Final Essay

Hamza Salim

Digital Technology and Culture

Final Multi-Media Essay

7/30/21

 

Social Media

The most significant product of digital media are the social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp, and YouTube etc. They have a huge impact on individuals, communities, and governments. They spread so fast because they seem free, and they satisfy our natural need for connection.

We are inherently social. Aristotle said “humans are social animals.” Naturally we desire connection with groups and individuals, and that is why the social media platforms are blooming everywhere. According to Digital Technology & Culture, an Open Education Resource book, the total number of active social media users worldwide is around 3.499 billio, which is almost half of the earth’s citizens. I am sure that number would be way higher if people from underdeveloped countries had better economic and political circumstances. As Rushkoff explained in his book Program or Be Programmed

In spite of its many dehumanizing tendencies, digital media is still biased toward the social. In the ongoing coevolution between people and technologies, tools that connect us thrive-and tools that don’t connect us soon learn to. We must remember that the bias of digital media is toward contact with other people, not with their content or, worse, their cash. If we don’t, we risk robbing ourselves of the main gift digital technology has to offer us in return of our having created it.

 

On the individual level social media has many positive sides. Through social media we can directly contact people. It also allows us to share info and thoughts without the need of the traditional gatekeepers like newspapers, magazines, radio, and TV shows. It used to be so hard to get your voice heard in public before social media. It gives regular people enough space to discuss ideas, protest against oppression, and promote and sell products or services with minimal restrictions. Online social networking is a digital phenomenon that is shaping the future.

When using social media, and individual’s identity could be a liability in many cases, so we tend to engage anonymously to avoid the consequences of what we express. As Rushkoff said, “the more anonymously we engage with others, the less we experience the human repercussions of what we say and do”. We should be ourselves, and not anonymous, unless it is necessary.

Being anonymous is a good strategy to face dictatorship or any oppressed authority, but it is not good enough. At some point, real people must stand up for their rights and show their real identity, and that will make a real impact on the ground. Real people become role models to lead the change. I remember 10 years ago when the Arab Spring started in Tunisia and spread to Egypt, Libya, and Syria, and how social media played the main role in exposing the regime’s illegal activities. Anonymous activists started posting videos on social media of the violence the security services committed against citizens. Also, anonymous groups used social media platforms to organize protesting and social events. All that organizing and exposing the oppressor by videos and live streaming was very important and courageous, but the real change started happing when people defeated their fear, and started standing up openly for what they believed in. Being themselves gave them political power; it encouraged many other people to join the peaceful protesting, and that lead to huge changes in these countries. Because of the protesting, the Egyptian dictator resigned and a free election happened for the first time in modern Egyptian history. Tunisia became the first real democracy in the Middle East. However, Syria unfortunately is still going through a civil war. The Syrians are very active online, and they have an ongoing free and open dialogue on all the sensitive topics, and that is a healthy sign and could be the basis for peace in the future.

 

I truly believe social media will benefit underdeveloped countries, especially in the Middle East, in the same way inventing the printing press benefitted the Europeans. Inventing the printing press gave birth to the Enlightenment era in Europe where scientists, philosophers, and free thinkers got a chance to spread knowledge to get Europe out of the Dark Ages.

Since social media arrived in the Middle East, Middle Eastern people start hearing ideas that used to be considered taboo, and whoever expressed them might put their lives on the line. Nowadays, criticizing the government system, religious beliefs, traditions, and values has become more normal. Social media gave critical thinking and the scientific method a louder voice in the Middle East, but nothing is given for free, and social media is not an exception even if it feels like it!

Social media platforms make money from the participation of the users. The more engagement that happens on a platform, the more advertising the companies can generate, and the more money they make.  John Green in his YouTube video “Social Media: Crash Course Navigating Digital Information #10,” explains targeted advertising as “the advertising designed specifically for group of people who has similar interests, location, age, gender etc.”

Social media platforms use this demographic information to target individuals with advertisements, and they have a lot of information. That’s why, after Googling Toyota for my accounting class research, I start seeing Toyota commercials on the feeds of my social media accounts!

In the exchange for the service they provide; social media platforms collect information about the users from every move they do online; like what kind of videos they see and how they see it; whether they finish or not, what posts they like, what topics they comment on, what they share, what products they buy, what locations they go to, what communities they socialize with, who their friends are, and their friends of friends. It is creepy! And it raises concerns about trust, privacy, and safety.

Social media platforms are not all evil, they use some restrictions on the user’s identity to protect them from fake news and spamming. As explained in Digital Technology & Culture an Open Education Resource:

A user can block, unfriend or unfollow those they find offensive. Excessive nudity, violence, obscenity and abusive behavior can be reported. But information shared can be true or wildly untrue without a problem. If these sites were to dictate what content is appropriate and what is not, the restrictions would devalue the network as a free and open space.

At the end of the day we choose to log in and engage online.

We also understand that whatever is shared online has offline consequences, Douglas Rushkoff in his book Program or be Programmed suggested Ten Commandments for the Digital Age, and they apply to social media:

1- “Don’t be always on”. Most of our life should be spent offline. We live in real time, but digital technology does not; it is timeless and always out there ready for us to engage with it.

2- “Live in person” be aware of the place you live in. The real people around you. Do not get dislocated and lose your sense of place.

3- “You may always choose none of the above”. In Digital technology everything must be yes or no, and that forces choices on us. We have to remember that we have a third options.

Businessman walks to the end of the road

4- “You are never completely right. Digital media polarizes us into opposing camps, incapable of recognizing shared values or dealing with paradox.” It oversimplifies ideas and things. The seekers of knowledge just get it with a simple research in any online search engine, skipping the learning that takes place through the traditional process of research and step by step progress to obtain information.

5- “One size does not fit all” Be aware that digital media brings everything to the same level and that puts people, ideas, and businesses at a disadvantage. For example, small businesses online are competing with chain stores, and that lowers their chance of success.

6- “Be yourself” anonymity is safer, but the more we engage through it, the less we experience the repercussions of our actions.

7- “Do not sell your friends. We must remember that the bias of digital media is toward contact with other people, not with their content or, worse, their cash.”

 

8- “Tell the Truth.” The more valuable, truthful, and real our messages, the more they will spread and the better we will do. We must learn to tell the truth.

9- “Share, don’t steal” openness gets abused online. By understanding the difference between sharing and stealing, we can maintain the openness of digital media.

10- “Program or be programmed” In the Digital Age we must learn how to create software and write codes, otherwise we might become the controlled by the software without noticing. Understanding programming will help with better online behavior.

Connecting for humans is essential, and people now are freer to share and access information than in any time in history. But it is not free. We exchange our personal information for the connection. Connecting online comes with risks like cyberbullying, catfishing, massive scams, disinformation campaigns, fake news, spamming, trolling, hate speech, defamation, and the Big Brother out there watching. Regardless of all that we continue to share, trade, and connect because we are human. It is critical that we stay personally involved and responsible when engaging on social media.

 

 

 

 

 

Notes

 

DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY & CULTURE An Open Education Resource

Social Media: Crash Course Navigating Digital Information #10

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=social+media&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS874US874&sxsrf=ALeKk01Dm_sPfqZ77vVk5PtzarC2HewLpg:1627582667168&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=2ahUKEwip5N_18YjyAhWJJjQIHZSsCzMQ_AUoAnoECAEQBA&biw=1366&bih=625#imgrc=e3M9XtNYGG6MGM

https://www.google.com/search?q=Dont+be+always+online+&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjR9NCLnIvyAhVOATQIHa2sAXEQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=Dont+be+always+online+&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzoICAAQsQMQgwE6CAgAEIAEELEDOgUIABCABDoECAAQQzoLCAAQgAQQsQMQgwE6BggAEAUQHjoGCAAQCBAeUMuL3y5YnNbgLmD43OAuaBxwAHgAgAF6iAHEFZIBBDQxLjGYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZ8ABAQ&sclient=img&ei=cikEYdHzMc6C0PEPrdmGiAc&bih=568&biw=1366&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS874US874#imgrc=m9RYMXKgKauZ7M

https://www.google.com/search?q=live+in+person+in+place+&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjOkLjaiY7yAhUALDQIHVMgCEAQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=live+in+person+in+place+&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzoECAAQHjoGCAAQCBAeOgQIABAYULeWBViItgVg0LwFaAFwAHgAgAFwiAHwBZIBBDEwLjGYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZ8ABAQ&sclient=img&ei=06gFYY7bAYDY0PEP08CggAQ&bih=568&biw=1366&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS874US874#imgrc=L-gGdnDMVl0ODM

 

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=choose+&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjip4_-io7yAhWsBzQIHVG9AJgQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=choose+&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzIECCMQJzIICAAQgAQQsQMyCAgAELEDEIMBMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQyBAgAEEMyCAgAEIAEELEDMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQyCAgAEIAEELEDUPeyA1j3sgNgzroDaABwAHgAgAFKiAFKkgEBMZgBAKABAaoBC2d3cy13aXotaW1nwAEB&sclient=img&ei=KqoFYeLqEayP0PEP0fqCwAk&bih=568&biw=1366&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS874US874#imgrc=cTzhguMxewEJjM

https://www.google.com/search?q=completely+correct&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiirf7ai47yAhVJAzQIHdkPC04Q2-cCegQIABAA&oq=completely+correct&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzIECAAQGDIECAAQGDIECAAQGDIECAAQGDoECCMQJzoGCAAQBRAeOgUIABCABDoGCAAQCBAeUN_3AVjEjgJgs5YCaABwAHgAgAGvAYgBkAiSAQM5LjOYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZ8ABAQ&sclient=img&ei=7aoFYeKCA8mG0PEP2Z-s8AQ&bih=568&biw=1366&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS874US874#imgrc=ZCe7tQxxLTH_0M

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=one+size+does+not+fit+all&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjL19Tsi47yAhWaIjQIHbN1AkoQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=one+size+doe&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQARgAMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDoHCCMQ6gIQJzoECCMQJzoICAAQgAQQsQM6CwgAEIAEELEDEIMBOgQIABBDULrrB1jLywhg3NsIaAZwAHgAgAFUiAGbBpIBAjEymAEBoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWewAQrAAQE&sclient=img&ei=EqsFYcuGB5rF0PEPs-uJ0AQ&bih=568&biw=1366&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS874US874#imgrc=KW9IDiQcdpgy5M

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=anonymity&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjOzdj0jI7yAhUdBjQIHVkSCRwQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=anonymity&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzIECAAQQzIECAAQQzIECAAQQzIECAAQQzIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABFC2ywFYtssBYLXSAWgAcAB4AIABS4gBS5IBATGYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZ8ABAQ&sclient=img&ei=L6wFYY76F52M0PEP2aSk4AE&bih=568&biw=1366&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS874US874#imgrc=D4iBJQLFU4fe7M

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=good+friends&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwiItvzVj47yAhWTJX0KHTCaCSIQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=good+friends&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzIHCAAQsQMQQzIHCAAQsQMQQzIFCAAQgAQyBAgAEEMyBQgAEIAEMgQIABBDMgQIABBDMgQIABBDMgQIABBDMgUIABCABDoGCAAQBxAeUM63DFiixgxg68wMaABwAHgAgAFSiAHzApIBATWYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZ8ABAQ&sclient=img&ei=FK8FYYjcEJPL9AOwtKaQAg&bih=568&biw=1366&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS874US874#imgrc=6u3p2P-9LOjRYM

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=truth&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwj52vm4kI7yAhUYs54KHdJkDpkQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=truth&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzIHCAAQsQMQQzIECAAQQzIECAAQQzIHCAAQsQMQQzIHCAAQsQMQQzIICAAQgAQQsQMyBwgAELEDEEMyBAgAEEMyBAgAEEMyBAgAEEM6BAgjECc6BQgAEIAEULSQBViklwVg8p4FaABwAHgAgAFkiAGWA5IBAzQuMZgBAKABAaoBC2d3cy13aXotaW1nwAEB&sclient=img&ei=468FYbndM5jm-gTSybnICQ&bih=568&biw=1366&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS874US874#imgrc=knrDpG69O58F_M

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=share+dont+steal&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjCn5CAkY7yAhUyIn0KHfx9DMQQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=share+dont+steal&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzoHCAAQsQMQQzoECAAQQzoFCAAQgAQ6BggAEAUQHjoGCAAQCBAeOggIABAIEAoQHlDLJlikVGDgW2gEcAB4AIABZIgByAeSAQQxMi4xmAEAoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWfAAQE&sclient=img&ei=ebAFYYL_BrLE9AP8-7GgDA&bih=568&biw=1366&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS874US874#imgrc=2LP1mOKQ5_kpQM

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=matrix+waking+up&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjBk-rEkY7yAhUJLDQIHZpSDGoQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=matrix+waking+up&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzIFCAAQgAQyBQgAEIAEMgUIABCABDIGCAAQBRAeMgYIABAIEB4yBAgAEBg6BwgAELEDEEM6BAgAEEM6CAgAEIAEELEDUPeFAVioqwFg168BaABwAHgAgAF4iAH3BZIBAzkuMZgBAKABAaoBC2d3cy13aXotaW1nwAEB&sclient=img&ei=CbEFYYHrC4nY0PEPmqWx0AY&bih=568&biw=1366&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS874US874#imgrc=cW_BW6ekKNA-QM

 

SIMULATION

SIMULATION is very entertaining, and it gives the illusion of reality, especially in games. I played a boxing game on wii one time, it felt very real, that I start sweating! it was close to real experience than traditional video games were I did not move much.

Also simulation seems like a good technique for a beginner artists to start with. It simulates natural world dimensions, process, or systems.

I think it will keep developing as an art form because it gives people a chance to live the artist experience, and give the artists new tools to deliver their messages more clearly and closely. I would use it to imitate human movements; like athletes, dancers, singers and extreme-sport performers. I would like understand there experiences with out taking the real risk.

Big data

Big Data

 I think big data and data analytics promise revolutionary changes that will ultimately benefit human life. Like any other technology big data could be used in bad and in good. I think the good that it could be used in trumps the bad side of it.

 The book DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY& CULTUREA Open Education Resource defined data analytics as “ the discipline of turning raw data into information, and making conclusions about that information. The techniques of data analytics are often automated with programmed algorithms that collect, process, clean and organize vast raw data sets so that patterns can be detected and results presented in a form that can be analyzed for human consumption.”  Clearly human have the final word on how to understand the data and using it. As long as we do not give up the power of make decision to the artificial intelligent, I believe we will use data in benefiting human, nonhuman, and environment.

To ensure that our digital technologies work to improve human and nonhuman lives we need to have good quality data. Bad quality data will cause bad quality decision. As explained by John Green in the YouTube video Data & Infographics: Crash Course Navigating Digital Information #8  we need to make sure if the source of the data reliable or not, who commotion the research behind the data, who conduct the research and why, are they in good position to gather the data in the first place, what perspective the source may have, how the data represented ,and if it is a real data or not. The data has to be accurate and relevant. Good data is the base of good decisions.

Metal Slug1 was my favorite arcade game. Me and my friends spend lots of quarters on that game. it was very challenging and exciting that we spend our allowance on it. We had fun playing it, and till today I  remember the special moments with my childhood friends. Eventually more advanced metal slug2 hit the market and the game become so popular. Many other parts of the came after that.

I could not keep up with the arcade expensive as a kid, but luckily Metal Slug was not just on the arcade it was also on the computer. So, when the computers became more affordable my family ended up buying one, and the first game, I looked for was Metal Slug!

6/29 Digital Media

The multimodal design McLuhan’s used in his book The Medium is the Massage”  summarized the main idea of the book which is that the way we send and receive information is more important than the information itself. In another word the medium itself has the strongest impact on our life’s more than the message that is deliver. “Everybody experiences far more than he understands. Yet it is experience, rather than understanding, that influences behavior, especially in collective matters of media and technology, where the individual is almost inevitably unaware of their effects upon him.”- Marshall McLuhan, Understanding Media, p.318 

McLuhan believe that any technology is an extent of our body, for example a car works as our feet, the telescope is an extinction of our eye, and so the electronic media is an extension of the nervous system. McLuhan called the printed media “hot media” and he means by that is it needs one sense to engage with it, and he called the television and the mass media “cool media” because more senses are involved with it.

  In what ways do Manovich’s 5 principles of “new media” extend McLuhan ideas about how media shapes us?

Below is some general principles of how media shape us. these principles noticed by Manovic, and they apply for most media.

1. Numerical Representation :media objects are math equations, and built form numbers. Any manipulations for these numbers will change the object.

2. Modularity “fractal structure of new media.”: media objects has the same structure, but they  are built on bigger or smaler scale.

3. Automation: Both the first and second principles allow the media operations to be automated.

4. Variability :Media object can change to different  versions.

5. Transcoding

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This is my first official meme. I will give you a quick background of it. The big container is made form clay to keep the water kind of cold, and the littlie thing on the top of it is a cup that people use to dip in and get water. It used to be very common specially around schools and buses stops. Now a days it is very rear. Notice how the littlie cup is secured by a rob so it does not get lost!! The meme could be use to promote the vaccine to people who born before 2000 and lived overseas in the middle east or Africa.

 

Introduction & 6/24 Digital technology

Hello,

# My name is Hamza . My major is accounting. I already learned a lot of cool things during the first week of the class. Digital technology has huge impact on my life like everybody else. It opened many doors for me that I thought it will never be opened, like continuing my education on older age than average student , freedom of speech in places that freedom is not exist, and communicating with my family overseas with almost zero cost!!

# What about digital technology makes it a unique tool or medium in human history? 

One of the main things that make digital technology unique is its ability to bring people together regardless of  race, religion , ideology, languages, and far distances. Digital technology is putting globalization on rapped growth not just on an economic level but also on social level. I believe it makes the world a better place because people start realizing they have in common way more than they thought. 

The digital technology is a perfect example of the accumulated knowledge that passes form nation to nation and generation to generation. Starting form adding sheep and cows with a very basic tools to super computers. Digital technology was not one man invention, it is many inventions form all over the world put together by brilliant  people and companies that got us where we at now.

Another special thing about the Digital technology is our ability to program the machine to do whatever we want, and the machine do it with higher accuracy and speed!. The fact that  we could communicate with machines and program them to communicate with us and among each other is like magic to me! and I am still leaning about it and below is my first experiment with it.