How Social Media Affects Our Mental Health Through Comparison: Final Blog Post

How Social Media Affects Our Mental Health Through Comparison 

    In the twenty-first century, phones have become an everyday item for all generations and can be seen as a necessity by many. Everyone has different reasons for why they go on their phones. For some, it's to look something up online, check their email, and even do what it's meant to call people. However, in the past few years apps that we have downloaded to simply keep in contact with friends have slowly taken over our lives. By taking over our lives, I mean mostly our mental health and how it's affected youth the most. But before I go any further, I want to give a brief history of the potential and history of social media.
 

    Surprisingly the term "social media" has been around since the 1800s, meaning that some people consider the invention of the telegraph as the beginning of how we communicate via technology versus physical face-to-face interaction. However, the social media that I will be mentioning are four of the world's most popular apps, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and Tik Tok. 

    These forms of social media wouldn't see the light of day until after the 2007 release of the iPhone. Although only Twitter out of the four new apps was created and available to download, the iPhone wasn't seen as a huge communication tool outside of calling or texting others. However, the iPhone did lead to the potential availability of new apps to be created and used on this new device.  

    It wasn't until nearly three years in 2010 after the first iPhone was launched that social media began to make its appearance on people's phones. In 2010 one of the world's biggest social media apps dropped, and that was Instagram. Instagram was a new app that allowed you to post photos and share them with others as well as allowing you to like them. Once Instagram became a hit, it led a gateway to people downloading other apps such as Twitter, Snapchat, and eventually Tik Tok. It's the most likely word of mouth was the reason that these apps became so popular and why people downloaded them. However, it's usually not touched upon how celebrities can have an effect on why people wanted to download these apps. Think about it, you see your favorite celebrity has both an Instagram and Twitter account. Since they're your favorite celebrity you're more likely to download these apps because you want an insight into your favorite celebrity's life rather than a friend just suggesting you download Instagram just for fun. 

    Although social media allowed people to have an outlet and connect with friends, it also started to have downfalls in people's mental health and still does to this day.  One of the most common ways that social media takes on a toll on our mental health is through comparison. This is very popular on apps such as Instagram and Tik Tok. People use social media as an outlet to post only the highlights of their life on them. However, when doing this it can seem like your life only has happy moments and when people see that, they begin to question how good theirs is. 

    Although comparison through social media can affect anyone, it's most notably known to affect young teenagers the most. Having teens constantly look at social media on their phones every day can become damaging to them because they not only compare themselves to other people, but it can affect their development in growth. For example, when young girls see women post pictures of themselves they are more likely to compare their own bodies to theirs. Even if the woman that they see is more developed and most likely has their picture altered or photoshopped as a whole. This can lead to girls developing eating disorders or body dysmorphia because they want to look like someone that they saw online. 

    Even though social media can be a positive outlet for many, it can also lead to people developing mental health disorders throughout their time on it. Obviously social media won't be going away anytime soon, but we should look out for ourselves and each other when we use them. As well as to remember that everything we see online is not what it looks like in real life. 

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EOTO Reaction: The Five Eyes

 EOTO Reaction: The Five Eyes

    While watching everyone's Each One Teach One presentation, one that really caught my eye was Maddie Berl's presentation on The Five Eyes. The Five Eyes is an alliance between five countries. Those five countries are the United States, United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada, and Australia. This alliance began in 1946 when The United States and the United Kingdom after World War II. 

    Several years later in 1955, they added three other countries to join their alliance. The countries they added were New Zealand, Canada, and Australia. Thus creating the complete image of the Five Eyes. The alliance between these countries was able to spy on citizens in their own countries and collect information on them. 

   

  The power between these five countries is known to be one of the most secretive groups in history. The Five Eyes Alliance was so secretive that even some presidents didn't know about them. Although these countries are stronger than ever, it's questioned if this whole alliance is illegal. And I was surprised to learn in Maddie's presentation that this alliance is completely illegal. It violates our fourth and fifth amendment rights, which are the rights to privacy and your word.
 

    Although the Five Eyes alliance has been able to keep their secrets between the five of them for decades, someone has come out and attempted to reveal top-secret information regarding them. In 2013 a man by the name of Edward Snowden risked his entire career and life to share information that was being kept from other between the five countries. This did not go well for Snowden and he is currently living in Russia to keep himself from being prosecuted in the United States. 

    Overall I learned a lot from Maddie's presentation. If it wasn't for her presenting on The Five Eyes, I most likely would've never known about it. It's stories. like these that personally really fascinate me. And after being educated on this topic, I will likely do more research in the future. 

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Maddie Berl EOTO Presentation

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The Illusory Truth Effect (EOTO #2)

 The Illusory Truth Effect

    The Illusory Truth Effect is Described as a situation when we hear the same false information repeated again and we come to believe that it is true. Majority of the time we as humans like to dwindle on the thought that we a possibly too intelligent to believe false information, even from the most notable news sources. However, the spread of false information can stem from anywhere. This trend of believing incorrect information has become more popular recently, due to politicians and groundbreaking events. 

    

    An example where the Illusory Truth Effect comes into play is discovering information that can be linked to using social media apps such as Twitter or Instagram. Today we live in a world where we're all on our phones 24/7. It would make sense that most people check their phones for the news versus going to grab a physical newspaper. There are some pros and cons to this though. A pro would be that it is easy for anyone with the internet to have access to the news at any time, but a con would be how false information can be spread through this. 

    This is due to the fact that some people online like put their own opinions of the news instead of factual information. People on Twitter especially love to add their own an opinion on a topic because they feel as though they can since it is their account. It is understandable that people would want to have their own input on Twitter, but this is usually how false information spreads so quickly. 

    A groundbreaking event that affected everyone in early 2020 where The Illusory Truth Effect has just as common as the virus, was Covid-19. When Covid-19 was affected by the United States most Americans didn't understand what the virus was and what was to come because of it. This led to false information being spread not only on social media sites but as well as major news sources. Events like this led to the whole country being split, such as anti-mask or anti-vax advocates. Which would lead people to break Covid guidelines because they felt as though certain restrictions were stepping on their rights as humans. As well as information challenging certain guidelines, such as wearing a mask or getting vaccinated, which could potentially lead to harming others near us for not taking precautions. 

    

    It's examples like those that put us all in a panic and make us believe that certain information is true. A way to potentially help solve this issue is to do a simple google search on the topic that you either hear from social media or even major news. However, you should find more than one source of information because some sites, similar to Twitter, like to add their own input on the topic which could lead to a biased view and more false information. If you do your research and do your fact-checking! 

    Overall the Illusory Truth Effect will most likely continue in the decades to come. This is due to more new ways how false information can be spread, such as popular apps like Tik Tok, where not only false political information can be spread, but media and pop culture new as well. Although the spread of false information can't be stopped completely, there are ways that we can try to avoid it so it's less common. 

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In the Age of Artificial Intelligence , Privacy, Security and More

The Age of Artificial Intelligence

    Artificial Intelligence is known to be regular human intelligence that is processed by machines to create an elite status of intelligence. When watching the documentary  In the Age of AI, they go more into depth about how this phenomenon works and how it's affecting us now and in the future. One of the most intimidating factors of artificial intelligence is simply through machines. As time has progressed so has technology and machines can do things that humans are unable to or perform tasks better. An example of this is Super Market Robots. Super Market Robots are able to pack items that are guided by AI for online consumers. These devices are able to learn routines and track data and are being used in factories, offices, and other business-related locations. 

    Another element that AI touches on is online security. This topic is specifically essential because almost everyone in the twentieth century owns a cell phone or a laptop connected to the internet and possibly stores their personal data on that device. This is an especially popular topic in China, due to how many people own cell phones which is 3 to 4 more times than people do in the United States, due to their population. There are also more mobile payment options that they have than the United States currently does, which can be crucial to possible hackers. As well as everyday use activities such as food delivery services and bicycle rentals. 

    Overall while watching  The Age of Artificial Intelligence, I was definitely surprised by some things that I didn't know previously. One of them just being how developed our world is through technology and how it has evolved throughout the past decade. Especially through different types of new machines or as they're called "robots." However, although there are both pros and cons to the internet and privacy usage, we can't let that stop us from innovating and using our resources to help us through everyday tasks. 

Photo Credits

Super Market Robots

Artificial Intelligence

All About Privacy P.S. It Doesn't Exist

 Privacy 

    Technology can be a useful and helpful tool in our busy lives in the twenty-first century. It allows us to contact people immediately, set reminders, and be overall more organized. However, there are also negative aspects to technology as well. One of them is that using technology means giving up our rights to our own privacy. In the many Ted Talk videos that I watched, the most interesting way that the Government invades our privacy is by looking at our license plates. Not just when we get pulled over and get a ticket, but just by simply driving on the street.

    In  Catherine Crump's  Ted Talk: The Small and Dangerous Detail the Police Track About You, she examines sneaky ways in which the Government and police can track us. She explains how we can be tracked by driving and through our license plates through machines called Licenses Plate Readers. Unknowingly to the public, they're located all throughout the streets that we drive by every day as well as police cars. The device can scan your car and through technological enhancement technology can read the number on your license plate and the police department can keep it on file for future reference. 

    Although this specific device can be alarming to some (including myself), it is actually a useful tool in certain scenarios. For example,  Licenses Plate Readers can track cars that  have been at the scene of a crime, travel patterns, etc. Which then makes it easier for law enforcement to track people and possibly catch criminals through this technology. To the few people that are aware of these devices, some have questioned taking off their license plates entirely so they cannot be tracked. However, this would be completely impossible because the law requires you to have your license plate on your car.

    Another interesting video that I watched about internet privacy was  Christopher Soghoian's Ted Talk  How to Avoid Surveillance.....With Your Phone. It's a scary thought to know that your text messages or phone calls to others can be viewed by the companies that produce your cell phones. However, although it might be a scary thought, Christopher points out how some companies make it more difficult for themselves or hackers to view your messages. He says that using regular iMessage on your iPhone and FaceTime Audio instead of regular phone calls, makes it less easy for hackers to hack into your phone and view your messages or phone calls. And another app that is also less easy for hackers to hack into is using WhatsApp. 

    Knowing all these ways that the Government, tech companies, and hackers can have easy access to all of your information in an instant is really alarming, we have to remember that it all might not be for a bad reason. Similar to what I said about Catherine Crump's video, sometimes it can be a good thing such as making it easier for the government to find criminals that might be lurking around on and off of the internet. One way we can prevent our information from being stolen is by using a VPN to guard our information and keep hackers from breaking it. As well as just overall being self-aware when using the internet.     

Diffusion of Innovations Through Instagram

 Diffusion of Innovations Through Instagram

    Diffusion of Innovations is when a theory will explain how new ideas and technology spread. This can be seen through a variety of technological advances such as social media, everyday trends, and communication advances. Usually, there are about 5 stages this process goes through. To explain it I'm going to use one of my favorite social media apps, Instagram to go through the Diffusion of Innovations steps. 

     The first stage is the Experimental Stage. This is when a business is first starting out and the creators of it are known as pioneers. In the Experimental Stage through Instagram, creators Mike Krieger and Kevin Systrom were the pioneers of the app. The second stage is known as the early adapters. This is first when Instagram hit the app store in 2010 and was ready to ready to be downloaded. It also became a slow but sure success by getting 25,000 downloads on its first day and then 100,000 by the end of its first week on the app store. The third stage is the Early Majority Stage. This is when the app gets around to people through marketing, advertisements, or even just word of mouth. Instagram is most notably famous for getting the younger generous such as Gen Z hooked on the app through its silly filters and various other mechanics. In Instagram's case, this was through investors. By April 2011, Instagram was worth a total of $500 million, just with the help of investors alone. 

    The fourth stage is known as the Late Majority. To put it quite bluntly, this is when people are late to the trend. In the mid-2010s most people still loved Facebook and didn't think that it had much hope since Facebook had been around longer and was already established as a successful form of social media. However, when people started to see how much popularity the app was gaining and how many people they knew had it such as friends or close relatives, it was hard to not have something that everyone else already has. The fifth and final stage of The diffusion of Innovations is the Laggard Stage. This stage represents the people who have not downloaded an app such as Instagram for years most likely because they don't think it holds up. These are similar to the people in the fourth stage who might think an app like Facebook is still superior. In conclusion, these people may or may not end up downloading the app due to various
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Each One Teach One Reaction: Ballpoint Pen & Netflix

 Ballpoint Pen

    While watching everyone's Each One Teach One presentation I definitely learned a lot of new things that I didn't know before and how they affect us in our everyday. One project that I found interesting that wasn't technology based was Tyler Corrine Wise's project, the history of the ballpoint point. When explaining to us the history of the invention, she mentioned that the idea started in the nineteenth century with the struggle that people didn't like that it took forever for their ink to dry when they wrote with quills. This inspired John L. Loud to create the ball and socket pen, which people found a lot more useful than writing with quills or other calligraphy tools. 

    A few decades Lazlo Biro and his brother took inspiration from John L. Loud's creation of the ball and socket pen and created the ballpoint pen in 1931. Although today most people prefer typing over writing, that hasn't stopped companies from selling and creating more pens. An example of this is in the popular pen company Bic sold over 100,000 pens in 2006 alone. Pens have come a long way from just being something we write and sign documents with, but are now a well-known and useful tool for everyday use.

Netflix 

    Another Each One Teach One presentation that I found very interesting was the history of Netflix by Grace Savoca. Netflix is something that everyone almost has in their household and I found it enthralling to discover the story behind it. The company was originally by Marc Randolph in Reed Hastings in the 90s and became a competitive company for Blockbuster, a video rental company that was very popular in the 80s and 90s. Netflix started competing with them by starting to rent out DVDs by mail without any late fees. Which was one of the many cons of shopping at Blockbuster. However, Netflix started to take off when it created its streaming service online in the early 2000s. They started streaming popular shows that people could watch whenever they wanted to. As well as they have created some of their own original movies and TV shows as well.

    However, this has led to some negative repercussions in the past decade. Although it is nice that we can watch our favorite shows whenever we desire, it can also lead to binge-watching. Binge-watching is when you have an overload of show options to watch and you watch a lot in a short amount of time. Allow this is a negative effect on Netflix it still remains one of the biggest companies in the world and will still most likely hold that title in the decades to come.