My Relationship With Technology

 As a 20 year old college student, I have lived a life for as long as I can remember where technology has played a crucial role in my every day life. It is how I connect with family who live on the other side of the world, without it I would not get to stay updated with their lives. It is how I grew up. My generation learned how to type on big black computers, using Quizlet to help us study for big exams, and also share our daily lives with all of our family and friends. 

Growing up, I have been able to use these platforms to better myself. Today's argument is that our generation spends a lot of time on social media and on all these different devices but not all parts of technology have to be negative. Having access to my laptop and cell phone allows me to take my school work and the internet anywhere I go. I get access to information with the click of a button. We don't need to use paper maps to tell us how to get somewhere and we also do not need to write a letter and possibly wait weeks for responses. 

Social media platforms such as Facebook and Skype have allowed me to stay in touch with my family and friends that live across the world. Due to us only being able to see each other in the summer time this has allowed us to keep in touch with each other. From my cousins in Greece to my friends in South Africa I have been able to message them all day long if I wanted too. Growing up I also got to use a platform called Musical.ly which was then later changed to TikTok. Musical.ly was a platform where we could make short 10 second videos to songs and create dances. I remember using this app with my friends in middle school. This allowed for us to express ourselves in 10 seconds. I truly loved this app because we got to be goofy. We got to make funny dances up and then get to rewatch them over and over until our bellies hurt from laughing so hard. 

I see how social media and technology has also harmed people in today's age. You see teens and people comparing themselves to people they see on the internet and also feeling bad for themselves if they are not up to date on the latest trends. I believe your experience with it is what you make of it. If you sit there and compare yourself to people online you are bound to have a bad experience. If you use it correctly it can really be a great and useful thing. Having a clean digital footprint is extremely important. One thing about technology is it is hard to erase. Some people do not believe in what is put on the internet stays forever. As someone who always is careful with what they post I do not feel that I am holding back from being myself. I more feel as if I do not need to post my every thought on the internet. 

As technology continues to advance, we start to learn more and more ways to use it to benefit ourselves. We are learning more tips and tricks to help create healthy platforms for generations to come. Overall, I truly am grateful for social media and technology as it allows me to stay close to my family and also express myself in a more public way.

EOTO Reaction-Citizen Journalism

 Olivia’s presentation showed an incredible role ordinary people play in shaping the media today. Citizen journalism has grown from a simple way to share information into a powerful tool for modern news reporting, thanks to social media and other digital platforms. It was interesting to see how quickly and easily individuals can bring news to the public, instead of waiting for traditional media outlets.

  A specific part of Olivias presentation that stuck out to me was her showing how citizen journalism has been around for longer than we may think. Yes, we gain a lot of our information today from major news companies like Fox News or the New York Times. Here we saw how civilians word of mouth played such an important role in capturing today's news. Olivia included the example of John F. Kennedys assassination and how bystanders had captured the video before news crews could even arrive. This just shows how civilians play such a crucial role in receiving and spreading news.

Through the presentation we also heard how the internet also has played a major role in citizen journalism. Due to the new platforms of "blogging" arising people were allowed to post their opinions and perspectives on the internet for the whole world to see. This has also continued to today's day with the rise of social media platforms such as Twitter (now X) and Facebook. These platforms have transformed the way people get news and how we keep up to date with the latest fashion trends, best restaurants, etc. Most people of the Gen Z generation cannot imagine life before social media.

One of the downsides of citizen journalism that Olivia mentioned was that it can create false issues and spread wrong information. Due to everyone having access to all platforms this also allows for anyone to write what they choose. This includes wrong information which can cause issues when it comes to fact checking. That is why they say "do not believe everything you see on the internet". This is due to the lack of fact checking. Some people choose to spread lies and false information for entertainment which is wrong. This is why checking your sources of the news and fact checking becomes crucial when using these social media platforms.

Citizen journalism connects to my presentation on Diffusion of Innovation Theory because innovation theory relates to how different platforms or trends populate over time. This compares to citizen journalism due the similarities with how social media has taken an influence in the young generations. We see how social media has gained major popularity with Gen Z and also how this is the primary way that they receive there news. Compared to our parents generation who receive there news from the local television channels as well as newspapers one thing that Gen Z needs to be aware of again is the fact checking. Yes, hearing diverse opinions on topics is a great thing in order to see different perspectives but also we need to make sure they are accurate.

Olivia does an excellent job outlining the advantages and disadvantages of citizen journalism. It plays an important role in modern media by amplifying unique perspectives, particularly from underrepresented groups. As technology and social media evolve, accuracy concerns remain a challenge. Having the ability to now share opinions on a free basis allows for individuals to connect with others across the world.