combated. They said that States should require schools to teach media literacy to combat fake news.

         So in theory that seems like a great idea! But the chances of that happening seem slim. One reason is because most schools are on a budget and can't afford to bring in another teacher. Another reason is that everyone has a bias. But there are some good things that can come out of this too. If more classes are taught on media literacy there will be less fake news because people will realize whats fake and what isn't. I personally think that it's a good idea I dont think that it should be forced by every state though. When dealing with fake news the more educated you are the better, why well its simple if you know about how to detect fake news you are less likely to believe it and spread it. 

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/states-should-require-schools-to-teach-media-literacy_us_59676573e4b07b5e1d96ed86

Blog Post 3: The Internet and its Effect on Free Speech

Professor Smith spoke about the the internet and how that effects free speech. There are plenty of instances on free speech and how the government has dealt with free speech on the internet. The government (Supreme Court) has stated that the internet is a area that people can use and have a right to free speech. For example a blog is considered free speech. Not only is it important that the internet allows you to have free speech but that it is preserved because it is a place where we can express ourselves and our feelings on something just like if we were to do in person. As time as gone on and the internet has gotten more sophisticated and since it has gotten more sophisticated we have seen the threat to freedom of speech on the internet become more and more of a problem. For example the incident that occurred with Facebook violating peoples privacy and then being accused of having connections with Russia which sensors the peoples internet access made a lot of people worried that facebook was picking and choosing which articles would get really big and which ones wouldn't and that it was suppressing our freedom of speech. This turned out to be completely false and inaccurate but that still didn't stop people from speculating and making false accusations.

Blog Post 2: My Favorite app

My favorite app is Youtube 

There are a few reasons for this! First Youtube is a great source of information. Youtube allows creators to post videos that could be informational, entertainment, or news content. This is great as it is another platform that people can use to find information or a source of entertainment.

Youtube has had its fair share of controversy recently last year a well known Youtuber known as Logan Paul who has 18 million people following him uploaded a series of controversial videos while visiting Japan. These videos caught mainstream attention. The first video he posted was himself being very insensitive to Japanese culture. The second and more well known of the two was a video of a recently deceased person who committed suicide. This sent the internet into a frenzy calling for action from the media giant. Which they did they took down his Youtube Red series and removed him from there preferred advertiser platform which is how large Youtuber's make there money. By him doing this not only did it show that Youtube pays attention to the content that is on its platform but that it also respects people's first amendment to free speech as multiple Youtube videos in response to his video were uploaded to the platform.

Blog Post 1 My favorite news sources

Top 5 Picks for getting news!

1. Fox News

I picked Fox news because it is one of the news outlets that leans far to one side so I can get one sides perspective on an issue.
https://www.foxnews.com



2. CNN

I picked CNN because it is one news outlet that leans far to one side so I can get that particular perspective on an issue.
https://www.cnn.com

3. ESPN

I picked ESPN because it is the leader in news regarding sports so if I want any news about sports this is the go to place
http://www.espn.com

4. NBC News

The reason I picked NBC News is because they tend to not lean so far to one side and are somewhat neutral so its a good way to pick a news source that isn't bias.
https://www.nbcnews.com


5. CBS News

The reason that I picked CBS News is because it doesn't lean to one side very much its a neutral news outlet so if I want to find what the of a non bias news source this is where I go.

https://www.cbsnews.com