Andrea’s Blog

She/her/hers

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Week 13: Blog Post due 11/20

Short answer quiz #3

1. Determine what kind of social media site you are creating. Then answer the following questions, explaining your decisions. (Remember the key here is to create an ethical algorithm model)

The social media site I will be creating is a form of micro blog like Twitter. It will be named “noteID” like “noted” and in order to obtain an account you have to scan you identification card issued by your state and you will be approved. It categorizes into topics of discussion/ interest/ age group and similar content. Regardless of age or occupation if you have knowledge or want to ask individuals on certain topics that are certified and credible, you can. There is no limitations regardless of where you are from or what language you speak. The algorithms doesn’t restrict you to information that you can access. But it does hold you accountable for other factors.

2. What will you measure? (ex: likes, hashtags, how long someone stays on a page, etc) Be sure to explain all your decisions.

In this micro blog “noteID” we will measure comments in order to monitor the interaction individuals obtain and to maintain similar content. Privacy and authenticity will also be measured. The number of posts and shares an account member has will be measured as well to provide influence among similar people. Also, the site activity will be measured in order to keep up with the site traffic and to bring more people in to be part of the site as well.

3. How will you weight these factors? (rank factors from most important to least important)

Most important would be the verification of the person holding the account in order to be held accountable for any misuse/slander...etc. second most important thing would have to be privacy. Since you have to be verified by an ID of your state. You decide whether you’d like to share your full name to other users. Then would have to be the activity attention brought in and how to maintain with the users and monitor safety and filter certain things. As well as the users post in order to filter out misconduct and remove users or suspend them from accounts if they abuse other people’s privacy or attack them online.

4. What factors will not be measured? (what will not be measured in your algorithm and why)

Factors that will not be measured is the amount of likes a post get because likes and popularity doesn’t determine if a post is good or not. That is why we will measure greatly the comments associated with posts and give users the option to choose posts that have more activity and join the conversation or the option to initiate knowledge in smaller conversations/posts.

5. How will the model learn or adapt to new information? (this can include changes in language, etc)

This model will learn to adapt to new information by filtering posts with select categories. It will have a search engine in order to guide users to what they want to look for. It will also be able to translate posts to preferred languages so no one is limited to any information regardless of their origin.

6. What biases will be built into the model? How will this change the algorithm’s outcome?

The biases built in would have to be the option to report and block certain words from your feed as well as the authentication and credibility for certain information that will verify doctors, students or even business owners. Biases will monitor slurs in order to hold people accountable but people that sign up will have to scan their IDs therefore I doubt they will want to participate in any misconduct on the site.

7. How will the model live out the (un)ethical practices we have discussed?

Through the process of verification in order to hold an account people will be held accountable to what they decide to post and interact with. It will bring people together to discuss ideas, hacks, life issues, suggestions, school work...etc and will be filtered among relative age groups and people with knowledge on the subjects. Credible information will only be available and if others deem it as a non credible source they will be monitored/taken down in order for users to only have access to true information and opinions in discussions. No matter what age/ education or background a user has, they are entitled to participate in select conversations or posts of their interest. What matters is the purpose in obtaining new knowledge and that they are who they say they are.

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Week 12: Blog Post due 11-11

Why is hair important to the Black body ?

In chapter five of the article “Virtual Homeplace” by Latoya Lee, she emphasizes that hair to the black body is used as a marker of blackness and never ending persecution to black bodies. For many years they have been negatively targeted for having their natural hair. Who are the people and why have they decided that a persons natural hair is deemed as a “distraction, unnaceptable, unprofessional”? Hair for the African American community has been a source of “pride and pain” therefore it is significant to them in their everyday lives. There are many other examples that relate to the unacceptability of Black women’s bodies and it is not only sad but wrong to do so and make rules/regulations over someone’s natural body.

What are EOCs and why are they important ?

EOCs are ethnic online communities and they are important because these platforms can help empower marginalized individuals that are often undermined in the online communities. No access to technology and the lack of online outlets for low income / people of color gives EOCs and their creators potential for creating something great for their community. There are many online communities that focus on empowerment to uplift eachother among these platforms and create a safe space for one another for discussions or advice.

What is Gamergate movement?

Gamergate first started when participants believed that game journalism had been corrupted. Zoe Quinn was being trolled online because of allegations her ex posted, she was being harassed online. The article also pointed out that publicly, Gamergates mission was to convince game writers to adopt the same ethical standards as “real journalist” but that is unclear. Gamergate has self contradictory positions and have been creating fake accounts to get the movement more interactions and acknowledgement. This Gamergate can be seen as a misogynistic movement.

How is Animal Crossing seen as political ?

The game demonstrates labor and commerce. In the game you make the economy operate by selling raw materials, manufactured item in exchange for “bells” which is currency to be used for buying other goods. Some people see Tom Nook as a “capitalist oligarch” which is a capitalist rich business leader with great political influence who presses players to become entrepreneurs. Animal crossing as said in the article is seen “to inspire Americans to reclaim structure and routine and to motivate it toward modest rather than remarkable ends.” Because the game resurfaced during the rough time of the pandemic, people were stuck at home in quarantine with this Politcal game as a form of distraction.

Hathaway, J. (2014). What is gamergate and why? An explainer for non-geeks. Gawker.

Lee, L. (2015). Virtual homeplace: (re)constructing the body through social media. 91-111.

McLaine, S. (2003). Ethnic online communities: between profit and purpose. 233-254.

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Week 11: Blog post due 11/04

What is strategic essentialism? Have you ever came across strategic essentialism online ?

Strategic essentialism is a tactic used by minority groups to unite people together based on shared views, and fight for equality. It is a way to be influential among each other and just come together and be heard in the community. Honestly I have never heard the term strategic essentialism until this class and during the #BlackLivesMatter movement I have seen on social media and for a long time I did not know that it fit as a form of strategic essentialism. It makes sense, people involved with the hashtag are coming together in unity to create awareness of the injustice that black people have continued to go through for many years.

How does the mainstream media shape representation and perceptions of black bodies ?

The mainstream media has had a long history of criminalizing black bodies. In the article on Black Twitter, the example used during Hurricane Katrina where a black youth is photographed chest deep in flood water carrying food vs. a white couple doing the same is an example of how the media portrays black bodies as criminal by default. The black youth in the photograph was captioned with “deviant, criminal and looter”. As for the white couple which did the same thing the black youth was doing , they got labeled as “survivors, resilient, and finders”. The fact that automatically the color of someone’s skin is criminalized despite tragic moments like the Hurricane Katrina is insane. This example is not the first either, mainstream media has done this so much and some do not even acknowledge it. Another example would have to be when the media shows mug shots of black people when at the same time you have another incident involving the same crime but the white people get their high school graduation photos posted on social media is absurd. This shows the racial bias the media portrays.

What are three different ways the Internet is used for mobilization ?

Mobilization is to have people and resources ready to act. Something that’s capable of movement. The first way is to call for offline action. For example, people can get together online and set a time and place for a protest offline in the real world. Second, the action of contacting a superior or representative through email in order to be heard and be conducted more efficiently online is another way the internet is used for mobilization. On Twitter during the Black Lives Matter movement people would link templates to emails so that we could sign and send to representatives in order to be heard for change. Lastly, the Internet can be used to call for online action like spamming campaigns or overwhelming servers at once and disrupt. These are three ways the Internet is used for mobilization.

Why is the Internet significant in our rise of mobilization?

In the Fuchs article he emphasizes Castells quote that “the Arab uprisings were spontaneous processes of mobilization that emerged from calls from the Internet and wireless communication networks” and “The Occupy movement was born on the Internet, diffused by the I her net and maintained its presence on the Internet”. With out the Internet most of these movements would not be known or succesful. The Internet is a platform we have learned to use in order to come across similar people with the same ideas and even reach people from across the world. With out the Internet we probably wouldn’t have had organized protest since they started on the Internet. We use the Internet to organize, and deliberate issues in our community to come together mobilizing for change. The Internet is a significant platform we will continue to use to widespread organizations and movements to be joined by people across the country. It is a space where we can all come together at once despite where we are.

Fuchs, C. (2014). Social media and communication power. In Social media: A critical introduction (pp. 69-94). London: SAGE Publications Ltd doi: 10.4135/9781446270066.n4

Lee, L. (2017). Black Twitter: A Response to Bias in Mainstream Media. Social Sciences, 6(1), 26. doi:10.3390/socsci6010026

Vegh, S. (2003). Classifying Forms of Online Activism The Case of Cyberprotests against the World Bank.

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Week 10: blog post due 10/28

Why is trolling a thing in online communities? Why should you not feed the troll?

Trolling thrives in online communities because it is essential that trolls hide their identity. What other easier way would you be able to hide your identity creating a fake account with the convenience of just your phone? Trolling allows people to participate in online acts they publically would not engage in truthfully. You should never feed on a troll because they are known to feed off any reaction just for validation. They will do what they want by all means, therefore taking the time to respond negatively and grab their attention will only fuel them more and give them more notice. Which is ideally what they look for when trolling in the first place.

In what ways is trolling abusive ?

Trolling can become abusive just as we all have read in the Leslie Jones timeline. Leslie had been targeted by online hackers and shared private photos of Leslie , and also leaked private information about her publically. She has been targeted before which is sad because ongoing abuse in anyway shape or form can drastically take a mental toll on you. The fact that she was publically asking for help and drawing attention to the hate in order for someone to do something about it was more than enough. The platform should have resolved the issue as soon as it was publicated. Since the beginning of the incidents involving Jones, it has been abuse. No amount of abuse should ever be tolerated and therefore platforms like Twitter should enforce rules that protect users from online abuse and be held accountable for their lack of help as a company.

Do trolls make you less likely to trust in online communities ?

I believe that you should never believe everything you see online because there are trolls and you just never know when people are being genuine. For example in the Reddit article on Grandpa Wiggly many people thought he was being genuine when in reality it was just a character he developed in order to keep people entertained. I think that you should never fully trust anything you see online unless people or websites are credible and aunthenticated. Otherwise just take what you see as opinions and suggestions but never fully take what you see 100% serious.

Are there any ways in which you think online companies can hold trolls accountable?

I think what online companies/ communities can do in order to avoid the disruption of trolls is to enforce monitoring on sites. Having people monitor what is posted and having certain vulgar words or comtroversial words that are posted be automatically sent in for review by someone to make sure it is not being directed towards someone negatively. The amount of users that can report something as violating community guidelines means nothing when no one will review them. Therefore companies should spend money on special teams that monitor the sites more effectively and orderly so that they can handle the issues on time before they turn into ongoing online abuse.

Bergstrom, K. (2011). “Don’t feed the troll”: Shutting down debate about community expectations on Reddit.com. First Monday, 16(8).

Phillips, W. (2015), "Defining Terms: The Origins and Evolution of Subcultural Trolling”. This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things: Mapping the Relationship between Online Trolling and Mainstream Culture. pp.55-57.

Silman, A. (2016). A Timeline of Leslie Jones's Horrific Online Abuse.

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Week 8 Blog Post: Due 10/14 

How would you define cyborg technology ?

According to Haraway, a cyborg is a cybernetic organism which is a hybrid of machine and organism. “ the Cyborg is a condensed image of both imagination and material reality...” To me, cyborg technology has helped us innovate our future. With cyborg technology , we have helped many people for example people with accidents, who lose an arm or leg and this technology helps construct robotic hands or legs that are developed to the particular person. This technology is innovative but expensive. Claudia Mitchell is a great example because her bionic arm was developed for three million dollars but it helped her live her life again.

What is the reason why technology is portrayed as female?

Technology was brought up as a female dynamic “in order to make technology a welcoming friendly environment for users”. I never really questioned the motive behind female voices in the gps, or Siri and Alexa which are well known technology services. After reading the chapter by O’Riordan, the author emphasizes that these “simulations replicate and exaggerate not only heterosexual and patriarchal relations”. The author uses Ananova as an example , which was used and programmed to read the news 24 hours a day. They want to make technology be as humanized as possible to have users be comfortable with whatever they put out.

What is white supremacy online and how does it impact us differently from white supremacy in the print only era ?

White supremacy in the print only era has extended onto the digital era. Daniels emphasizes that masculinity is constitutive of white supremacy. White supremacy online is a male dominated racial project. In the print only era white supremacy was not able to reach certain people around the world unlike now in the digital era where in seconds you can be seen by thousands of people in different regions across the world depending on the platform you use. Coming together in seconds solely based on your views. This makes it easier to create groups that are negative towards specific groups of people and start online problems because of the lack of security and freedom most platforms allow online.

Do you think the digital era has given white supremacist an easy platform to share their views with no consequences?

I think it is convenient for white supremacist to go online and attack others virtually in the comfort of their own home. That is why I think you see it more online than you do out in the real world. The lack of security and enforcement online with what you post is scary when you really think of it. Most people get away with attacking people and saying anything they want including racial slurs. The digital era has given these groups of people an easier way to speak their ideas and views with no consequences. In the near future I believe there is going to be a new implemented system that holds people accountable for things that are said online. Since technology is becoming more of a new norm and a popular system, I feel that it will become more secure and hold people accountable for what they say. Either that or it can go south and just become more of a mess than it already is.

Daniels, J. (2009). Gender, white supremacy, and the internet. Cyber Racism: White Supremacy Online and the New Attack on Civil Rights (61-86). Rowman & Littlefield.

Haraway, D. (1991). A cyborg manifesto: Science, technology, and socialist-feminism in the late twentieth century. Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature (149-181). Routledge.

O’Riordan, K. (2006). Gender, technology, and visual cyberculture. Critical Cyberculture Studies (243-252). New York University Press.

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Week 7 Blog Post Due: 10/07

In what ways has invisibility offered distinct advantages for whites ?

White invisibility is the fact the whites are reminded of race far less frequent than others. Their privelege is seen to be an advantage because they are not targeted often unlike other people of society. As read in the article by Seft and Noble, “Whites have to render themselves racelessand tactically assume that they are race neutral”. To define that they are raceless gives them a take on racism even more. The fact that they deny the advantages their whiteness brings is a form privelage and entitlement that they overlook.

How can multicultural representation turn into criminalizing misrepresentation?

In the example given in Race after Technology , N-Tech is ethnicity recognition software and they claim their algorithm has “practical applications, healthcare, and targeted marketing...etc” but they fail to mention that this technology is useful to the hands of law and immigration officials and can be used at major events. This multicultural representation can jeapordized many people because these companies are being adopted by law enforcement agencies. Companies like N-tech continue to market and encode race, ethnicity and gender that can be bought and sold for the benefit of their companies.

What does technology mean to you in this day in age ?

Technology means different things to different people. It depends on how you perceive technology as a tool. Technology is innovative power at our fingertips. It all depends on how you choose to use this significant tool that has become accessible to most individuals in this day in age. As emphasized in the article Race after Technology, “you are the voice, and technology is the microphone”. Therefore , you decide how you express your voice and opinions upon other people to benefit society. Technology is empowering us to change the world we see at our fingertips. I can understand why our assignments include posting on social media to voice our opinions on subject matters to practice and feel more comfortable expressing our voices.

What is engineered inequity ? And how does it affect society?

The New Jim Code includes four dimensions mentioned in the article: engineered inequity, default discrimination, coded exposure and technological benevolence. Engineered inequity explicitly works to amplify social hierarchies that are based on race, class and gender. The public must hold accountable the platforms and programmers that silently facilitate the New Jim Code. Engineered inequality affects society because it provides a structure of views to the public as “normal” and divides us amongst each other based on gender class and race, which is an ideological system that classifies and stratifies through the process of racialization.

Benjamin, R. (2019). Race after technology: Abolitionist tools for the new Jim code. Cambridge: Polity, 41-88.

Senft, T., Noble, U. N. (2014). Race and Social Media. The Social Media Handbook, 107-125.

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Week 6 Blog Post Due 09/30

What role does race play in cyberspace?

In cyberspace platforms race is often voiced by people sharing their stories and experiences that have involved being racially categorized or sharing experiences based on their race to potentially include others in a conversation. The role race plays in cyberspace can vary depending on the surrounding environment you are in. Anybody can interfere with your posts and comments therefore, the environment you are surrounded by impacts you in a positive or negative way. People can come together sharing experiences and thoughts based on their race, or people can discriminate and pick on you because you are a specific race. The internet is a huge platform that benefits our society but it can also deter the people in our society who experience discrimination or attacks online.

How are video games implementing racist/sexist features?

Video game creators have the freedom to create anything they want with no set criteria. It is a positive thing for some because they have no limits on creativity and they get to choose who their product is catered to. However for some video game creators like the 3D realms creators that continue to “promote its racist and sexist agendas...” it is their choice to implement racist and sexist games because they simply do not care if people decide to play it or not. In 3D realms they portray all female characters nude and provide options to talk to them and the only options given are just set to be vulgar. As well as verbally molesting these fictional female characters and then proceeding to killing them. This idea is set to put the gamer in “the role of a cold blooded colonizer who rapes, pillages, and kills...”

In what ways do white supremacy platforms influence hate crimes ?

The way that cyberspace platforms create positive spaces for people in our society engaging in topics that similarly interest them, I think the same goes for white supremacy platforms. These people get together and encourage one another despite the fact of their hateful/ discriminating motives behind them. For example, Dylann Roof murdered several African American people at a church during a bible study with hopes to start a race war and his actions were said to be influenced by a platform he had created where white supremacy symbols were found, and neo-Nazism as well. There are many white supremacy platforms that have the freedom to access other profiles and ignite virtual hate crime but they can also escalate and target violence to people in real life.

Do you think hiding your online identity gives certain people an advantage in discriminating/attacking others online ?

Yes because hiding your identity online and hiding behind a fake username can potentially give you confidence in a way because you are “safe” that people who you are attacking don’t know who you are or what you look like so they can’t go after you. People can take this as an advantage and just go crazy and purposely attack people on the internet for whatever reason. Also I think it’s a No , because despite the fact that people use their real names online and real pictures they don’t care if people know who they are. They attack straight forward and don’t care who knows it. I have witnessed people being racist and attacking others on twitter and everyone gets together in the comments and they go into investigation mode and find out their address, workplace ,email addresses, and phone numbers basically exposing them online. So I think it goes both ways.

Kolko, B. E., Nakamura, L., & Rodman, G. B. (2000). Race in Cyberspace: An Introduction. Race in Cyberspace (pp. 1-13). Routledge.

Ow, J. A. (2000). The Revenge of the Yellowfaced Cyborg Terminator: The Rape of Digital Geishas and the Colonization of Cyber-Coolies in 3D Realms’ Shadow Warrior. Race in Cyberspace(pp. 51-68). Routledge.

Daniels, J. (2009). White Supremacy in the Digital Era. Cyber Racism: White Supremacy Online and the New Attack on Civil Rights(pp. 3-16). Rowman & Littlefield.

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Week 4- Blog Post 09/16

In what ways can coded bias be controlled and how would you approach the companies behind this motive?

Exposure to the issue is a great way to start. Many individuals do not know or understand that this is a problem because they might not be directly affected by it. Bringing awareness of what these companies are doing can shed light in regard to coming up with a solution. Technological discrimination should be implemented as a law and have company leaders come together and set new orderly criteria for fixing algorithms that contribute to inequality. At this point in time I hope that there is reform in the technological standpoint of these companies that are doing the most to set people apart. As well as hope there is more room for knowledge to share about this issue and come together to make sure these individuals are held accountable for their discriminatory executions.

How does the New Jim code bring to light the range of discriminatory designs through technology?

The new Jim code is a discriminatory design that is purposely implemented into our technologies to accommodate some and exclude certain individuals based on assumptions. The article used the classification of names as an example and how these algorithms set apart people by the sound of their names. These codes are implemented to our technologies as a way of controlling us as a society. Large companies come up with unnecessary programs or data sets that do nothing but set minority individuals apart.

Are the people behind algorithms and big data implementing racist codes on purpose?

Yes, major companies think they are setting apart a new form of data that seems positive but yet as you discover the core ideas, it is rather set to be a form of discriminating patterns that divide us as minorities. Companies should reevaluate the way in which they formulate codes for predictive models. And set corporates accountable for inequity in these powerful systems of technology in our everyday lives.

Are algorithms creating and normalizing systemic isolation?

Yes, the idea of creating some type of data to purposely marginalize people amongst a set of codes is inequitable. The normality of different platforms that use this tactic to assign users to different categories, think it is beneficial for them to see a breakdown of people listed on their data. However, it is just a form that causes more harm than good. These algorithms and code biases set people up for failure. For example, like in the article we read about redlining and how these people are targeted based on little assumptions that end up screwing them over so why should there be a necessary reason to construct code bias in the first place?

Benjamin, R. (2019). Race after technology: Abolitionist tools for the New Jim Code. Cambridge: Polity.

Everett, A. (2002). The Revolution Will Be Digitized: Afrocentricity and the Digital Public Sphere. Social Text, 125-146.

Noble, S. (2018). Algorithms of oppression: How search engines reinforce racism. New York University Press.

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Week 3 Blog Post- Due 09/09

How do Daniels and Eubanks’ articles relate to one another with the idea of technology?

-Daniels article goes about the range on how the internet is used with cyberfeminism, from using the internet as a tool to reaffirm one another in positive ways and to “escaping embodiment” (Daniels, pg111) as said by Nouraie Simone. On the other hand, Eubanks depicts the way red flagging has made her experience targeted and uses examples that government technology keeps a tab on individuals as “invasive electronic scrutiny” (Eubanks, pg23). These two go hand in hand because it emphasizes examples of technological ways in which people are involved with race, gender and effects of automated decision making.

Referring to Daniels article, in what ways can the internet be a positive platform for bodily transformation?

-As an example, Daniels used the “Tranny” Hormone Listservs to depict the way the internet can be a site for bodily transformation. The article provides research from Bryson and talks about Anita’s experience on how she uses the “internet to navigate the biomedical sex/gender establishment (Butler 2004; Epstein 2003)”. The internet can be used as a tool for knowledge and advice from direct people to help you in specific areas you need. Specifically, Anita’s case was to “actively engage with digital technologies to permanently transform their bodies offline (Daniels, pg115).” It’s about having access to reliable information and use the internet as a positive tool.

How is technology constantly analyzing and watching us as described in the article by Eubanks?

-As mentioned in the Red Flags article, surveillance on street corners, our cellphones and gps are major forms of technology that control us. Algorithms in social media interactions track our information and embed us all around while collecting data about us. “They are so deeply woven into the fabric of social life that, most of the time, we don’t even notice we are being watched and analyzed (Eubanks, pg16)”, this goes to show us that we are so trapped in the new normal that we forget how advanced surveillance has gotten when it comes to our everyday social life.

Referring to the article Red Flags and how she was flagged. What are some of the ways that automated eligibility systems impact low income communities of color?

-These systems automatically discourage low income communities from claiming public resources that they need in order to survive. The fact that these systems gather most of their personal information there is no room for privacy. The systems tag these people as “risky investments” and just end up victimizing them over issues out of their control. To emphasize the point on how destructive these systems are to low income communities Eubanks says, “Automated decision-making shatters the social safety net, criminalizes the poor, intensifies discrimination, and compromises our deepest national values (Eubanks, pg27)”.

Daniels, Jessie. (2009). Rethinking cyberfeminism: race, gender, and embodiment. Women’s Studies Quarterly. 37, 101-124.doi: 10.1353/wsq.0.0158

Eubanks, Virginia. (2018). Automating Inequality Introduction

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Week 2: Defining Social Media due 9/2

How has media ownership impacted individuals looking to preserve a racially diverse/democratic system of news?

There are dominant companies in the news industry and they have most power of the media. As Ben Bagdikian called it “an interlocking Private Ministry of Information for the nation’s political and economic elites (Gonzalez,pg6). Blacks, Latinos, Native Americans and Asian-Americans had made up 33% of the US population back in 2005, yet only 7.7% of its radio stations and 3.2% of television stations were owned by minorities. There are studies showing that ownership is decreasing even more. With a white majority of ownership in the medias they decide what gets brought into the news outlets and what gets more attention. People of color always have been excluded from the media and targeted for false press portrayals since the beginning and have strived for a free press in the United States.

Why is there biased reporting in American news/media?

Native Americans, African Americans, Latino and Asian-American journalists have been excluded from newsrooms up until the 1970s. Broadcasts, newspapers and magazines have been primarily owned by whites and directed to the white population. There is not sufficient minorities employed in the industry despite the percent of communities that they dominate. The white press is known to incite violence and act victims against non-white communities and there has been many scandals documented throughout history of American journalism (Gonzalez,pg9). I think there will always be a biased when it comes to the media and how they decide to portray news to the audiences.

In what ways can Critical Theory be important in the news/media?

The history of such technologies go back to “history of capitalism, colonialism, warfare, and exploitation and inequality” (Fuchs,pg10). As mentioned, it is important to implement critical theory to technologies so that they benefit everyone not just a targeted audience. As said by Fuchs, critical theory can help explain causes, potentials and limits of struggles. We need to have an equal system in such ways that make us all equal and have access to the same information. Power is a major setback because the executives aren’t ready to let that go.

In what ways does power dominate social media?

Power has to do with whoever controls society, whoever makes decisions and to whoever is being the most influential. “Power has to do with people who benefit society at the expense of others” (Fuchs,pg7).  Many famous people on social media platforms have the power to influence and promote things to their followers. They earn the power title based on the number of people who follow them. Big social media executives shape the way power is seen to the public based on which platform is most used. These companies with power shape their platforms with more advertisements at the expense of the users like us. We are subjected to their power and benefit these companies just by using their platforms therefore social media is dominated by power.

Fuchs, C. (2014). Social media a critical introduction. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications

Gonzalez, J., & Torres, J. (2011). News for all the American people: the epic story of race and the American media. Brooklyn, NY: Verso

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Technology failed me twice:

I tried to post on here last week about the time I left my house while my mom was at work and I was tracking her with find friends. Find friends was lagging her location but we were actually at the same red light together and I was trying to hide from her. Instead of posting that story, I leaked my sisters address on here with a screenshot I didn’t know I posted along with my original story. I didn’t even realize until our lovely professor pointed it out to me and I seen the message while I was hiking and quickly deleted my post. Now I’m here writing about this incident instead of my original one.