Blog Post # 11: Online Influencers (EOTO 2 reaction post)

What I learned from online influencer

A few days ago, from one of the earlier classes, learned about the influencer online and the influence the influencer has over the market, the culture, and the new media. I did not know much about the term influencer—the guy with massive followings from the various web platforms over whom he capitalizes by trying to sell things, brands, or ideas. But from this study about the subject matter, learned about the intricate nature of influencer culture and the business entity behind them. One of the fascinating things about the subject matter learned has been micro-influencers versus macro-influencers. While I also suspected the base followers for the influencer being indicative of their level of success, the showcase proved the micro-influencers, the highest engagement and the loyalist base being their own. Brands now prefer them over the others instead, for their audience is something for which they are much surer, and the sponsorships undertaken by them also sound all the more authentic when the influencer is also advocating for some other things alongside. Another finding is the level of diversifying their revenues by the channel.

Contrary to personalities online who were instructed how to reinvent their lives for endorsement for endorsement's purposes or paycheck for paycheck's purposes, the influencer diversifies their income through sales from affiliations, patrons (i.e., YouTube membership support or Patreon support), patrons' support, and even their own merchandises. That business savvy rewards them even when the internet hamster wheel grinds into oblivion. In addition, the influencer also sells their things, doing books and doing podcasts, and writing books as some form of establishing their name tag to the level where even more can follow them. Ethics by the influencer were also taken very well when doing the presentation. They are typically accused of peddling unrealistic lives, selling them jobbing jobs where even they don't work for them, or not declaring the posts for their being sponsored. This has also caused some controversy over whether the influencer posts need their quality enhanced and whether the audience has to assume responsibility by using their brain where the audience is being given the posts. There was controversy over the cancellation culture and the influence this has over the influencer, now the influencer has to watch their online posts and things said previously. Some of the influencers were able to ride the heat, however, some influencers were not insulated from controversy. Another good trivia about the presentation is the influence the influencer has over culture. They're doing lots of youth culture, and influence this stuff heavily; all over the world However, the influencer can make something from mainstream to mainstream overnight through the influence of the video going viral through something like TikTok or Instagram  and Youtube.

They have the influence over the "in" and "out" is the influence social influencers have, and corporations need to make this work and hang themselves out with the right personalities tastefully so the business can continue being profitable. Overall, this experience paved the way for the love for the influencer culture now. This is not the pretentious exterior and the videos posted acts of creativity, knowledge spreading, and spontaneous creativity for the ever-changing internet space. I now know the influencer is not all about being virtual-ceb alone, being entrepreneurs, fashion inspirations, and voice-makers for this internet space emerging world.

Blog Post #10: The Age Of AI

Reflection on The Age of AI

The PBS Frontline is one of the many media sources that has well-documented discussions and journalism present. Frontline provides up to date news that is followed by its documentary, The Age of AI. The documentary takes on the pace of AI and its promise and danger within technology that is remodeling the globe at its fastest pace by people. I have mixed opinions on the Age of AI because while I am very glad that we are coming up with advanced technology every day, I don't want this to go too out of hand. I think AI can have good uses and it can have bad uses. For example, ChatGPT is one of the more popular AI tools that some use. I belive using it to help understand a tough concept or idea is fine. But once you start telling it to do projects andassignemnts for you that's when it becomes a problem for me. 

The Positives of AI Being Spoken For 

AI is remodeling many other fields, ranging from medicine to money, and is on its way to proving its merit of upgrading life. AI is supporting disease identification and disease identification early on, hence offering better therapy within medicine. AI technologies also make processes within every company better by increasing productivity along with eliminating or keeping to minimum amount of errors to the maximum possible within areas that need correctness like money handling and manufacturing. Aside from that, AI is making scientific exploration better, including climate modeling, exploration of outer spaces, and medicine, using new devices to accomplish complex global challenges. Whereas the benefits of AI are evident, gathering big amounts of people's data has brought tremendous issues of privacy.

The use of AI

On the positive hand, AI's power to suggest what individuals like is enhancing life, that is shopping life or life of experience entertainment. But the loss of people’s privacy by others. The AI-based system collecting greater amount of information is problematic on ownership of that information, use, is there possible your on-line persona? The most problematic of issues of gathering of information is that of balancing that gathering of information versus its possible use or misuse. For its balanced discussion of AI versus privacy, well is worth of read of Stanford HAI's publication.

International tensions and National Security 

The heaven of AI is heaven of heaven, but its hell is of heaven. The good is that AI can be harnessed to enhance cybersecurity, better gather intel, and better defense apparatuses. The negative is that it creates new weaknesses and hazards. The power of AI-based cyber-attacks to topple governments and society is of great fear of apprehension. The second is that of robot wars that raise issues of decision-making on battlefields where lives are offered on altars of ambition. The greater global competition of AI domination by America vs. China only raises tensions and geopolitical issues. The Brennan Center report is a good insight into AI use by governments on issues of national security and transparency.

AI and Online Security: A Growing Menace 

AI is a dual player on the global stage of online security is also the guardian of online life and an aggressor. As AI protects fraud and encryption, AI also makes newer cybercrimes possible. Deepfake technology, for example, has developed identity theft by making AI alter one’s private information to make effective false plans. Phishing itself is also much more dangerous through AI's power of making emails and voices much better to simulate real conversations. Finally, AI's power of spreading misinformation and propaganda confuses the fight of internet scams. Utilizing AI power of cyber scams' spreading is abused by cyber fraudsters utilizing AI power of cyber scams' spreading, abused by how advanced AI power is on internet safety.

Conclusion: AI Double-Edged Sword

One can observe that AI is neither good nor bad—something that is defined by what its developers have set out to accomplish using it. Though AI is useful, its possible negatives on people's privacy, safety, and values can't be ignored. The world is challenged to come up with means of overcoming challenges like that and have laws that will make AI develop responsibly, considering people's welfare. The documentary challenges its viewers to ask how society will evolve around AI and how we can make this emerging technology manageable so that it will better humankind overall.

Blog Post #9 : EOTO Presentation #2: Five Eyes

 

The Five Eyes Alliance: History and Relevance

There has never been any intelligence organization as pervasive in intelligence collection and global security as the Five Eyes. The world of Five Eyes espionage was born with war and continued to be at the center of espionage, counter-espionage, and defense strategy. Members of this group along with the United States included United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The Five Eyes alliance started with code-breaking during World War II and persisted with the modern-day's actions on cybersecurity. It remains a part of global politics and security in modern-day world politics. (Wikipedia)

The Establishment and History of the Five Eyes

Five Eyes is a World War II alliance in the mid-1940s when the war had not yet ended and coordination through the sharing of intelligence was the means used to fight the nations. The United States and the United Kingdom had initially allied in the 1943 BRUSA Agreement when they shared critical wartime intelligence. This led to the wider UKUSA Agreement of 1946, the overarching agreement upon which the post-war and Cold War alliance was founded. This was later expanded to Canada in 1946 and Australia and New Zealand in 1956 to form today's Five Eyes. (Privacy International)

This group was busiest during the Cold War when the member nations' intelligence services worked together to spy on Soviet communication and fend off the threat of espionage. ECHELON's network of spies intercepting foreigners' communications to spy on potential rivals was its peak performance then. It had made the Five Eyes the world's largest and technologically most sophisticated spy network ever. (Wikipedia)

The Role of Five Eyes Today

In the post-Cold War period, Five Eyes has been successful at counter-foreign espionage, terrorism, and cyber threats. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks, Five Eyes nations started to collaborate on global terrorism. Five Eyes nations were at the forefront of discovering terror cells, interdicting plots, and border security. Five Eyes later expanded into cyberwar, propaganda campaigns, and emerging artificial intelligence threats. (Privacy International)

In 2013, Edward Snowden leaked top-secret details of the nature of Five Eyes intelligence agencies' mass surveillance, and international controversy around the right to privacy and government encroachment thereof. Five Eyes collaboration has also been criticized by the opposition not so much for infringing on civil liberties but from a support standpoint, collaboration is more pertinent today than ever previously to national security. In spite of such concerns, Five Eyes remains at the forefront of global intelligence sharing. (Wikipedia)

Conclusion

Five Eyes accord is the most powerful block of intelligence-sharing in the current world. From its origin as a wartime component of World War II until its use in anti-terrorism and computer security currently, The Five Eyes Accord has the utmost importance to global security. Strip aside the surveillance fig leaf and privacy screens, and Five Eyes is a staple of democratic bloc provision of stability and security. The alliance expands, stretching to accommodate the needs of the new world order and putting brains at the forefront of global defense strategy. (Privacy International)

Blog Post #8: Info On Information Through The Lens Of The Diffusion Theory

Gaining Understanding of New Innovations with the Help of Diffusion Theory

In this fast-paced world, people are getting hold of innovations one after another as more and more people gain access to digital platforms. This fact is a proof on social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Everett Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations explains this very fact by categorizing the adopters into five groups : innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. This model explains why some leap onto these technologies quickly, while others, like myself, are more circumspect about doing so.

Why Social Media Caught On

The initial draw for social media was the obvious advantages it had over traditional channels of communication. To innovators and early adopters, the sites became a new way to connect with each other, share ideas, and find community. Rogers (2003) suggests that perceived benefits such as speed of information dissemination, networking opportunities, and even a place for social activism were integral in quickening the adoption rate. In addition, how well social media fit into the habits of communication already practiced put the early majority on board with apparent benefits. What is more, studies by Kaplan and Haenlein 2010 assert that the ease with which one can become a member - often all it takes is an email address - further facilitated this rapid spread of these networks.

Why Some Remain Late or Non-Adopters

Even with such obvious advantages, not everyone rushes to adopt new technologies. The majority of late adopters or non-adopters like myself carefully weigh these pros and cons. Of even more concern, too, is data privacy and security-what effects it may have on the psyche of a person since one would always be online. This again brings out the question, what is my tangible gain for joining them, which when weighed against possible risks is just negligible? In any event, three potential downsides-algorithmic ghettos, information overload, and ideal virtual selves-encourage many to demur, or even to jettison the idea of adoption altogether. Anxiety reveals much about worth and a willingness to engage personally in assuming an element of risk. Acceptance remains apparently essentially a matter of personal determination.

 Cost/Benefit Assessment

In weighing the decision to adopt any new communications technology, I will have to balance such benefits against detriments such as privacy impacts and impairments in mental health. For example, positive changes in being socially connected and career impact present a good place where adoption outweighs dangers; thus, considered the right choice to make. If, on the other hand, dangers appear to be more critical, then one has every reason to remain a late adopter or opt-out. Diffusion Theory provides a framework whereby social media may be considered a case study of the elaborate process of technological adoption. After all, a pathway of innovation to adoption is at least as much about human behavior and personal perceptions of risk as it is about technology itself.

Blog Post #7: Reflection on ANTIWAR.COM and the conservative

The Hidden Voices of Dissent: Antiwar perspectives are hard to find and may be enshrined in the First Amendment, but there are precious few powerful antiwar voices. Military interventions are debated but critical perspectives rarely penetrate. That's a reality that independent voices at Antiwar.com and The American Conservative. For that reason, this must start with what should be but isn't exactly a rhetorical question: why does one almost never see anti-war views in regular news?

Media and the Promotion of a Narrative

Most large news organizations source their war news from deep government sources; as such, most of the reports do more to promote the government's interests than question them. FAIR reports that many media companies have financial ties to the defense industry. Immediately, this creates a huge conflict of interest for the mainstream organizations in publishing or airing robust anti-war views. reported that during the The Columbia Journalism Review on the Iraq War, those few journalists who did question government motives were ignored, or even fired, to discourage further dissent.

Independent Journalism is Important

Sites like Antiwar.com, and The American Conservative-these will provide rich critique of U.S. foreign policy, and thereby give opinions and views that the mainstream often neglects. Investigative organizations such as Democracy Now! and The Intercept give faces to war: focus attention on the deeply personal cost of war and explorations of diplomatic ways out. These sources, in a word, are independent-more so than all the others the public wants. The Stigma of Antiwar Views Since 9/11, any lack of patriotism was equated with questioning U.S. military action; the stigma inhibited politicians, journalists, and even ordinary people from speaking their minds against war. As a result, military intervention often seems to be not an issue up for debate. True holistic understanding of world conflicts is obtained only when diverse perspectives about global conflicts are taken onboard in a proactive manner. We believe in independent journalism, critically look at mainstream narratives, and thus protect freedom of speech, encouraging informed public discourse.

Blog Post #6: Telegraph Technology (The one i learned about on presentation day)

Invention And History of the Telegraph:

Before the invention of the telegraph, long-distance communication—albeit ineffective communication—was done by human carriers and smoke and flags messaging. But as the 18th century turned, the telegraph was invented, an entirely new way to communicate that would almost instantly mesh into today's telecommunication endeavors (Britannica 2024). Long-distance communication—sent and received in an instant—changed the playing field for commerce, personal relations, journalism, and war in this new digital age. The idea of sending a message through electrical impulses was not foreign to mankind. Founding thinkers like Alessandro Volta and André-Marie Ampère started the thought process (Library Of Congress 2024). 

Yet it would not be until the early 1800s that a physical development was made; for example, Claude Chappe invented an optical telegraph made up of a series of towers with a visual output. However, it was a failure—one could only receive the messages during the day—and only if one saw it. But men had their minds on it enough to acknowledge that this was not enough. In 1837, Samuel Morse—a painter turned merchant—and his business partner Alfred Vail devised the first successful electric telegraph. They sent their message over a wire using electrical pulses and used dots and dashes to symbolize letters—which they called Morse Code (Library of Congress, 2024). Then in 1844, Morse sent the first long-distance message "What hath God wrought?" from Washington D.C. to Baltimore (Smithsonian Institution, 2024). This ability to telegram allowed for instantaneous communication without two people being in the same room. 

Rapid Communication:

The telegraph was a national and global sensation. A transatlantic telegraph cable was laid by the 1860s, allowing North America and Europe to connect in minutes instead of weeks. Companies could more easily partner on projects; editors could more easily print and type out communications about breaking stories; even the Civil War was aided by the telegraph and thousand-mile-away battle plans (Smithsonian Institution). The telegraph was the first method of long-distance communication made possible instantaneously (superseded by the telephone and the World Wide Web in time). The fact that contemporary telecommunications use aspects of the telegraph demonstrates that an idea of simply transmitting electrical pulses along a wire was all that was needed to revolutionize the world.

Blog Post #4: Privacy Reflection and discussion (MLK Day Post)

Digital Privacy: Probably one of the major concerns of this time and age, privacy is considered paramount. As much as technology has in order to make our lives better, it also has its dark underbelly, which helps corporations, states, and even individuals do things that they could never have done before, thus infringing on our lives on a scale unprecedented earlier. The TED Talks on privacy were somewhat unnerving; it brought into view how exposed we all are in this digital age. It also brings to the fore just how perilous gathering data and surveillance has become, and how our personal information is used to take advantage of people. These are not only issues affecting me but also my friends, family, and society in general. 

I can now see how much of my life I have voluntarily shared online, almost without understanding what was at stake in the first place. Social media posts, online shopping habits, the apps I use every day-all that leaves a trail of data that companies can collect, analyze, and sell. In this aspect, for corporations like Facebook and Google, the business benefits from such a high-tech level of profiling when they sell into detail through the advertisers captured, especially in Shoshana Zuboff's "The Fight for a Human Future" TED talk  (Zuboff, 2019). As I say unto myself, maybe I have nothing to hide yet-what an often fallacy-of-and they knew things about me greater than that with which I even know I exist. While it is true that governments bear a very key role, so far their responses have been inconsistent and, in some aspects, woefully inadequate. For example, in Europe, the General Data Protection Regulation has been in the right direction; it compels companies to be transparent concerning data collection and assures users of having greater control (European Commission 2025). 

In other parts of the world, however, like in the United States, such protections either do not exist or exist very weakly. Why Privacy Matters by Glenn Greenwald alludes to how governments not only fail to protect privacy but also exploit surveillance technologies to monitor citizens (Greenwald, 2014). Beyond legislation, education is the key. Most of us are baffled by the ways our private lives are breached simply through the use of everyday technologies. There needs to be awareness campaigns that governments ought to lead-need to embark on in training people in personal information protection. 

Meanwhile, here's what we can do while we wait for deep systemic changes. Strong, unique passwords and two-factor authentication go a long way in securing accounts. This may be through limiting what we put online-for example, not posting our locations or personal details on social media. It can also be achieved through the use of privacy-centered tools like VPNs, encrypted messaging apps, and search engines such as DuckDuckGo that minimize the data trail we leave (Electronic Frontier Foundation, 2025). Checking permissions that different applications take and deleting the ones we don't use is just the most basic act of taking our privacy back. As much as this digital age took everything we the way we work, live, and even interact to a totally different level, it came with one price: one could no longer take privacy for granted.