Diffusion of Innovation #8

When discussing innovation, there are many developments over the decades that have made significant strides in the innovation of technology. These advancements have thrown us toward a future run by technology. Today, I will be discussing diffusion theory and how that relates to cell phones. 

Before we can look at cell phones using the diffusion theory, we must first discuss what the diffusion theory is. The diffusion theory is an idea that explains how new concepts are spread. When new innovations are first introduced to the world, not everyone is quick to accept and adopt them. 

When looking at diffusion theory there is a clear chain that innovation passes through before it is widely accepted. The first to try innovations are the bold risk-takers. They enjoy new ideas and love the thought of the world-changing through this innovation. This group is known as the innovators. 

The next to take on the idea are those who set trends. They like to influence people to broaden their minds about the prospect of an innovation. They promote the positives of the innovation and show others that the innovation has a purpose and can be widely loved if given a chance. These would be known as the early adopters. 

Above, I mentioned people needing time to broaden their minds. Not everyone automatically accepts new innovations into society. The early majority have to wait and see how this innovation can be beneficial to their lives. Once they see it has a purpose, they adopt the innovation. 

The late majority will wait until everyone else has adopted this innovation. They do not join in quickly on the adoption of an innovation. They slowly join over time. 

Laggards never adopt a trend unless they have no other choice. 

Now that we have discussed diffusion theory, we can apply it to the innovation of cells and smartphones. When looking at cell phones, there is a clear chain of how cell phones were integrated into society, which clearly shows the diffusion theory. 

Innovators are the ones who love technology. They bought the wireless smartphone when it was new on the shelves and the price tags were ridiculous. These influencers were celebrities or prominent business people, who began to promote smartphones and saw the potential. 

Once phones became more affordable and accessible, you began to see the early majority have a smartphone in everyday life. With the late majority finally joining in, the innovation was now adopted in communication with others. The laggards, such as grandparents, may have never gotten a phone other than the landline they already had or possibly a flip phone. 

Smartphone innovation took over mainstream media quickly due to the access it gave people to communication and entertainment in one innovation. Then add how it can help manage your life with easy ways for productivity. How could that be any better?  

Some did see it as a life enhancement. Some believed that owning a cell phone gave the right to privacy away. Others just did not like the idea of a life being glued to a phone. 

Diffusion theory explains the spread of an innovation but what is not discussed are the negative side effects. Today we see many people such as younger generations going back in time to no social media and flip phones. Many ask why? 

The reasoning is very clear:  with the development of cell phones came the development of social media and personal data being stored. Many believe that social media has ruined the mental health of younger generations. 

If you are like me, you may feel as if people do not need to have access to every moment of your life. With the increase of social media came the decrease of having a private life. Everyone having access to your life can be detrimental, especially if you become reliant on the validation of other people through social media. 

When social media and cellphones both started off they made people feel connected in ways they had never been before. Distance didn't matter anymore. Friendships online became prominent and many felt a sense of finding community with social media. 

On the other side, people choose to not have social media or a smartphone because that can cause harmful behavior with scrolling becoming your main focus and the risk of your privacy being taken. If someone decides to stay off social media they are ultimately avoiding fake news, negative mental health effects, and doom scrolling. On the flip side of that, choosing not to have a smartphone means that you are giving up your opportunities to hear important news, connections through social media, and recent trends that may be important. 

When discussing which side outweighs the other, it is hard to tell with social media and cell phones which side is better. With all the positives and negatives listed above how do we come to a final conclusion? Well, ultimately that comes down to what is right for you. 

I hope through this post, I have helped give you positives and negatives that could help you with your choice!

Progressive Era Blog Post #7

America has survived many time periods of historical conflict or eras. The Progressive Era is one notable era where we begin to see people voicing opinions against the government and being imprisoned for it. We still see some of this in today's time; it's just not as severe as jail. When someone voices an opinion today, there are ways to keep it hidden. Today we will be talking about the progressive era and how that impacted our right to freedom of speech. 

The progressive era is most known for the start of World War 1. This war was drastic and changed the course of everyone involved. It caused the deaths of around 11 million people. This war sparked much outrage at the powers leading the war, which led to the deaths of so many people and could have been avoided. War causes people to become vocal about their frustrations. 

“Public opinion is becoming shocked and alarmed at the thought that this country could be dragged into the horrors of a general European war, although she has no direct interest in it and is, admittedly, bound by no treaty obligations to take part.” - The Manchester Guardian 

People during this time were outraged at the war. Many believed that we had no obligation to fight in it to start with; we were losing our loved ones and had no way to stop it. The only thing people knew how to do was speak out against the entity that involved us in this war, the government. 

Of course, the government does not like it when people use their voices to oppose something they are doing. To the government, it is an annoyance to speak your mind. So they decided they were going to combat these annoying protests with severe punishment. 

You may be thinking that this can't be possible; that would be against our First Amendment rights. My response would be that you are absolutely correct! However, the government decided to implement new laws, such as the Sedition Act and the Espionage Act.

The Sedition Act was implemented in 1918 and placed heavy restrictions on one's freedom of speech. The Espionage Act of 1917 was reinforced by the Sedition Act, giving the government the authority to punish those who spoke out about events of the time. It restricted the criticism of the government and support for opposing countries and especially punished those who spoke out about the war or the draft. 

The most prominent moment in history that showed the gravity of the situation was the moment that Upton Sinclair was dragged off of a stage and arrested for reading the First Amendment; they didn't even let him finish the sentence he was on. This was a direct display of how far the government was willing to go to silence those who went against them. People challenged laws over decades to get confirmation that speech would be protected by the First Amendment. The Supreme Court ruled in 1969 that speech is protected unless it is inciting lawlessness. 

Although the Sedition and Espionage Act has not been implemented yet, there are still ways that the government tries to censor people who speak out about their practices. With the increase of information being available at our fingertips, they had to get creative about how they censored people in the current time of 2025. 

I want you to take a moment and go to the search engine you use and type in "does the government censor voices." In the search result, it says no. Of course, the government doesn't want you to know you are being censored. When discussing people who speak out against war or the government, it tends to not get as much media attention. Why?

The reason why is still the same as almost 100 years ago. The government does not want people to use their voices to speak out against them. They want everyone to go along with the ideals that people in power tell us are "good" decisions for the future of our government or country. When a lot of information that should be seen is not being promoted. This is now through the use of algorithms. 

The First Amendment is one of the most important amendments. It's what gives people their right to have a voice, and to run a country effectively, you have to listen to all of the voices of your people. We see the question of the First Amendment being brought up now with the discussion of TikTok. On TikTok, there is a widespread belief that the government is censoring certain information online that speaks out against current events. 

As we can tell, the debate on how far our freedom of speech should be protected will always be a question. The government will never give a clear answer. Throughout history, the First Amendment and its power have been questioned and will probably continue to be. As long as the American people have a voice, they will find a way to censor it. I hope through this post, I opened your eyes to the way the government tries to silence you and encouraged you to not stand for it. 

Reaction Post

In this post, I will be discussing my reaction to the EOTOs that were seen in class. Unfortunately, sickness kept me away from seeing all the presentations, but I would like to share my thoughts on Sarah's presentation on the history of YouTube.YouTube is a well-known name when discussing streaming in the modern age. In the presentation, she discussed the founders and their reasoning behind starting the popular YouTube site. 

Before we can discuss YouTube's impact, we have to discuss the history and the beginning of the idea. Three men, Steven Chen, Jawad Karim, and Chad Hurely, had the idea to create a platform for one to pick specific content you wanted to see. Television does not offer the same choices that we have now when it comes to choosing what we want to watch. They were not the first website to try to accomplish this. The original sites were incompatible with the software or were not the right file size, so by the time you actually picked what you wanted to watch, the process had already consumed a significant amount of time.

YouTube became popular in the 2010s and 20s through the video tutorials that they offered. Youtube always had a wide variety of options that would help guide you in any activity that you decided to try and conquer. This became popular through the ease of sharing videos. 

Many influencers, or creators, were inspired by this platform and gained great followings through creative freedom. People began to have access to a community that they felt they belonged to through the users that followed them. If you are not aware of influencers, it's okay! You can access other channels on YouTube, too. There are no limits to what you can find. If you are not interested in the platform influencers, you have access to all news channels. Every News channel has a YouTube platform that you can access later broadcasts if you miss something 

It was most interesting to learn about the roots of the website, which has brought me much comfort over the years. It was intriguing to understand the history of how this small idea became one of the most utilized websites. If you go on YouTube today, you still find thousands of videos that offer anything you could want. You can even see historic videos from the beginning days of the website. Although YouTube was not the first attempt, it was the most well-received attempt and has stood the test of time still.

Youtube will probably continue to have a huge impact on the future of society. We have already seen how invested people are in the platform, and I believe that will only continue to grow despite that in recent years we have seen an influx of users leaving the platform due to revenue issues. That is a blog post for another day, though. I hope through this post you have learned about the impact of YouTube on society 

EOTO #2 Blog post 6

Throughout the world, there are many forms of news. It is constantly being thrown at us. The test is to know if the news we are receiving is true or not. With the increase of social media, we have seen an increase of disinformation. If you are like me and are not super familiar with this, that's okay. In this post, I will be breaking down exactly what disinformation is and how to combat it. 

Disinformation is not a new concept. In fact, it has been around as long as stories have been told. You may be asking yourself, What is disinformation? Disinformation is the sharing of information that you know is not true for the purpose of determining someone's opinion. Before we continue talking about disinformation, we also need to understand misinformation. These two concepts sound similar but are different. Misinformation is the sharing of information that you think is true but is not. I think it is important to distinguish the two because they are not the same but often used as the same word. 

The first recorded use of disinformation was in 1620 by Ben Johnson. Ben decided to create a play described as a masque (dramatic entertainment in the 16th and 17th centuries). His play was used to make fun of his community and the audience's gullibility and hunger for fake news. The play was News from the New World Discovered in the Moon. Even in today's time, disinformation is used as a form of satire. 

With the increase of social media. There has been an increase of disinformation. Especially in the recent years with the 2016 election. People who spread disinformation use the gullibility of the reader to help promote whatever story they want to spread. We live in a fast world where things are rapidly and constantly changing. That means that the uses and the ways that disinformation is shared increases with these developments. You can see the use of this phenomenon, such as trolls and the use of AI. Also, the increase in social media has caused an increase in hackers. 

You may be wondering why this is so appealing, but there are many reasons for this. For starters, disinformation DOES unite people in some way. It removes the feelings of shame people may have about their views and opinions. This would lead people to feel more connected in the communities that spread disinformation. It can also help explain situations that may be unexplainable, maybe even confirming beliefs about a situation you have already experienced, giving a sense of power as your opinion aligns with someone else's. Ultimately, it is most appealing because it allows one to voice their opinions, allowing a release of strong emotions. 

Of course, with the good, there is always bad, and disinformation is ultimately bad. Disinformation takes away the valued trust of the person and the source. Trust is the most important asset when it comes to getting information. Obviously, when opinions are abused, division is created, making the recipient of this information emotional. These are also negative attributes of disinformation. When you have conflicting information, it leaves you feeling uncertain about a topic. The ultimate issue is how dangerous it is when disinformation is given. It can make tensions high or be bad advice that could cost you your life. 

You may be freaking out, or maybe you are calmly asking yourself, "How do I combat this?" There are ways you can spot and possibly combat disinformation in many ways. First, look at who is writing or publishing the information. Sometimes, there are sites that you already know may be producing incorrect information. The next thing that would be beneficial is digging deeper into the topic. Do not just rely on one source or person's opinion as gospel. Many sources should be reporting the same idea if it is accurate. Remember to check websites for trustworthiness. Another thing you should do is always keep your bias in check. Evaluate yourself and make sure that your own biases are not getting in the way of your belief in something different. You should also make sure that the article was published recently. Information could have been true at some point, but new developments can make that information inaccurate. You can also find people to ask. If you are surrounded by those who are more educated on a topic than you, ask their opinion and get all sides. You should also ask yourself if it was written as satire. Ultimately, the best thing you could do to combat information is to be educated about disinformation. 

Disinformation can be hard to spot, and with a rapidly changing world, it is only going to become more rampant. Although people do not commonly trust social media, it is becoming harder to tell the truth from fiction. I hope through this blog post you have learned something new to help combat the spread of disinformation. 

*Privacy Online and Off #5

Social media has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. I feel certain others my age can say the same thing. My philosophy is to never post anything you would not want the whole world to see. The question is, "How do you avoid living a life on social media when it's all around you?". For some, that would be simple; just do not download an app and create an account. For people like me, who have had social media around them all their lives, it would not be so simple to just deactivate an account. Everything posted is somewhere in the world. So how can I protect my privacy? How can I become less known for my carbon footprint? 

The issue of privacy has affected me personally. I have had hacked accounts in the past where I had someone contacting me and holding it hostage. It was not fun and quite scary that someone had access to all of the pictures and messages I had sent on that account. I eventually gave up trying to get it back. I am not the only one to be affected by this. Many people all across America experience this. The biggest platforms hacked are Instagram and Facebook. 

 

Although these numbers are small, they show that a huge portion of the world is on the internet in some way. This means that all these people are susceptible to having their information stolen. 

It is not just strangers on the internet that leak private information and photos. Sometimes, the people that you think love and care about you the most are the people that post pictures when you are asleep or because it's funny and many times just taken out of context to make it appear suggestive when the picture or comment was totally innocent. A more recent issue that has taken prominence in social media is the idea of revenge pornography. Revenge pornography can ruin lives and careers. Social media platforms are being used for this horrible act, regardless of intent.

The next question is, "How can we protect ourselves online?". A few things you can do to ensure privacy and security are to create strong, strong passwords that are changed frequently and that the two-factor authentication is turned on. Most phones automatically offer this now as a way to protect ourselves from hackers. Keep your phone and platforms updated with security to ensure maximum benefits.

A phenomenon that people need to be aware of is "phishing". This is when our information is willingly handed over to hackers, and someone reaches out to you through a bogus account. When you respond, they capture your information. Phishing schemes can usually be easily spotted, as they will have misspellings or weird links taking you off the platform. These are all great indicators for a fishing scheme. 

A few more ways you can protect yourself are by turning off the personalized ads that may show up on your phone. You can manually turn these off in settings or deny access in the app you are using to personalize ads. You should also begin using a browser to use some of your platforms. Simply having the app on your phone gives the company access to use your data. In the end, the biggest thing you can do to protect yourself is ask yourself what you are protecting. 

Social media is an ever-changing space, and with constant developments, it will be hard to keep up with everything. New platforms coming out mean more ways for our data to be accessed. which also means new developments to protect ourselves. The ultimate thing you can do is educate yourself on data security and privacy. I hope that this post has been a good starting point for you to continue your research. 

*#1 EOTO The Ballpoint Pen #4

Throughout life, there are many subjects to be learned and taught. New ideas that are springboards for future inventions and designs. There is a common belief that knowledge makes you expand your thoughts, and the only way you can achieve new knowledge is to seek out learning. So on that note, I have decided to take a moment to teach you as a reader something you may not have known about. You never know; this knowledge could inspire your next great invention. 

In this blog post today, I will get to teach you about a wonderful creative instrument that has been adapted to many forms throughout the years. This instrument has seen many designs and many changes. You may be asking yourself what this wonderful instrument is... Well, dear reader, it is the ballpoint pen. 

The First Pen

Before we can talk about the ballpoint pen, we have to start with the invention of pens. The first pen in history was the Reed pen, which was created in 3200 BC in Egypt. This pen became the prototype for the pens we use today.

The next pen was the feather and ink method, followed by a calligraphy pen. The common problem with these pens was the mess created. Ink would get everywhere, ruining clothes, paper, and everything the ink came in contact with. 

With the mess and inconvenience of liquid ink, something had to change. People needed a pen that could solve the ink-related tragedies. This need would be met in 1888, when the first ballpoint pen patent began to take form. 

Small beginnings 

The ballpoint pen began its journey in 1888 with the great inventor John J. Loud. This great inventor planned to have a pen that could write on things other than paper but decided that the original pen design was not suitable.

There were many successful designs made, but the ink would not distribute properly, making the new pen design a failure. Clogging of the ink kept the pen from functioning at all. It seemed like this poor design would never be seen by the masses, and the ballpoint pen was laid to rest.

Taking Off

Two brothers continued this invention's tale. Lasio Biro designed a new patent, except instead of changing the design, he decided to change the ink. The ink he decided to use was the same as the newspaper ink at the time, which was extremely quick-drying. Lasio asked his brother Gyorgy, who was a chemist, to help him bring his design to life, and he agreed. They later went into business together in Argentina. 

After the brothers got the patent for the pen just right, they decided that they could make money by selling their patent. And that's what they did. Marcel Bich, who owned the Bic company, purchased the patent. Marcel Bich decided to make this product the main sale of his company, and sales took off. So much so that we still see Bic today in pen sales. 

Although this small device seemed to have a rough start, it became a mighty device. Many people will probably ask, "Why the ballpoint pen? Why did she pick that?" Well, I can answer that question pretty easily. The pen, although not the ballpoint specifically, changed the future of communication. So many wonderful pieces were written using the pen. This is why I believed it was most important to write on. I hope that this post enlightened you the way it did through my research process.