An incident that came to mind while reading the Tufekci article is the #ChapelHillShooting. I found out about it because of the “trending” section on the side of Facebook but I feel like I found out too late. I know things circulate way faster on Twitter and if I would have had Twitter it would have came to my attention faster. That is not to say that Twitter is heavily filtered, like the article states. The #ChapelHillShooting really broke my heart because of the news outlets. I saw the shooter’s wife on the news crying and explaining how a good man he was but I did not see the deceased’s families. News outlets were weary of calling him a terrorist or racist but if it would have been a Muslim killing three individuals it the news outlets would have painted the picture very differently. Sometimes I feel like personal accounts of news via Twitter are less disheartening than the things I see on TV or formal news outlets. Everything is filtered, yes, but we have to know what we should listen to and learn from.

Even though all these hashtags annoy me, I am so happy there are spaces where important events are being discussed, especially those trying to counter the popular media. Even though Twitter + Facebook are heavily filtered, I am glad people can post articles (and I hope I can see them!) and things that should be talked about are trending!

Not to mention that the colonizers thought they were bettering the world by spreading their Christian ideas and getting rid of the other cultures (aztec, maya, etc) because they were blasphemous and not like Europe.

Everything we talk about, we usually talk in the Western view. In my information studies class we talked about how our current time is called “the digital age” but in reality ONLY 12% of the world is plugged in. This Western view is everywhere, and the Western view was/is predominately white, even though we are so mixed nowadays and there is so much culture flourishing. We see it in leadership (mostly white males), in education, and in everyday things like entertainment. I feel like things are slowly changing, especially from the colonial times, but we need have more voices heard of different ethnicities, colors, race, whatever you want to call it.

I, as an annoying older sister, sometimes go on her not-allowed-for-everyone twitter and I see her cussing sometimes. I used to cuss at her age, and I was very like her in a lot of ways. But I still get mad and sometimes scorn her for it! And I know that’s bad. But I want her to be better than me (even though I know cussing is NOT a big deal!).

I am twenty-three now and do not relate to her teenage self anymore. We relate in so many other ways but I know I should just let her act as her teenage self. I sometimes tell her not too binge watch TV, even though I used to do that, too. It’s a weird thing to change mindsets with years. Teenagers cuss, teenagers binge watch TV, and they should be left alone.

I know she wants to be herself, and talk about shows with her friends, and cuss when she’s really mad – therefore I am all for teenagers being teenagers.

On a different note, with teenagers having such a huge presence online, they’re definitely influenced by the media. My sister constantly sees people talk about different issues on twitter and comes to me to have a conversation about it and I think that’s awesome. While I hope teenagers don’t easily buy into everything said online and approach it with a critical lens, I know that teenagers are more informed than ever! So even though I still don’t like the cussing and binge TV watching, I’m glad there is an outlet for discussion!

There have been many who have publicly warned about the negatives of the advancement of technology and one is Stephen Hawking. He has stated previously that he believes artificial intelligence could end mankind (read BBC News article here). Of course, Hawking himself relies on AI, so there is a question on when AI could go too far? To what point could it end mankind? He himself admits to his use of AI, but feels like one day it could develop quicker than human beings, and therefore “take off on its own.”

Could this be possible? In only the past 5 years technology has developed very quickly. In this NPR article, “Psst! Wearable Devices Could Make Big Tech Leaps, Into Your Ear,” the author talks about this “wearable technology” that feeds whatever information you need into your ear. The example they use is someone encountering a colleague whom you do not remember, therefore you say the colleague’s name, and the device in your ear does a really quick online search and gives you information on them.

This reminds me of a Doctor Who episode where everyone wears similar “wearable technology” and are then controlled via the technology by Cybermen. Obviously this is a sci-fi show, but the concept is similar. This was already a concept thought about in 2006, when the episode aired.

We don’t know where technology is going, but it is good to be conscious about how it is affecting our daily lives. We have become so reliant on our phones, laptops, and television, that we will keep adapting to newer technology, even if it might seem ridiculous.