My Online History

When it comes to my online presence I feel I have accurately presented how I live my life. My social media accounts include LinkedIn, Instagram, and Snapchat. I use social media to keep in touch with friends through Snapchat and Instagram and LinkedIn for career opportunities. Overall, I feel my online history is clean and gives a clear picture of who I am.

There was an instance where I did make an error in my online profile. I received a direct message on Instagram from someone claiming to be my friend from camp. It turns out that his account was hacked and his hacker told me to click a link to sign up for a running event. It required my Instagram username and password and as a younger person who just started to use social media, I fell for it. The hacker used my account to send out something called “The Ugly Instgram Chart” which was another link for him to get into people’s accounts. My followers who he sent the link to were very upset with me and I was embarrassed that I gave my information away way too easily. It was also embarrassing because it made me feel unknowing for falling for a scam like that. I think what is important to protect your reputation is to double check what we do online first, just like the Ted Talk said about how our internet actions are like tattoos. 

Overall, if an employer went to see my online presence I think they would find a clean and significant image of who I am. My Instagram account mostly shows how I live my life by my interests, family, teammates, friends, and pets. On my LinkedIn account I actually need to add more personal information and specific work experience. The older I get, I use social media more safely and intelligently. Going forward I will keep in mind that everything I post is like a permanent tattoo of my life.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fu1C-oBdsMM

False Flags

          

         The false flag theory is defined as an “act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on a second party”. I feel false flags are an underrated issue in our society with subjects such as personal reputations and politics. We need to become aware of this issue and become self aware of it as well. 

One example of a false flag that I find both interesting and upsetting is how it is used to affect political views. According to the Washington Post, “Republicans with “conspiracy thinking” tend to believe that Democrats orchestrate conspiracies, while Democrats with “conspiracy thinking” believe that Republicans are the conspirators. Each side points fingers at the other, and in nearly equal numbers.” This affects the political outcomes of elections because it creates untrue stories that voters believe. People can not understand what the truth is or who to believe. This is going to be important in the coming months with our presidential election around the corner in November. 

            An example of a false flag that has come out recently is that many mass shootings are staged. We see this on the side of the democrats who say that incidents such as the Sandy Hook school shooting should limit our second amendment rights of owning a firearm. Of course school shootings are extremely upsetting, but it is also the right of Americans to continue to have the right to bear arms. Using these tragedies as a way to advance a political agenda is harmful and causes people to choose a side instead of coming together to find a solution.

            Another example of a false flag that has come out in the last couple of years is psychological studies on emotion. When someone benefits from a tragedy, studies have shown that people feel that person often created the tragedy. My example of this would be when someone's house burns down and the person collects a large sum of insurance money, people might think that the person burned it down intentionally.

           Personally, I have seen a false flag first-hand with social media. During winter track three people made a separate team group chat with two other teammates. In that chat they made fun of a runner on my team. Eventually, one of them told my coach everything that the other two were saying and they were kicked off the team. This is an example of using a false flag with technology to disparage someone's reputation. Another example would be when someone makes a fake Instagram account and says untrue things about a certain person. This type of behavior can cause harm to a person's reputation which can cost them loss of employment, school admission, or relationships.

               Overall our country is affected by false flags on a daily basis. On a broad scale almost every mass shooting in America has resulted in a false flag conspiracy. Pro second amendment citizens create false flag stories about gun violence. On a more personal scale I have seen social media being used to create false narratives about individuals around me.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/10/27/false-flag-theories-about-the-mail-bombs-are-already-widespread-here-are-5-things-to-know-about-conspiracy-theorists/

Speech Theories

There are eight values of self expression. The Individual Self-fulfillment theory explains that free speech can help you connect with other individuals. The social media platform, Snapchat, thrives under this idea through the way it is used today with its streaks system. Snapchat streaks are when two individuals send pictures back and forth to each other. Sometimes people send messages and use filters to show what they are currently doing or how they are feeling. Many people end up doing this three to four times a day. I personally think this is the most popular way to connect especially with people who are like-minded. Often people will post something on their Snapchat story, which is a twenty-four hour day platform that they use to express themselves. It strengthens individual self-fulfillment by having fear of stopping the streaks with their friends  Teenagers are likely to feel this way about their streaks and continue them for as long as possible. Snapchat has created a way for people to connect and share similar interests and express themselves, which creates and maintains relationships through connecting. I feel that the negative aspect to the Snapchat streaks are that sometimes people do not share interesting thoughts or information so that they are not making a real connection.  

https://www.businessinsider.com/teens-explain-snapchat-streaks-why-theyre-so-addictive-and-important-to-friendships-2017-4

How Instagram Relates to Diffusion of Innovations

When it comes to technologies that have created innovation, Instagram is the first on my list. Let's take a look at our history of sharing photos we started with sending pictures through postcards to others. Years later, Facebook was invented and we were able to share all photos to our friends and family online. The Diffusion of Innovation Theory asks how and why technology spreads. In the case of Instagram, the idea that not only can you send photos, but you can also add captions and have friends comment on them really resonated with people.

Instagram has over 100 million active users. The photographs come out in real time on an app versus Facebook. It is more immediate and focused on beautiful photographs. The problem was such a threat to Facebook that they decided to buy Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion dollars. 

Another reason why it spread so much is because when people "like" your photos it is way to make you feel better. This feature helped to spread the platform. The reason why I started to use instagram was because I enjoyed seeing what my friends were doing and where they were. I also would post photographs of my track meets and follow sports figures and teams.

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-50838013