Society's Watchdog

The watchdog role that society possesses allows us to check the power that the government has through watching and criticizing what they do. We have protection to criticize the government due to our First Amendment rights, giving us the freedom to speak out against the actions and policies that they may introduce as we see fit. 

I feel that out of the eight values, this watchdog role is the most important because if we are not allowed to criticize the government, they are just going to keep gaining power and make choices for themselves instead of the country and the citizens who inhabit it. Also, by voicing our opinions we are able to express our disproval of choices they make for the country, potentially turning over a new leaf and encouraging the government to change their opinions on certain topics, such as same-sex marriage. 

This value is also inspiring to society since it urges society to speak up and out, join marches or protests, and allows everyone's opinion to be seen by others. This also makes this value meaningful, supporting and respecting each individual's opinion. Of course this doesn't come without backlash, with the explosion of social media allowing everyone to make comments on other's opinions oftentimes arguing with someone they may not know over their specific beliefs and values they think are right for everyone.

This watchdog value and the above information can also be tied to the safety valve or stable change value, allowing people to voice their opinions both supporting and dissenting others views on a topic. Everyone has their own views and opinion on subjects such as abortion, same-sex marriage, and gun laws, all of which are very hot topics prevalent in today's society. By allowing society to voice their opinion, nothing is held back or hidden and everything is put on the table to examine, both by the government and other members of our culture. 

Advancing Communications and Lost Skills

SMS stand for Short Messaging Service, meaning the total character count for the message must be 160 characters or less. The concept for SMS messaging came from Franco-German GSM Cooperation by Freidhelm Hillenbrand and Bernard Ghillebaert in 1984, and the first text message was sent in 1992 by Neil Papworth, a former developer at Sema Group Telecoms, to Richard Jarvis, from Vodafone, telling him “Merry Christmas.” In 1993 Nokia became the first manufacturer to support user-sent text messaging, and in 1997 Nokia produced the first mobile phone with a full keyboard, the Nokia 9000i Communicator.

Through the innovation of smartphones, the virtual keyboard gained popularity and added aspects such as spell check, automatic correction, and predicted words/phrases to use in texts. Many social media and internet platforms use the SMS style, encouraging its growth, and in 2007 Americans sent and received more text messages than they did phone calls per month. Today, SMS is the most used data application with 81% of mobile phone users utilizing the tool.

Although text messaging is a quick and convenient way of how we communicate with and manage friends, family, work and social activities, it can create poor communication skills for avid texters and decrease social activity between people, decreasing the amount of time spent actually being with them. Texting also takes out all of the tone or personality of your message, creating misinterpreted meanings, things being taken out of context, and hurt feelings that could be avoided with a simple phone call or chat in person. For the full article, click here.

What a Mad World To Live In

The growth and popularity of social media has been exceptionally strong, and with the easy use of technology at our hands it is seemingly taking control over our lives. Being an "influencer" is also considered a job today, with individuals being flown out to exotic locations to take pictures and post on numerous platforms, all while promoting various products through endorsement and promotional deals. Social media thrives off of people interacting with each other, and while the goal of this interaction is to harbor positive relationships with followers and influencers, a cloud of negativity looms over every user on social media. 

The pressure to be "perfect' is immense, with the use of filters and editing photos as well as getting the most amount of likes on your post taking priority over having genuine interactions with people. Personally, I am rather neutral in the world of social media, since I don't think too much into what I post nor what others post. I also know that photo editing has been used for many years now, for the use of models and advertisements in older campaigns, and that most everything we see from the internet has been edited in some fashion. 

With the increasing need to fit into this mold social media is creating, many individuals edit their photos to make themselves look better, in order to feel better about themselves. This is how we achieve validation; from the approval of others only then can we approve ourselves, which is really quite sad. My hope is that more people will learn to love and accept themselves as well as accept others, so that this need to drastically change yourself and your opinions to be accepted can start to decrease. 

I don't think social media is a complete negative thing, however, since it can bring many people together and keep them connected for many years to come. It is also how we share our achievements and document our lives in this sort of digital scrapbook we have to look back on. Overall, social media is an integral part of society now, with everyone from preteens to parents using apps like Snapchat and Instagram, so we should learn how to engage with it in a healthy way before it takes it toll on our mentality. A link to the video used is provided here. 

Back to Our Roots: No More Wars

Anti-war has been a policy of the US and its history since the birth of the constitution, with John Qunicy Adams stating that the United States "goes not abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher of freedom and independence of all." Yet despite these very founding principles, society today has only known war and its culture, and has begun to normalize and accept it. 

I, myself have not known a time when there was no war happening. Even World War I and II did not happen that long ago, introducing a constant war state of mind to Americans and society everywhere. Adams' statement clearly depicts the involvement, or lack thereof, that the US should have in wars that do not directly involve our country. 

Today, President Trump seems to be trying to get back to this mentality, stating "My foreign policy will always put the interests of the American people and American security above all else. That will be the foundation of every single decision I make." This is a very big move for America, especially since our military has been stationed in numerous countries overseas, including Afghanistan, Somalia, Syria, and Iraq. 

The 1,100 US troops in Afghanistan (Brown, 2017) are there to aid the Afghan security forces and fight against the Taliban and terrorist networks in the Middle East. But why are out troops here? And why so long? These are the questions Americans have been asking for some time now. 

Hopefully soon we will be able to reunite with our military and naval forces who have put their heart and soul into protecting not just our country, but the lives of other countries inhabitants as well. With Trump's wishes of bringing our troops home, this outlook seems to be bringing the country back to our roots, and not looking for monsters to destroy.

Links to the articles and photo map used can be found here, here, and also here.

Apple of Their Eye

Apple is one of the most popular and recognizable technology brands, if not the most popular among society. The releases of new iPhones and MacBooks captivate anyone who needs to get work or projects for school done, or even to just fool around with the features that come with it such as FaceTime and Garage Band. 

Being the massive technology giant they are comes with consequences, and big mistakes lead to a wide rift between company and consumer. Apple has been accused of listening to their users conversations, under the guise of Siri, in order to help improve the function. 

While the intentions may have been good, Apple failed to notify their customers of their doings and consequentially got caught in a big scandal due to this. Reassuring their customers that privacy is their number one priority after the iPhone 6s incident in 2015, Apple issued an apology as well as reasoning behind the microphone scare. Claiming everything recorded stays local to the device, as well as stating if not used information gets deleted, Apple was able to ease many of its customer's minds. 

Many conspiracy theorists however still go through the effort to deactivate their microphone and camera until they allow it, with many people nowadays covering the camera feature on their laptops with stickers or band aids to further ensure their privacy is protected. An article that goes deeper into this detail can be found here.

To go further into this topic, we could delve deep into the theories that the government is watching us through our technology, although that would be a much longer and in depth post. I would then direct you to Snowden, filmed in 2016, which is a film all about government interference with our technology.

The Court of Last Resort

The US Supreme Court had been engrained in the Constitution since the beginning. This important branch is an essential component of the checks and balances system thats been helping the US operate since the very beginning in 1789, making sure no one appendage gains more power and control over the others. 

The Supreme Court started out consisting of 6 judges, a Chief Justice and five Associative Justices, and has grown to the 9 Justices on the court in 1869 which stands today. The Supreme Court is also slightly above the legislative and executive branches of our government, in that it has the power to tell the others "no, your actions are unconstitutional and cannot be performed." The US Supreme Court has also been deemed the "court of last resort" since cases almost always start out at state or lower level federal courts before moving up in the judicial branch to the Supreme Court. 

The workings of the Supreme Court today are just as prominent as they have been, receiving approximately 10,00 petitions a year but only addressing 75-85 cases per year or around 1% of cases submitted. The Justices usually take on cases that set precedents for future cases in the US, as well as cases that address the country as a whole instead of a few individuals. The goal from the results of these cases is to answer any questions about federal and constitutional law, as well as any with a large constitutional impact. Once the court reaches a decision, it can only be turned over by the court itself. 

An exception of this policy would be concerning racial segregation in the case of Brown v. Board of Education being deemed unconstitutional in 1954, after the case of Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 which deemed racial segregation as constitutional as long as facilities were "separate but equal" in quality. This case became a landmark case in the history of the Supreme Court since in the case of Brown v. Board of Education, a violation of the Equal Protection clause in the 14th amendment was found, ultimately leading to the desegregation of schools.

Slacking on the Job

Slack is a new online software application that allows you to communicate with numerous and diverse groups. Many workplaces use the app to help keep employees organized, as well as up to date on any incoming information they may need to know such as cancellations, appointments, etc. I have been invited to join Slack for the Theater and Dance department here at HPU, to connect and get information regarding the upcoming Fall Dance Concert as well as a Theater participation course. 

While you definitely need to explore the app for yourself to figure out where everything's located, once you get the hang of it Slack is a very easy app to use. Many news outlets such as CNN, BBC, and the NY Times have articles concerning Slack and it's involvement in the workplace. Many praise the app, stating "Slack is ruining my life and I love it," this being the very title of the CNN article. 

On the other hand people also criticize the app, calling it out as a replacement email and making us "too available" for work-related requests and activities that need to be done (Herrman, 2019). Slack even joined the stock market, with increasing popularity driving stick prices up 60% from $26 a share before settling down at $39 per share. 

Overall, Slack's increasing popularity among people in the workplace as well as collegiate groups seems to be gaining momentum due to it's casual and comfortable environment to facilitate communication with your peers.